Sainsbury’s Energy Review Summary
Who are Sainsbury’s Energy?
Sainsbury’s Energy were originally a subsidiary of British Gas which used the Sainsbury’s brand under licence. This relationship ended in 2019 however and now Sainsbury’s Energy is supplied by E.ON Next.
The main advantage of Sainsbury’s Energy is the fact that if you use them as your energy supplier you earn Nectar points. They are the only energy supplier to offer Nectar points.
You earn these Nectar points when you sign up, and if you are a Sainsbury’s Energy customer you also earn extra Nectar points every time you shop at a Sainsbury’s store. However, you do not earn Nectar points on the money you spend on your energy bills.
What tariffs do Sainsbury’s Energy offer?
Sainsbury’s Energy offer fixed rate tariffs only, and customers can choose to fix their energy prices for either one or two years. There are no exit fees for either fixed tariff.
Sainsbury’s Energy do not offer Economy 7 tariffs, ‘feed-in’ tariffs or tariffs aimed at electric vehicle owners.
Customers can choose to use Sainsbury’s Energy to supply just their electricity or they can also use Sainsbury’s Energy to supply both their electricity and their gas.
How do Sainsbury’s Energy compare on price?
Sainsbury’s is not the cheapest energy supplier, but their prices are normally pretty competitive.
People considering switching to E.ON Next might want to consider Sainsbury’s Energy instead, this is because even though you will get the same rate on your tariff, with Sainsbury’s Energy you also get Nectar points.
What do other Sainsbury’s Energy reviews say?
Sainsbury’s Energy scores 4.5 stars out of five on Trustpilot, with 72% of the reviewers rating them as Excellent or Great. 26% rate them as either poor or bad however.
| Rating | Percentage of reviews |
|---|---|
| Excellent | 63% |
| Great | 9% |
| Average | 2% |
| Poor | 2% |
| Bad | 14% |
Which? scores Sainsbury’s Energy in 8th place out of 25 suppliers. They received 4/5 for bill accuracy and bill clearness, and also 4/5 for value of money. Overall getting a customer score of 70%.
Citizens Advice does not score Sainsbury’s Energy as an energy supplier.
How green is Sainsbury’s Energy’s energy?
Sainsbury’s Energy are clear about their fuel mix, linking to it from their website’s homepage.
They offer 100% renewable electricity on both their tariffs.
You can see their latest available fuel mix here:
| Fuel source | % of supply |
|---|---|
| Natural Gas | 0% |
| Nuclear | 0% |
| Renewables | 100% |
| Coal | 0% |
| Other Fuels | 0% |
What is Sainsbury’s Energy’s customer service like?
Sainsbury’s Energy have a live chat feature on their website or you can use the contact form on that website to send them a message. You can also phone their UK-based call centre.
As they have only been trading as an E.ON Next subsidiary for a relatively short amount of time, there is no data in terms of their response times to emails and phone calls, or the number of complaints that have been made against Sainsbury’s Energy and how quickly those complaints have been settled.
What is Sainsbury’s Energy’s website/app like?
The Sainsbury’s Energy website is well laid out but the information it contains does not seem to be organised with any degree of consistency meaning that it is not obvious where to find what you are looking for. There is a live chat feature and you can also send messages from the website via a contact form.
You can use the online portal to enter meter readings and view your energy consumption, both in terms of your historic consumption and your predicted future consumption.
There is also an app that lets you do all of this, as well as notifying you when your next meter reading is due. This app is available for Android devices as well as Apple iOS devices.
Only two people have rated the app on Google’s Play Store, but both of those people rated the app five stars out of five. Three people have rated the app on Apple’s App Store, giving the app an average of 3.3 stars out of five.
What billing options are available?
Sainsbury’s Energy only accepts payment via monthly direct debit. You can also pay by credit or debit card, but these payments are taken automatically from your card in the same way that a direct debit is taken. The amount you pay is fixed each month based on your anticipated energy consumption.
Pre-payment options are not available, and you cannot pay on receipt of a bill by cheque, cash or bank transfer/Internet banking.
You can change the date that you pay your bill each month if you want, for example, so that it matches your payday. If you want to do this, you simply need to get in touch with Sainsbury’s Energy.
You can also change the amount you pay each month once you have submitted a few meter readings. You can track your usage via the Sainsbury’s Energy Payment Tracker that is available via the website or the app.
Do Sainsbury’s Energy offer smart meters?
Sainsbury’s Energy will install a smart meter free of charge if you ask them to and they are available in your region.
If you have an existing smart meter and switch your energy supply to Sainsbury’s Energy whether your smart meter will continue to work will depend on what sort of smart meter is it.
If you have a first generation smart meter you will lose the smart functionality. However, if you have a second generation smart meter it should retain its smart functionality when you switch energy suppliers.
Do Sainsbury’s Energy offer a recommend a friend referral scheme?
Sainsbury’s Energy does not offer a friend referral scheme.
Below are a few quick questions you may need answers to along with our Sainsbury’s Energy review:
Do they work with pre-payment meters?
Sainsbury’s Energy cannot supply energy to homes with pre-payment meters.
Do they accept Economy 7?
Sainsbury’s Energy do not offer an Economy 7 tariff.
Are they signed up to the Warm Home Discount?
Sainsbury’s Energy are signed up to the Warm Home Discount. If you are eligible you need to phone them to claim it.
Are they signed up to the Energy Switch Guarantee?
Sainsbury’s Energy are not signed up to the Energy Switch Guarantee, but Npower, which supplies the energy on behalf of Sainsbury’s Energy, is. According to Citizen’s Advice, Npower completes 98.3% of switches within 21 days.
Do they mention about the Priority Services Register?
Sainsbury’s Energy operate a Priority Services Register. Customers can join by phone, email, or by completing the forms on the website or app.
Do they offer a ‘Dual Fuel’ discount?
There isn’t a ‘Dual Fuel’ discount. However, customers who use Sainsbury’s Energy for both fuels get tripple Nectar points for each £1 spent in a Sainsbury’s store.
Will they offer to pay a customer’s exit fees when they join them?
Sainsbury’s Energy will not pay any exit fees charged by a customer’s previous energy supplier if the customer is leaving their previous energy supplier early.
What happens if you move home whilst with them?
If you move home while you are a customer of Sainsbury’s Energy, your energy supply contract will come to an end. They will then give you a quote for the energy supply at your new home and you would need to decide whether to continue to use Sainsbury’s Energy for your energy supply.
Do they offer any incentives for joining?
When you join Sainsbury’s Energy you get 6,000 Nectar Points if you opt for a one-year fixed rate deal, and 12,000 Nectar Points per fuel if you opt for a two-year fixed-rate deal.
You will also get triple points for every £1 you spend on Sainsbury’s shopping and fuel using your card if you sign up for a dual fuel tariff.
How to contact Sainsbury’s Energy
You can contact Sainsbury’s Energy in a number of ways. Below as part of our Sainsbury’s Energy review we’ve detailed all their means of contact:
Customer Email: info@sainsburysenergy.com
Telephone: 0808 163 5697
Office Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Closed on weekends and bank holidays.
Office Address: 5th Floor, 125 Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 3SD
How do I switch to Sainsbury’s Energy?
The easiest way to switch to Sainsbury’s Energy is through a comparison website. This will allow you to check if Sainsbury’s Energy is one of the cheapest suppliers for you (tariffs vary based on your area) and will allow you to quickly and easily switch to them.
Managed to start a 2 year fix with Sainsbury’s energy a year ago and so should hopefully be sheltered from the horrendous price rises to come. This does, however leave me wondering the chances of Sainsbury’s Energy going bust (again!) and if they did, what would happen to my tariff i.e. would I keep the terms of my fix, or would I move onto the new price cap?
Switched at the start of September. Very straightforward, no issues with readings or payments. Website seems clear and simply. Love the no no-nonsense tariffs.
Have just signed up to Sainsbury Energy as of 30th September – my switch was on the way through just before the energy crisis hit. The firm behind Sainsbury Energy is Eon next. I am already regretting signing as it is apparent that eon are as usual messing things up. 1. Could not get my initial reads to go through so rang them in instead; 2. they have ignored this and sent me a very condescending email (to which I have forthrightly replied) detailing what estimate they are going to use. 3. As I went to a lot of time and trouble to get my reads through on the internet as requested which consequently failed because of their glitchy system and subsequent poor customer service I am more than a little annoyed. 4. So annoyed I will be looking to escalate the matter if it is not put right. 5. Obviously as soon as the energy crisis allow I will look to switch away. Beware of Sainsbury Energy / Eon Next. 12/10/2021