Switch your home energy supplier

Why switch energy supplier or tariff

If you pay a supplier directly for the electricity or gas you use at home, you can choose to switch to a different supplier or tariff at any time. Reasons you might switch include:

• saving money
• moving to a new home
• problems with your supplier or looking for better service
• your supplier has gone out of business
• ethical or environmental concerns

If you are on a heat network, you cannot switch your supplier. This is because the supplier manages the heating equipment for everyone in the building.

If you run a business from home, you might have a different type of energy contract. Check with your supplier or read about how to get a business energy contract.

Get help to find and compare energy tariffs

You should compare energy tariffs to find the one that’s right for you. The best option may be with your current supplier.

You can get information on what’s available directly from suppliers, or by using an energy price comparison website.

If you’re switching because of poor customer service, Citizens Advice compare the largest energy suppliers based on things like complaints received and contact waiting time.

See the Citizens Advice website for the full energy suppliers’ customer service ranking.

How to switch your energy supplier

Once you’ve chosen a new supplier, you’ll need to get in touch and give them some information from your energy bill. They’ll need:

• your postcode
• name of current supplier
• name of current tariff
• the amount you pay for your energy per unit in kilowatt hours (kWh)
• the amount of energy you use each year

Your new supplier will contact you to tell you when they plan to switch your energy supply over to them.

You may have to pay your previous supplier an ‘exit fee’ if you were on a fixed rate tariff and chose to leave before it ended.

If you change your mind, you can cancel your switch within 14 days.

Moving to a new home

You can choose a new tariff or new supplier after you’ve moved in.

Moving to a new rented property

Check your rental agreement or ask your landlord to find out who your supplier is, and who pays the energy bills for the property.

If you have to pay your energy bills, you can choose to switch your supplier or tariff at any time.

If your landlord pays, they should:

• include the cost of the energy you use in your rent
• deal with the energy supplier directly
• pay for the energy supply to the property between tenancies

Check the Citizens Advice guidance on problems with renting and energy bills.

Before switching your supplier, you should check if:

• your rental agreement has a list of suppliers you can choose from, called a ‘default supplier clause’ 
• the list of suppliers in your rental agreement can be changed
• you need to tell your letting agent or landlord that you want to switch supplier
• your rental agreement has a notice and return clause, which means you need to switch the energy supply back when your tenancy ends

If you owe your energy supplier money

You can still switch supplier if:

• you owe money to your old supplier and have been in debt to them for less than 28 days, any money you owe should be added to your final bill
• you have a prepayment meter and you owe your supplier up to £500

You cannot switch if you have been in debt to your supplier for more than 28 days. You need to repay the debt first before moving to a new supplier or tariff.

Problems switching energy supplier

Suppliers must switch your electricity or gas supply from your old supplier to your new supplier within 5 working days. If they do not, your new supplier must pay you £40. This will be paid automatically into either your energy account or bank account.

If you’ve been switched without permission

You could get £40 if your energy supply is switched by mistake. You must contact your old supplier and let them know.

They should pay this by cheque or into your bank account within 10 working days of the date they agree a mistake was made.

They have 21 working days to switch you back.

Delays fixing switching mistakes

Suppliers have to pay you any compensation you’re entitled to within 10 working days.

If they do not, they have to pay you an extra £40 as part of our ‘Supplier Guaranteed Standard of Performance’.

These standards make sure that suppliers put things right and that you are paid for a problem that was their fault.

You can also get an extra £40 in compensation if:

• the supplier takes more than 20 working days to reply to you after you tell them about the switching mistake
• your old and new suppliers take more than 20 working days to agree whether your switch was correct - they will each pay you £40 if this happens
• your old supplier takes more than 21 working days to re-register your supply once they know about the mistake

What to do if your energy supplier goes out of business

You do not need to do anything if your current supplier goes out of business. We’ll automatically move you to a new supplier, and make sure your energy supply is not interrupted.

Once we’ve moved you to a new supplier you’ll be able to switch to a supplier or tariff of your choice as normal.

If you’re already in the process of switching, your move will not be affected.

Find out more about what happens if your energy supplier goes out of business.