Comparing Comparison Sites

Using the same address, gas consumption, previous supplier, and tariff requirements we compared the comparison services offered by 4 major comparison sites.

Often customers will turn to B2C services such as Go Compare GoCompare, Compare the Market, Money Super Market, and Which? to help them find the best deal for their business. These sites advertise themselves as being able to offer a unique and bespoke service in comparison to their competitors.

So, we wanted to find out exactly how bespoke the service these sites offered was and in which ways they differed (or did not differ). Regularly shopping around the market is the best thing customers can do when it comes to finding the best deal for their energy bills. Comparison sites claim to make this easier, so how much can they really offer customers who use their platforms?

The Business

For this comparative scope across the major comparison sites we used a London-based business with average gas consumption.

We were looking for a replacement tariff that covered our consumption but was not specific about the type of tariff we required (e.g. green, online etc were all approved).

Below you will see the report on the tariffs we were offered by GoCompare, Compare the Market, Money Super Market and Which?

Money Super Market

Money Super Market claim to save customers at least £360 on their energy bills through comparing suppliers and offering the best deal to customers.

The site took our relevant details and estimated our annual consumption at £2600, and these were the top four tariff conclusions:

The top savings Money Super Market were able to offer us was an annual £54.

Money Super Market only offered tariffs from SO Energy, Scottish Power, and British Gas.

Compare the Market

Compare the Market do not suggest a minimum saving on their comparisons, but they do say they will save you money on your bills.

The site took our relevant details and estimated our annual consumption at £2850, and these were the top four tariff conclusions:

The top savings Compare the Market was able to offer us was an annual £162 though they did generate the highest usage prediction out of all four comparison sites.

Compare the Market only offered tariffs from SO Energy, Scottish Power and SSE.

GoCompare

GoCompare does not suggest a minimum saving on their comparisons – instead, they offer information about how many customers are usually overpaying for their bills and offer to ensure that you no longer do.

The site took our relevant details and estimated our annual consumption at £2690, and these were the top four tariff conclusions:

The top savings GoCompare were able to offer us was an annual £146.

GoCompare had a range of suppliers including SO Energy, Scottish Power, SSE, E.ON and more.

Which?

Which? do not suggest a minimum saving on their comparisons – instead, they offer information about how many customers are usually overpaying for their bills and offer to ensure that you no longer do.

The site took our relevant details and estimated our annual consumption at £2550, and these were the top four tariff conclusions:

The top savings Which? were able to offer us was an annual £6, however they did estimate the lowest consumption out of all the sites.

Which? had a variety of tariffs but all were from the four suppliers in the above table.

Conclusions on the Comparison

I will be comparing the comparison sites across a range of criteria:

1. Originality of deals offered,
2. Highest savings for customer,
3. Range of suppliers they offered,

Originality

Which? and GoCompare offered us the exact same top four tariffs, and Money Super Market only differed on their 4^th supplier offering the slightly more expensive British Gas tariff over the E.ON tariff.

Compare the Market offered four original tariffs though nearly all four were more expensive than the most expensive option from the other 3 comparison sites.

Savings

The cheapest tariff (apparently) available to us was SO Energy’s £212/month fixed yearly rate. This tariff was offered by Which?, GoCompare, and Money Super Market.

The highest savings came from Compare the Market, although they were the only supplier to estimate our usage as higher than an annual £2700. This higher estimation obviously equals more savings. Compare the Market actually had the highest charging tariffs overall.

*If the annual consumption was assumed to be £2690, the highest out of the other 3 suppliers, then their tariffs only save us £2.

GoCompare had the highest savings otherwise of £146 annually.

Range of Suppliers

Go Compare had the largest range of suppliers overall, though the top four tariffs were the same four suppliers as Which? offered.

Strangely Compare the Market offered the same suppliers as all the other comparison sites (SO Energy, Scottish Power and SSE) but the tariffs they were offering were far higher for the same amount of kWh.

Overall

Generally, I think it is fair to conclude that there is little originality across the comparison sites. The cheapest tariffs available were offered by 3 of the 4 suppliers meaning that the same deal would have been secured through all of them. The only page to be mindful of would be Compare the Market due to them overestimating our consumption, costing us more in our utility bills as a result.

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