HC 899 - Protecting Consumers: Making Energy Price Comparison Websites Transparent

Download or read book HC 899 - Protecting Consumers: Making Energy Price Comparison Websites Transparent written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Energy and Climate Change Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Energy price comparison websites play an important role in helping consumers to make informed decisions about switching energy supplier. In order to fulfil this role the websites must be trusted by consumers and be fully transparent about the service they provide. In the last year there has been growing criticism about the way in which some of these comparison websites operate. The Committee has been alarmed by suggestions that some comparison websites have been hiding the best deals from consumers by concealing tariffs from suppliers that do not pay the website a commission. The Committee concludes that all deals should be made available by default to the consumer and strongly objects to any attempt to lure consumers into choosing particular deals by the use of misleading language. The Committee also recommends that, as an immediate and essential first step towards rebuilding confidence, compensation should be provided to those consumers who were encouraged to switch to a tariff that was not the cheapest or most appropriate for their needs.