Octopus Energy has been appointed as the supplier of last resort (SoLR) for the customers of Effortless Energy which ceased trading earlier this week.
Customers of Effortless will switch over on Saturday (5 September) and Octopus will honour all outstanding credit balances, including money owed to both existing and former domestic customers.
Effortless was founded in 2013 and had approximately 2,500 domestic customers. It is the second supplier to fail this year, and the first since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Utility Week recently revealed that the Stoke-based supplier was looking to exit the market, having previously entered level two credit default with code administrators Elexon.
Effortless was set up by Andrew and Melanie Burns after the couple became “frustrated and confused” by the deals being offered by incumbent suppliers.
The company was initially founded to provide energy to friends and family at a competitive price, but later opened to the wider community once the costs of running an energy supplier became apparent.
So far in 2020 only one other supplier, Gnergy, has entered the SoLR process. Last year however, a total of nine suppliers ceased trading.
Speaking to Utility Week last month, a number of industry experts said they expect to see more suppliers exit the market over the coming winter.