Switching your Business Energy Supplier Made Easy
Almost all of the big energy companies make it quite difficult to switch out of their current contracts because of the way they are constructed so we’ve come up with an easy plan to make switching easier.
For most business and commercial customers their energy contracts for gas and electricity are for fixed periods normally one year but they can be longer. Within the contract wording will be a specific period of time when you as a business customer can inform your current energy supplier that you wish to terminate your contract and switch to another supplier.
If you miss this small window of opportunity then you’ll likely be moved to a one year rolling contract which may be on higher rates than you initially signed up for and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it and you’ll be on the higher rates until you can switch again the following year.
Ofgem brought in new rules for micro businesses (for those with less than 10 employees) but for the rest of the business community you are stuck with the existing arrangements. So if you have a current energy contract you are not happy with or just want to shop around to see if you can improve on your current pricing and rates structure then here’s our 3 point plan.
- Go and check your current contract to see a) when it expires and b) when you can terminate it and what type of notice you need to provide to your current provider
- Shop around for new rates from at least the big 6 suppliers by either getting online quotes from their websites or using a business price comparison service which means you only have to key in the data once although the prices that come back should all be the same.
- If you find a cheaper contract then it’s time to move.
Switching to another provider
The switching process is a little more complicated than with domestic customers although some of the price comparison services will do it for you and most probably your new energy supplier for electricity and/ or gas will do all the paperwork for you and switch you over without any hassle. It just takes a little longer because of the paperwork involved and getting the right person within your company to authorise the change over.
Things to watch out for
Generally all commercial businesses are offered fixed prices and fixed term contracts and these prices will rise and fall depending on when you shop around for quotes so this week’s quote may be different from next week. If you have a good contact with your current provider you may wish to ask them about the current pricing.
Sometimes you may get a better deal by choosing a dual fuel tariff but this isn’t always the case so it’s best to get quotes separately for gas and electricity and then both together. Most energy companies will also pass on savings if you pay monthly by direct debit and/ or manage your account online and provide meter readings on a regular basis. Just ask what type of discounts are available.
The biggest element though as we have mentioned above in the switching process is the contract end date and termination dates that you have. Just make a note of these for future reference.
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