USwitch
Encyclopedia
uSwitch.com is a UK
-based price comparison and switching website started in 2000. The site allows consumers to compare prices for a range of energy, personal finance, insurance and communications services. According to The Times
, uSwitch is one of the two most established price comparison websites, and has been highlighted as being among the best money-saving websites for students.
The site handles gas, electricity, water, home telephone, broadband, digital television, mobile phones, personal finance products, heating cover and car insurance, with a number of new markets in the pipeline.
uSwitchforBusiness.com is uSwitch's energy price comparison and brokerage service for businesses.
uSwitch.com is accredited by Consumer Focus
, the energy watchdog in the UK.
There are no direct costs to consumers for the service. The company receives commission from some suppliers when a customer chooses to switch through the uSwitch site.
uSwitch, like some of its competitors, promotes its business with heavy use of press releases, generally based on research; uSwitch sees itself as a consumer champion. Some of these press releases have been criticised by the organisations of which they are critical, such as the British Bankers Association, BT and British Gas for being inaccurate and misleading.
Whilst uSwitch.com is accredited by Consumer Focus
, the energy watchdog in the UK, the relationship between the two organisations has not always been harmonious. In September 2007, Consumer Focus found that information provided by uSwitch's energy price comparison website was 'biased and not impartial' and uSwitch were provided with notice that the Consumer Focus Confidence Code had been breached.
The September 2007 minutes of the Consumer Focus Management Board Meeting, and press reports, show that the company was asked by Consumer Focus to change how it displays comparison results and information so that consumers can enjoy unbiased results. The company complied with these requests and has remained accredited.
. It was set up in September 2000 with an initial £
4 million investment to take advantage of the UK’s deregulated
gas and electricity markets. The company subsequently expanded into the telephony and communications markets in 2001. In the same year it also bought competitor buy.co.uk followed by local community information website UpMyStreet.com in 2003.
uSwitch.com was itself acquired by US media conglomerate, E.W. Scripps Company in March 2006 for £210 million ($366 million). The purchase added a second freestanding interactive media business to its portfolio alongside leading US product price comparison site, Shopzilla
.
In February 2008, E.W. Scripps Company recorded a $411 million pre-tax charge releated to the uSwitch acquisition, contributing to an overall $256 million loss for Scripps in the last quarter of 2007. The scale of the writedown reflects more realistic revenue expectations due to lower than expected levels of switching.
In December 2009, uSwitch was acquired by Forward Internet Group for $10.3 million in cash. Forward is a privately funded collection of internet-based businesses focused on consumer engagement and innovation. Forward3D is the group's 3D search agency (formerly known as TrafficBroker) and Forward Innovations is the consumer division which focuses on price comparison and switching, including brands such as InvisibleHand and Omio.
Major partners include Yahoo, AOL
, Wanadoo
, Orange
, Virgin Media
, People’s Champion and Johnston Press
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-based price comparison and switching website started in 2000. The site allows consumers to compare prices for a range of energy, personal finance, insurance and communications services. According to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, uSwitch is one of the two most established price comparison websites, and has been highlighted as being among the best money-saving websites for students.
The site handles gas, electricity, water, home telephone, broadband, digital television, mobile phones, personal finance products, heating cover and car insurance, with a number of new markets in the pipeline.
uSwitchforBusiness.com is uSwitch's energy price comparison and brokerage service for businesses.
uSwitch.com is accredited by Consumer Focus
Consumer Focus
Consumer Focus is a statutory consumer organisation in England, Wales, Scotland, and, for postal services, Northern Ireland, formed in 2008 by the merging Postwatch, Energywatch and the Welsh, Scottish and National Consumer Councils...
, the energy watchdog in the UK.
Business model
uSwitch.com asks consumers a range of questions about factors such as price, location, service type and payment method. The site’s calculators then use this information to scan relevant product providers and come up with a range of cheaper deals or deals that meet the user’s specific criteria e.g. green energy plans. The user can then either directly approach the provider of the deal they are interested in or, where uSwitch has an arrangement with the provider, they can switch there and then.There are no direct costs to consumers for the service. The company receives commission from some suppliers when a customer chooses to switch through the uSwitch site.
uSwitch, like some of its competitors, promotes its business with heavy use of press releases, generally based on research; uSwitch sees itself as a consumer champion. Some of these press releases have been criticised by the organisations of which they are critical, such as the British Bankers Association, BT and British Gas for being inaccurate and misleading.
Relationship with Consumer Focus
uSwitch played a role in the industry consultation which led to the establishment of a voluntary code of practice — the Energywatch Confidence Code (now known as the Consumer Focus Confidence Code) — in 2002.Whilst uSwitch.com is accredited by Consumer Focus
Consumer Focus
Consumer Focus is a statutory consumer organisation in England, Wales, Scotland, and, for postal services, Northern Ireland, formed in 2008 by the merging Postwatch, Energywatch and the Welsh, Scottish and National Consumer Councils...
, the energy watchdog in the UK, the relationship between the two organisations has not always been harmonious. In September 2007, Consumer Focus found that information provided by uSwitch's energy price comparison website was 'biased and not impartial' and uSwitch were provided with notice that the Consumer Focus Confidence Code had been breached.
The September 2007 minutes of the Consumer Focus Management Board Meeting, and press reports, show that the company was asked by Consumer Focus to change how it displays comparison results and information so that consumers can enjoy unbiased results. The company complied with these requests and has remained accredited.
Company history
uSwitch.com was the brainchild of Lord Milford HavenGeorge Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven
George Ivar Louis Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven , styled Earl of Medina before 1970, is a British businessman, peer, and current Head of the House of Mountbatten.-Family:...
. It was set up in September 2000 with an initial £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
4 million investment to take advantage of the UK’s deregulated
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
gas and electricity markets. The company subsequently expanded into the telephony and communications markets in 2001. In the same year it also bought competitor buy.co.uk followed by local community information website UpMyStreet.com in 2003.
uSwitch.com was itself acquired by US media conglomerate, E.W. Scripps Company in March 2006 for £210 million ($366 million). The purchase added a second freestanding interactive media business to its portfolio alongside leading US product price comparison site, Shopzilla
Shopzilla
Shopzilla is a price comparison service. Founded in June 1996 by Farhad Mohit and Henri Asseily as Binary Compass Enterprises, the company changed its name to BizRate.com in January 1999...
.
In February 2008, E.W. Scripps Company recorded a $411 million pre-tax charge releated to the uSwitch acquisition, contributing to an overall $256 million loss for Scripps in the last quarter of 2007. The scale of the writedown reflects more realistic revenue expectations due to lower than expected levels of switching.
In December 2009, uSwitch was acquired by Forward Internet Group for $10.3 million in cash. Forward is a privately funded collection of internet-based businesses focused on consumer engagement and innovation. Forward3D is the group's 3D search agency (formerly known as TrafficBroker) and Forward Innovations is the consumer division which focuses on price comparison and switching, including brands such as InvisibleHand and Omio.
Partners and affiliates
uSwitch works with more than 130 direct partners and 2,000 affiliate partners, providing their web sites with co-branded comparison tools for a range of essential home services. uSwitch’s calculators also appear on many other websites.Major partners include Yahoo, AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
, Wanadoo
Wanadoo
Wanadoo is the former name of the ISP division of Orange SA, which is a subsidiary of France Télécom. It operated in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Mauritius, Madagascar, Lebanon, and Jordan...
, Orange
Orange SA
Orange is the brand used by France Télécom for its mobile network operator and Internet service provider subsidiaries. It is the fifth largest telecom operator in the world, with 210 million customers . The brand was created in 1994 for Hutchison Telecom's UK mobile phone network, which was...
, Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
, People’s Champion and Johnston Press
Johnston Press
Johnston Press plc is a newspaper publishing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. Its flagship titles are The Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post; it also operates many other newspapers around the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man. It is the second-largest publisher...
.
External links
- Beware ‘biased’ switching sites, The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times (UK)The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
, June 10, 2007 - Energy firms are the worst offenders for inaccurate billing, The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, September 25, 2007