Frequently Asked Questions

...business

Why can’t I just go direct and make a deal of my own?

Energy companies simply don’t have the resources to manage your contracts for you, nor to deal with thousands of enquiries from businesses with literally millions of electricity and gas meters types. So instead they roll you on to a higher renewal price rate which really means you get a raw deal unless you compare other tariffs in the market saving hundreds and often thousands of pounds. But of course you knew that... So what happens:

If you call your supplier you might be offered their best deal if you persist, but they have no obligation to tell you that another energy company is cheaper in your area. So you’d have to ring every power company (of which there are many) to get all the prices, and then start comparing the contract terms. This sounds easy enough if you are given the correct information in the first place but the chances are by the time you’ve done that, the deals you were offered will have changed. And we have found in many people’s experience suppliers aren’t always forthcoming with the information. Clients come to us over and over again after doing such research only to find that we get a better rate ourselves from the very same companies.

What is a Half Hourly tariff exactly?

Half Hourly Meters or "00" electricity meters have a peak load above 100kW. Half hourly Commercial electricity meters cover all sites that have a large commercial supply of electricity and the electricity meter is read every 30-minutes of the day (ie the half hourly title) This means that the total consumption is recorded every half hour, and this information is automatically retrieved from the meter and passed directly to the energy supplier ensuring your energy bills are accurate.

The tariff prices for these meter types partly vary depending on the demand for power at particular times of the day and this is where the role of some of our partners have expertise in being able to identify cost savings in the way the energy is used on site. These large meters are operated and maintained by an approved Meter Operator (MOP) and the data is collected by approved Data Collectors (DC’s) A full list of area specific MOPS and DC’s are available from Ofgem, the industry regulator.

What is a roll over trap?

Failing to give notice to your supplier to terminate your existing contract means that your suppier will automatically renew your contract and they’ll move you to their standard price which is always more expensive (sometimes considerably). They will also tie you in for a considerable amount of time. Hence the trap.
What makes this difficult is the fact that there is only a limited time frame and these will vary by supplier, meter type and for separate supply contracts of gas and electricity.

What are the advantages over other comparison websites?

www.omni-energy.co.uk is independently owned and offers a broker service similar to other brokers out there. However the advice and the support we offer is ‘different’, which is why our customers use us time and time again. Unlike other brokers firms out there we do not work directly with suppliers. To ensure we stay completely unbiased and impartial we compare those deals that customers get through carfully selected broker partners. Many broker firms cannot offer a fully comprehensive comparison of the whole market even though they can claim to have. In reality the market is unregulated and most brokerages are simply multi tied and unfortunately can be biased toward certain suppliers dependent on the commissions they receive.

Expert Anthony (Tony) Tjan on small companies:

The key difference in these experiences is the common sense and empathy of the small local company. Too much customer service — especially in large companies — has devolved to standard operating procedures and scripted answers delivered with artificial calmness. To an upset customer, these automated responses often seem inappropriate or absurd. When I interviewed my friend ‘Mehmet Oz’ in a prior post, he said that the opposite of anger is not calmness but empathy. While I appreciate the challenges of cost-effectively scaling customer service, empathy training might help service employees calm angry customers more effectively, increasing their long-term loyalty, and perhaps even changing them into referring fans.

Anthony (Tony) Tjan is CEO, Managing Partner and Founder of Cue Ball, a venture and early growth equity firm investing in the information media and consumer sectors

Why Small Companies Are Better