If your tariff expires in September it is likely that you’ve already started receiving renewal quotes from your current energy supplier.
A little known rule in the energy market is that Exit Fees cannot be applied by suppliers in the final 7 weeks (49 days exactly) of your energy tariff. This is a rule set forth by Ofgem that gives consumers the flexibility to move to cheaper and better deals as their tariffs come to an end.
Hence, once you reach 49 days prior to the expiry of your energy tariff, then your supplier will reach out and try to switch you to a cheaper fixed rate tariff as soon as possible, getting you to be their customer for another 12+ months.
DO NOT renew with your supplier until you’ve run a price comparison. They may not be the cheapest supplier in the market any more and switching to save money is really easy. It takes about 3 minutes to switch supplier and then the process will be completed for you in the background over the following 5 days. You’ll receive all of your welcome information automatically and you’ll receive a final bill/refund from your current supplier in the following weeks.
It is important to note that “the cheapest” tariff in the market isn’t always a universal truth, as it depends on the unit rates of the tariff and each person’s specific usage, that’s why using a price comparison tool is so helpful as it can show you the best tariff for you. That being said, for the average medium usage household in the UK right now, EDF appears to have the cheapest tariff with their Simply Fixed Aug26v5 which is roughly £118 cheaper than the price cap, with E.ON Next tracking close behind with their Fixed 12m v74 being £101 cheaper than the price cap.
As the price cap is likely to stay at around £1,700 for the next 6-8 months, and then is expected to increase in April 2026, switching to a fixed rate tariff today is prudent and is likely to save more than what the price comparison sites show. This is because price comparison websites compare the price of the fixed rate tariff to the price of the current price cap if it lasted for a full year, which no price cap does (price caps change every three months).
So, as I said at the start, if you’ve got less than 7 weeks left on your fixed rate tariff, then you should be switching to a new fixed rate tariff now.
If you do switch in the final 49 days of your tariff and your supplier charges you the exit fees, this is just a mistake by them, a quick phonecall and they will rectify the mistake. This does happen, just keep calm and explain to them that you were within the final 49 days of your tariff so the exit fees do not apply, they will go “oh yeah, sorry about that, I’ll remove the fees” and then you won’t have to pay them – and if they try to force it then raise it as a complaint and go to the energy Ombudsman, but that’s extremely unlikely to happen.
