How to switch gas and electricity supplier

The cap will be reviewed in April 2022

Re: a prepayment customer, see the section below

While it’s rare for a big energy supplier to go bust, lots of small energy companies have gone bust during 2021.

 If your energy supplier has stopped trading, it’s important to sit tight, don’t switch and wait until your new provider contacts you. Your new supplier will be chosen by Ofgem, which can take several weeks. This process could take longer if you were with a larger supplier like Bulb, but they should still be in touch to keep you updated. 

Find out more about what you can do as a Bulb customer on the Ofgem site (Opens in a new window)

If you’re already in the process of switching, your switch will still go through. 

Make sure you take a meter reading so that you’re ready for when your new supplier contacts you.

It’s also worth keeping old energy bills and waiting until your new supplier is appointed before cancelling any Direct Debits. 

If you were in debt to your old supplier, then you will still have to pay this but might have to pay it to your new supplier. Wait for your new supplier to contact you.

If you were in credit with your energy company, then the same applies: you will get the money back, but you should wait for your new supplier to contact you.

It’s worth finding your gas and electricity bills. Then check who supplies your gas and electricity. And find out the name of your tariff. Try to find out how much energy you use each year.

If you usually get a Warm Home Discount, make sure the supplier you’re switching to offers the discount.

Using a price comparison website can help you to find the best energy deal to suit your circumstances.

Ofgem has a list of price comparison sites that it has accredited. However, be aware that most price comparison sites will ‘hide’ from their search results any tariffs or energy companies that don’t pay them to be shown. This means that you might not see the cheapest tariffs you could get.

MoneySavingExpert and Which? have their own ‘energy switching clubs’ that won’t hide any tariffs or energy companies from your results so it’s worth looking at these before using the Ofgem-accredited price comparison sites.

As a bonus, for many tariffs, the energy switching club will hold your hand through the whole process, from filling in details from your current energy bill, to searching the whole of market to find a better deal for you and liaising with your chosen new supplier to carry out the switch.

You can also check the Ofgem-accredited price comparison sites on the Ofgem website

If you live in Northern Ireland, use the Consumer Council (Opens in a new window)

You’ll need to choose between fixed and variable tariffs.

A fixed tariff gives you the peace of mind. This is because the price you pay for each unit of energy, and any standing charges, won’t change for a set period.

You get protection if prices go up – but you don’t benefit in the unlikely event of prices going down.

You might also have to pay an exit fee if you want to switch suppliers before the end of your deal.

Comparison websites will want to know how much energy you use, whether in pounds spent or kilowatts (kwh) used.

If you don’t know, they can make a rough guess based on the size of your house, how many people live there, and the appliances you use.

With a variable rate tariff, your bills rise and fall based on what’s happening in the energy market. If energy prices drop so will your bill, and if they rise, you’ll need to be prepared to cover higher costs.

“Standard variable green energy tariffs” are not protected by the Ofgem price cap, only default or standard variable rate tariffs are. You can ask your supplier if you’re not sure.

If you have a pre-pay meter, you can still switch if it will save you money.

None of the big six energy companies charge to change prepayment meters over to credit meters, which tend to be cheaper.

They will probably run a credit check on you though and your energy account will need to be debt free.

If you want, or have to stick with, a pre-payment meter – you can still check to see if there’s a cheaper deal you can switch to. 

It’s worth reading your gas and electricity meter and checking them against your latest bills.

Make sure your bills are right by submitting new readings to your supplier. This should only take a few minutes, online or by phone.

Before switching, find what information you can about a company’s customer service.

Some comparison sites include customer service ratings in their comparison tables.

Which? (Opens in a new window) and Citizen’s Advice (Opens in a new window) have a customer satisfaction survey about what customers really think. These are worth checking – before you decide who you go with.

After your fixed tariff comes to an end or your supplier goes under, you’ll be moved onto a standard variable rate tariff, protected by Ofgem’s energy price cap. Find out more about how it could help you in our guide How to save money on gas and electricity bills

One way to cut your bills is to reduce the amount of gas and electricity you use, for tips to cut back, read our guide on  how to save money on gas and electricity bills. 

You can still switch. If your name is on the bill, you can switch gas and electricity bills.

You don’t need to ask permission from your landlord, but it’s a good idea to let them know. It’s worth checking your tenancy agreement – and talk to your landlord if there’s anything in it that says you can’t switch.

If your landlord pays for your energy, they have the right to choose the supplier. Some tenancy agreements might have clauses about switching. But if you pay for your energy, you should be able to decide who to get gas or electricity from. 

If you’ve got a complaint, contact your energy provider first. Your supplier’s phone number and website will be on your energy bill.

Explain what the problem is and what you want your supplier to do about it. You can use free template complaints letters from the Citizens Advice website (Opens in a new window)

Energy suppliers will then have up to eight weeks to come to tell you about their decision on the complaint.

If you can’t reach an agreement with your supplier after eight weeks, you can ask for a “deadlock letter”, which lets you to take your case to the free Energy Ombudsman.

The Energy Ombudsman will then decide which party it agrees with and how to resolve the issue.