Engaging the public in decisions about regulation policy
Ofgem asked Ipsos to use the Consumer First Panel to examine what consumers want in a future Change of Supplier (CoS) process. Alongside the Panel workshops, additional research was conducted with specific groups of energy consumers: ‘recent switchers’ and customers with an Advanced Domestic Meter and Electronic Consumption Data Display (referred to as ‘ADM customers’) who were included as a proxy for smart meter customers.
Incorporating these extra audiences into Panel research helps Ofgem to understand the opinions of a broad range of energy consumers in regard to the current CoS arrangements as well as their needs and expectations for a future CoS process.
Overall the study found that the earlier stages of the consumer journey (e.g. making purchasing decisions) are a bigger disincentive to engaging with the market than the Change of Supplier (CoS) process.
The things that consumers would want in a future CoS process were:
- Good customer care and communication e.g. clear guidance about cooling off periods – consumers want to be told they have a cooling off period, and the option to waive it should they choose;
- Efficiency – consumers want a process where each stage proceeds as quickly as possible without compromising reliability; and
- Minimising consumer involvement e.g. minimal and easy consumer input – consumers want suppliers to manage the bulk of the process.
For most the major consideration influencing their decision to switch was the financial saving on offer, but due to the belief that tariff prices are all very similar, they felt the financial benefit of a quicker switch would be limited. Most therefore suggested only conservative improvements in timings in an ideal world as they thought a quicker process would necessarily have to be a ‘trade-off’ against the quality or accuracy of the process and/or consumer protection.
About the Consumer First Panel
The Consumer First Panel has been a flagship project within the Consumer First initiative for the last five years. It consists of a Panel of around 100 domestic consumers who meet a number of times over the course of a year to discuss and feed in to key policy issues.The first wave of this year’s Panel, run by Ipsos on behalf of Ofgem, primarily focused on the Priority Service Register (PSR), to ensure that the needs of vulnerable customers are met by energy companies. Ofgem’s Consumer First research and the PSR report can be found on its website.
Technical note
We used three different, complementary qualitative methods:
- Six workshops with the general public
- Triad depth interviews with recent switchers
- Mini discussion groups with smart meter customers
Each of the approaches were deliberative in nature, and participants were encouraged to develop their views about a future Change of Supplier process in the light of new information they received during the sessions.
