Avro Energy (2021) review: Great value and top-notch customer support

Important update

Following a stratospheric rise in wholesale gas prices in September 2021, Avro Energy has now gone out of business.

The company, which scored highly in our supplier roundup for its customer service and value, had roughly 580,000 customers around the UK.

If you were one of them, you will have been transferred to Octopus Energy and moved onto a new tariff after industry regulator Ofgem appointed it as the new energy supplier for Avro Energy customers. Unfortunately, this could mean you are now on a more expensive plan.

You should ask to be put on Octopus’ cheapest tariff if you’re not already. As the energy market currently stands, most people won’t benefit from switching to a new provider at the moment. Visit our guide to the best energy suppliers for more on getting the best deal.

Our original review from July 2021 continues below.

Avro Energy is a medium-sized energy supplier that’s been around since 2015. It aims to offer energy at some of the lowest prices in the UK and keep things simple without using jargon. There are no exit fees on its current tariffs, and you can access your account at any time through its online system.

It picked up Highly Commended awards in four out of five categories in the Expert Reviews Energy Awards 2021, which are based on a survey of energy customers. A sizeable 84% of Avro’s customers said they would recommend it to others; this was the second-highest score in this category, behind the 96% of Octopus Energy customers who would recommend their supplier.

It was also highly rated for its customer support, value for money and the clarity and accuracy of its bills.

Avro Energy (2021) review: The tariffs

Simple and Flow12M

This energy tariff fixes your prices for a year, so you can be sure they won’t increase during that time. It’s available to dual-fuel customers paying by monthly direct debit only.

This is the tariff we were quoted for on the Avro website and is one of the cheapest tariffs around for a customer in London using a “medium” amount of energy (2,900kWh of electricity per year and 12,000kWh of gas). As there are no exit fees, you’re free to switch at any time if you find a better deal.

Avro doesn’t offer any tariffs with 100% renewable electricity, but 8.3% of its energy is from renewables, according to its fuel-mix data for 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

Simple Energy PAYG

This tariff is available to pay-as-you-go customers who use a prepayment meter and is also one of the cheapest at current rates.

It’s a variable tariff, so your energy prices could go up or down, but like the other deals Avro is currently offering there are no exit fees so you can switch to a better deal at any time without charge.

Notes: Estimated monthly gas and electricity cost for a medium user (2,900kWh of electricity per year and 12,000kWh of gas) in London paying by monthly direct debit. Correct as of 15 July 2021.

Avro Energy (2021) review: Range of tariffs

In an effort to make its energy offering straightforward, Avro offers a very limited range of tariffs.

We were quoted for two tariffs, but Avro currently has just six available, including four fixed deals and one pay-as-you-go tariff. Like other suppliers, it also offers tariffs that pay you for any energy you generate yourself (using solar panels, for example) and put back into the grid. It only supplies domestic customers.

There are no deals specifically for drivers of electric vehicles, which give you cheaper electricity at night for charging your car, and Avro doesn’t offer any green tariffs.

Avro Energy (2021) review: Survey results

Customer support

Avro customers were generally happy with its customer support, with 74% saying they were Satisfied or Very Satisfied with the care they received. Avro’s was the second-highest percentage among the suppliers in our survey; only Octopus Energy achieved better results, with 92% of customers responding positively when asked about their experiences with customer support.

On the other hand, 11% of respondents said they were Very Dissatisfied with its customer support. While this is quite a lot compared to the meagre 1% of Very Dissatisfied Octopus customers, it’s also far below the 17% of British Gas customers who were Very Dissatisfied with their provider’s customer support system.

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Value for money

Avro came very close to Octopus for value for money. Here, 89% said they were Satisfied or Very Satisfied, compared with 91% for Octopus. It had more Very Satisfied customers than Octopus, though, at 57% versus 52% for Octopus.

Accuracy and clarity of bills

For the accuracy and clarity of its bills, Avro wasn’t as highly rated as Octopus, although it still performed well. A total of 83% of customers were Satisfied or Very Satisfied with how easy their bills were to understand and how accurate they were.

Smart meters

Normally fitted by your energy supplier, smart meters automatically send your meter readings to your suppliers and let you track your energy use in real time. Of the Avro Energy customers in our survey, a slightly underwhelming 37% said they had a smart meter, and some of these may have been fitted by a previous supplier rather than Avro.

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Complaints

Avro was the best provider in our survey in terms of the number of complaints it received and how quickly it resolved them, according to the latest data published by the energy regulator Ofgem. It received just 235 complaints per 100,000 customer accounts, resolving an impressive 87% by the end of the next working day and virtually all of them within eight weeks.

Ofgem complaints data

Notes: Data is for the first three months of 2021.

Avro Energy (2021) review: Verdict

Avro offers some of the cheapest energy deals in the market and matches this with good customer support, clear and accurate bills and excellent complaint handling. Its small number of tariffs are easy to understand.

However, it doesn’t offer any specialist tariffs for drivers of electric vehicles or any with 100% renewable energy, or carbon offset or green gas, so if you care about your impact on the planet, you may want to look elsewhere.