How to switch gas and electricity suppliers

Switching fuel suppliers doesn't cost you anything (unless you're tied into a special capped rate deal -- more on these later). In fact all that happens is that you're changing the administration side of things, your gas and electricity will be still be supplied to you in exactly the same manner as before.

To switch you'll need to enter a few details, namely your postcode (as prices vary from region to region), your current suppliers and a rough idea of the amount of your current fuel bills. Tap this information into our comparison engine and it will return a list of the cheapest deals available to you.

Once you've chosen your preferred supplier, they will do all the legwork regarding the switch. All you need to do is provide a meter reading on the agreed day that your supply changes over. The whole process will probably take about four to six weeks. If you have second thoughts after deciding to change suppliers note that you have a fourteen day cooling off period from the date of your application.

When you're choosing a new supplier you'll probably find that a dual fuel option (i.e. taking both gas and electricity from the same supplier) is the cheapest, but it's worth checking single fuel deals just to make sure. Monthly direct debit payments also tend to reduce your bills as does choosing an 'online only' service.

Ideally, try to compare prices using your annual consumption figures for gas and electricity rather than your current payments. You can do this by examining your recent bills. The average household consumption is reckoned to be 20,000kWh for gas and 3,300kWh for electricity.

Back to main gas and electricity page »