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Scottish and Southern have announced that they’re putting electricity up by 11% and gas up by 18% in September. British Gas is raising its gas and electricity prices by 18% and 16% in August! You don’t have to take this lying down however – vote with your feet. Get cheaper energy bills by switching supplier and make sure you go for a fixed deal NOW.

• Why should I switch?
• Switch energy supplier to save
• What you need to know about tariff types
• Simple step-by-step guide to successful switching
• Make even bigger energy savings

Prices are rising and you need to protect yourself – switching could save you hundreds of pounds a year. The cheapest tariffs are being pulled pretty quickly though, so you need to fix right NOW to get the cheapest deal before it’s pulled.

You can find out in minutes how much you could be saving on your utilities bills just by putting your postcode in this box:

Why should I switch?

According to Energyhelpline, 46% of households are on standard tariffs, despite online ones being potentially hundreds of pounds a year cheaper – so switching to an online deal could save you much more!

This is especially the case if you’re one of the many people paying a standard tariff (rather than an online one), as you’re likely to be paying through the nose. You could save yourself a lot of money – in fact as much as £389 a year – by using our energy switching service. Right now, you need to switch to a fixed tariff so that you can protect yourself against price hikes coming along.

It’s also worth remembering that whilst you have to sign up for these tariffs online, you don’t necessarily have to manage them online – you can still opt to have bills sent to you in the post if your prefer.

Mark Vickery, from Energyhelpline.com says: “What customers want are clearer bills, preferably with a simple glossary of what is due and a simple summary.  Many customers have fed back to say online billing often makes it easier as they often show historic bills, and have help and additional information to explain queries.”

If you’re the super-cautious type and all this talk of fluctuating energy prices is making you weak at the knees, you have another option to consider. Go for a fixed or capped deal now so you know where you stand.

You can find these fixed and capped tariffs on our comparison service too.

Cut your energy bill – compare and switch

Why should you switch your energy provider now?

• Because it will save you money! You could save over £389 a year by switching.
• Because it’s simple. Your new supplier organises all the switching. All you need to do is take the final meter reading on the day arranged by the new supplier. Once they have this reading, the new supplier organises the final bill and the closure of your old account.
• Because it’s free. You don’t pay a penny to switch and there’s absolutely no obligation to do it immediately – you can simply compare and make a decision at a later date.

Energyhelpline’s comparison service is completely free and unbiased. They show you the best rates around from suppliers in your area and you can choose the one that suits your needs.

If you’ve never switched energy suppliers, you’ll almost certainly be able to save money by switching now. The good news is that it’s really simple to do, and it will only take a few minutes to get the ball rolling.

To find more about the various tariffs on offer, keep reading.

Alternatively, you can skip straight to our step-by-step guide to using the comparison service by clicking here and see just how easy it is for you to switch and save.

Capped tariffs

What are they?

When you select a capped tariff you’re fixed into paying a set rate for a certain period of time.

This can be both good and bad. For example, if prices rise again, people on capped tariffs will benefit. However, if prices fall during the summer months, those on a capped tariff will miss out on the savings.

Generally speaking, the cheapest premiums for capped tariffs are higher than the cheapest non-capped tariffs – because companies want to safeguard themselves against wholesale price increases.

Should I get a capped tariff?

• The question you need to ask yourself is can you afford a price rise? The benefit of a capped tariff is that you know what you’ll be paying – you can budget for that and insure against prices rising.
• Check the exit fees Some companies charge an early exit fee if you leave before the contract ends so do check – it may well be that its worth paying the exit fee if you’ll make considerable savings by switching.
• Compare, compare, compare If and when you decide to switch to a capped tariff, it’s very important that you compare various suppliers and find the cheapest tariff available. You’ll also need to decide how long you want the fixed deal to last – most companies offer capped premiums for between two and four years.

Pre-payment meters

What are they?

These are meters that need to be topped up with a card – as you would with a pay-as-you-go mobile phone. The cards themselves can be topped up at newsagents or Post Offices.

We don’t recommend that anyone keeps a pre-payment meter if they can help it, because:

• You’ll pay a lot more for your energy
• You can’t save money with online discounts
• You can’t pay by direct debit – which would save you time and money

So – if you’re able to, change to a normal meter as soon as you can. Sometimes it isn’t possible to get rid of a pre-payment meter because of poor credit rating (if your household has a history of missed energy payments, for example).

Sometimes suppliers will only let you change the pre-payment meter if you’ve been with them for a set period of time. And unfortunately, you’ll often have to pay quite a high fee to have one removed.

If you can’t change yours, it’s still really important to compare pre-payment meter tariffs and switch to the cheapest.

How can I save money on a pre-payment meter?

• Compare prices and if you find a better tariff, switch and start saving.
• Energyhelpline can compare pre-payment meter tariffs, although they can’t carry out the switch to all tariffs on your behalf.

Single fuel and dual fuel tariffs

What are they?

Most people get their gas and electricity from separate suppliers – known as single fuel tariffs. However, you may be able to save money by switching to a duel fuel tariff – in other words having the same supplier for both your gas and your electricity.

Which one do I go for?

All of the major suppliers offer duel fuel tariffs (usually with impressive sounding discounts) but never assume that one of these is the cheapest option. Always do a free comparison to be sure.

How? Select both gas and electricity on the comparison service.

Where you live may play a part. For example, a dual fuel tariff with a single supplier may be the cheapest choice in one area, but in another, you may be better off with separate providers.

More often than not, dual fuel will be cheapest because companies offer ‘loyalty incentives’ to stick with them for both gas and electricity.

If it does work out cheaper to go for a dual fuel tariff, there are these added benefits too:

• You won’t have to pay two different bills each month
• You only have to set up one direct debit to one company
• If there are any problems with either your gas or electricity you only have to deal with one company

Economy 7 tariffs

What is it?

Economy 7 electricity tariffs have two meters with two pricing structures – one for the day and one for the night. The night rate is much cheaper than the day rate – but the day rate is usually more expensive than other tariff rates (up to double the normal rate).

So – to make this sort of tariff worthwhile, you need to use as much of your energy at night as possible. Unfortunately, the ‘night’ hours tend to be pretty unsociable, for example from midnight to 7am.

A good way to use Economy 7 tariffs to the max is to set your appliances (washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer etc) to come on during the night. Lots of appliances have built-in delay timers so that you can do this – but if yours don’t, simply buy some timer plugs.

• If you are already using an Economy 7 meter you can switch your provider just as you would with a normal meter. So it’s just as important to compare prices and find the cheapest deal.

Should I switch to Economy 7?

This can be a good tariff option if you have storage heaters. Storage heaters work by storing energy overnight which is then used to heat the house during the day. However, you’ll have to change the actual meter and there may be a charge for this.

Here at Moneymagpie, we’re very wary of the high day rates with Economy 7 tariffs. Companies should be encouraging people to use more energy at night (when there is a surplus) not punishing those who are switching to Economy 7 with very high day rates!

Our main concern with Economy 7 tariffs is that the lower night rates could be cancelled out by the high day rates.

How to switch

Energyhelpline recommends that whatever the situation, you should do a price check on your energy arrangement each year to ensure you’re still getting the best deal. Then – if necessary -switch your supplier.

Step 1: Start the ball rolling!

Head over to our energy switching page. The first step is to fill in your postcode and hit continue. You’ll then be directed to this page:

Here, you’ll have to type in a few details about your current supplier and how much your yearly bill comes to:

1. Current supplier eg. British Gas, London Energy
2. Current tariff eg. Standard, Click Energy
3. Current payment method eg. Quarterly billing, monthly direct debit
4. Current usage – choose from £ per month/quarter/year or kWh per year. Alternatively, select the ‘I don’t know my gas usage’ box. When you do this, Energyhelpline will estimate your usage for you. All you have to do is select your house size (small, medium or large) or – if you want a more detailed estimation – you can select the second tab and give more precise details about the size of your house (number of bedrooms, insulation level etc)
5. To get the most accurate information, enter the amount of energy you’ve used (in Kwh) on this page (the total will be on your last bill) rather than just the amount you’ve spent.

You can choose to compare prices for gas or electricity tariffs alone, or both together. It’s a good idea to compare both because the default results are for dual fuel tariffs (which are usually cheaper).

Now click ‘continue’ – you’ll then be asked:

• How you want to pay in the future
• Tariff type eg. paper billing only, internet services available – if you have no preference simply select ‘search all tariff types’
• You can then choose to arrange the results by price, or service rating, or choose to view only green tariffs

Step 2: Compare tariffs

Now you get to compare tariffs. See an example of a results table below:

Up will come a list of the cheapest suppliers for your needs, with details of how much you can save. If you’ve chosen to compare both gas and electricity the first tab of results will be for duel fuel tariffs (which are usually the cheapest).

You can also choose to view gas only, or electricty only (the second and third tab on the table). This is always worth doing, just to double check that dual fuel is the best option.

So – do a quick calculation of the cheapest gas tariff added to the cheapest electricity tariff and make sure it’s not cheaper than the cheapest dual fuel tariff.

You can also choose to arrange results by service rating:

1 Star – Poor
2 Stars – Below Average
3 Stars – Average
4 Stars – Good
5 Stars – Very Good

Energyhelpline calculates these ratings from complaint levels received by the independent market watchdog Consumer Focus.

If you’re happy with what you see, you can switch there and then and start saving straight away. Not bad, eh?!

Step 3: The switch

Once you’ve checked all the search results and chosen a supplier you’d like to switch to, you’ll asked to enter the rest of your details:

• Your address
• Whether you’re the property owner, landlord or tenant

These details will then be securely forwarded on to your new supplier, who arranges the switch. You will receive an email from Energyhelpline confirming the details of the switch, as well as contact details for your new supplier.

If you do want to switch to paying by direct debit, you’ll have to fill out the DD form and fill in your bank details on a secure page. A few of you may also need to know your gas or electricity meter number – you can find this on an old bill or on the meter itself.

IMPORTANT- You’ll still have a seven working day cooling-off period to cancel the arrangement.

You’ll receive a welcome pack within a week – and after four weeks the new supplier will let you know when the switch will take place.

ACTION POINT - On this day you need to take a meter reading and give that to the new supplier. They will then contact your old supplier so that they can arrange your last bill and close your account.

You don’t need to change meters/wires because the new supplier uses the same ones. Remember, it’s only after you’ve paid the final bill that you can cancel your direct debit with your old supplier.

Savvy searching

You can either make the switch right away, or if you want to be extra-sure you’ve got the best possible price, try a number of other comparison websites.

You can check out Switch with Which? who have teamed up with the RNLI and will donate £10 to them for each customer who changes their energy supplier. This way you’ll get a cheaper energy price and help a great charity at the same time!

Switch to online billing

If you haven’t already done so, switch to online account management. Suppliers will charge less if you opt to have paperless bills and pay by monthly direct debit.

Online accounts also allow you to enter your own meter reading online, which saves the company having to send someone out to do it.

The saving they make is passed on to you – and according to Energyhelpline it can be anything up to £400 a year. Just be aware that the prices of these tariffs do rise, so keep an eye out!

Cut your energy bills

There are lots of ways you can cut your energy bills at home. Have a look at 50 ways to Save Money and the Planet to find out more.

Home Energy Management is a relatively new idea, but it is widely accepted that giving people visibility of their home energy use they can achieve savings of between 15% and 25% on their energy bills by identifying waste.

But you can take control of your energy use. The AlertMe Energy Starter Kit is now available for £49.
The kit is easy to install and enables people to monitor electricity use in their home and see it in real time online at home, remotely and even on a smart phone. The new web site is not only designed as a portal for users to access their own secure personal energy profile information, it’s also a rich source of energy saving tips and information that will help you continue to save energy and money.

Go further and opt for a green tariff

If you really are keen on going green, you could consider switching to a supplier that provides electricity from renewable sources. There are a few companies out there who do just that:

• Good Energy uses only 100% renewable sources like wind farms, and small-scale hydro and solar power generators from all over Britain.
• Ecotricity builds wind turbines, and gets its energy from wind power.
• And Green Energy UK is another electricity provider committed to renewables.

Do you have tips and ideas for switching providers and cutting your energy bills? Let us know by leaving a comment on this article.

Alternatively, if you want to let off steam about your energy supplier, make your case on our Rip-Off Britain Blog.

Useful links

• Energyhelpline
• Good Energy
• Ecotricity
• Green Energy UK
• Switch with Which?