Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that price comparison websites do not mislead retail energy customers.

Jesse Norman

It is vital that customers trust price comparison websites, as they offer real opportunities for improving competition and I expect price comparison websites to be clear to consumers when they are not providing a whole market tariff comparison.

Ofgem are currently consulting on proposals to allow price comparison websites to only show those tariffs that consumers can switch to through the price comparison website as a default, but they must also provide quick and easy access to a webpage showing all tariffs available on the market. The consultation closes on 28 September and is available online at

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2016/08/whole_of_market_consultation.pdf

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