Posted on 09/02/2009 11:54:06 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Nearly 14 million households are being hit by a penalty of more than £200 for paying their energy bills in the traditional way, rather than by setting up an online account.
Those who chose to pay once a quarter by cash or cheque, are paying on average £224 more than neighbours who set up their gas and electricity account over the internet.
The research, undertaken for The Daily Telegraph by uSwitch, the price comparison site, underlines the deep "digital divide" that leaves many consumers paying substantially more for basic services because they are not online, campaigners said.
They claim that traditional customers are being "exploited" and "penalised".
The research into energy bills shows that the average annual joint gas and electricity bill for those that have an online tariff is £1,015.
The average bill for those on a traditional standard credit tariff is £224 more expensive, at £1,239. The discrepancy between the two has widened considerably in the last six months as suppliers have, amid much publicity, cut their online bills. They have not cut their standard bills by nearly as much. In the last 18 months the discrepancy has almost doubled from £116 to £224.
Ofgem, the industry regulator calculates that about 1.3 million households have signed up to online deals, which require a consumer to type in their personal details and set up a direct debit over the internet rather than over the telephone.
However, Ofgem said the bulk of consumers in Britain, equating to 13.8 million customers – 40 per cent of the total – pay by standard credit. This is when they are billed once a quarter and they pay by cash or cheque. The remainder pay by direct debit, paying £126 more on average than those that set up their account
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Wow, that is thievery! I don't particularily care to pay online with "automatic deductions" myself. I usually forget to deduct the charges from my checkbook.
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