Switching your home energy tariff is incredibly easy and is set to only improve further with the introduction of "next day switching". Currently, around 6 million UK homes switch their energy tariff each year saving on average around £300 in the process (or around 25%). Depending on your house size, and energy consumption, that is a significant saving for what essentially takes a few minutes. If you do not proactively switch your energy tariff, you will automatically roll on to your energy supplier's 'Standard Variable' tariff. This is often their most expensive tariff meaning they make money from your apathy to switching. It also means you are fully exposed to market fluctuations meaning should energy prices increase, your bills could sky rocket as they did in 2008 when the market was hit by 35% rises in the depths of Summer.
We have been a founding energy comparison website to the Ofgem Confidence Code since 2003 and have helped millions of homes across the UK switch to a different energy provider. It is what we do. We do not dabble in other markets meaning we are an energy switching specialist and have historically provided our services to some of the UK's leading price comparison websites. We are a small team who spend our hours day-in-day-out monitoring the energy market and ensuring our customers get the best possible service. We are not distracted with car insurance, home insurance, credit cards or any other product offering some of our peers distract themselves with. Energy is our passion!
Our library of energy tariffs has been maintained daily since 2003 consisting of hundreds of thousands of rows of tariff data. Our Ofgem approved comparison engine compares your current tariff against those available in the open market and provides you with an accurate comparison of how much you could save by switching energy supplier. If you are happy to proceed, our system sends your application securely to your supplier of choice. Usually within 14-days your switch will be complete and your bills will reduce. It really is that simple. You don't need to worry about anything other than entering a few details and sitting back to count your savings!
The energy market changes daily. Believe us we input tariff data all day every day as energy suppliers compete to position themselves in the market either nationally or focused on a particular customer group or location. By using our Ofgem approved comparison engine you can rest assured you are comparing the best deals. For us, "the best" isn't just about price though. We want to ensure that our customers only switch to energy suppliers who will offer great customer service as well as great pricing. In doing so, we believe this protects you as a customer and ensures you don't have to sacrifice quality to save money.
Our best advice would be to pick a competitive price but also consider the quality of the provider. Do they have positive reviews? Will they be easy to contact if you have any issues? Is their online account system easy to use? Will they be around for the long-term? If you switch with TheEnergyShop.com this is a given as we vet our panel to this very criteria but if you should choose to switch energy suppliers elsewhere (we'll forgive you in time!) then we advise you to consider these questions. The latest statistics from EnergyUK show that around 34% of customers are switching from the so-called "larger suppliers" to "small and mid-tier suppliers". In a fast-growing energy market, we are seeing many new entrants rush to the top of price comparison results pages on price but their customer service can sometimes be lacking as they struggle to handle the volumes that can flow their way. In doing so, this can lead to consumer frustration as teething issues set in so as we say consider price but also service.
21-days is the industry standard and "next day" switching is in the pipeline (excuse the pun!). The 'Energy Switch Guarantee'
is signed up to by all of the "big six" – comprising of British Gas, SSE, EDF Energy, npower, Scottish Power and E.ON. There are also a
number of smaller suppliers signed up including suppliers such as Octopus Energy, Shell Energy, So Energy and Bulb to name a few. The full list
can be found here.
For these suppliers, switching is done within 21-days from the date of your application but the market has bigger plans to move towards next
day switching in the coming years. A welcome move in our eyes to ensure customers can save as much as possible on their energy bills.
All switching applications come with a mandatory 14-day cool-off period should you wish to cancel your application and revert back to your
original supplier.
The switching process itself is very straight forward. No loss of supply and once your application is made you need only provide a final
meter reading to close your current energy supply and start a fresh.
No. You will not lose supply at any stage. It is simply a case of suppliers agreeing to pick up your energy consumption billing from an agreed date and to change the fee they charge. That's it.
Yes. If you own the energy account to your property and pay for your consumption directly with the energy supplier(s) to the property you are free to switch. When you move out, the property will default to the existing supplier's "standard variable" tariff. If your landlord pays for the energy to the property, then you would need to speak to them about ensuring the property is on the best possible energy tariff to ensure your bills are kept to a minimum.
Yes. Prepayment meters don't have the same range of tariffs available to choose from nor do all price comparison websites cater for them but you can still switch to find the best possible deal. Essentially the energy markets version of "Pay As You Go", prepayment meters remain popular for around 6m customers throughout the UK. As with any meter type, visit an 'Ofgem Accredited' price comparison website and run a comparison to find your best option. Should you wish to remove your prepayment meter for a standard credit meter, this is best arranged with your existing supplier who may charge a fee for the work. However, we advise you haggle and by sticking with them they will hopefully waive this fee for your continued custom.
The code is a voluntary code of conduct adhered to by a select number of price comparison websites including TheEnergyShop.com. The code is designed to protect consumers and ensure that each of the signaturies to the code carry out in-depth, unbiased and accurate comparisons of the UK energy market at all times in a fair and consistent way. We are proud to have been signaturies of the Code since it's foundation under Energywatch in 2003.