Is it difficult to switch to a new energy supplier?

As a thumb of rule, energy costs are rising every year. It is always good to keep looking for alternatives and better offers. This article will answer how difficult is it to change your energy supplier and how to do it if you need to.

* Prepare the information you will need.
- You need the current energy tariff your household is on.
- The name of the company you currently use as an energy supplier and the name of the tariff are also needed.
- Calculate how much you have spent last year on energy. Please be accurate and base your calculations on the bills you received and not on assumptions.
- You also obviously need your address and postcode.
- Your current payment method – do you prepay, pay monthly or on a receipt?
- Your current yearly usage – if you don’t know it – just prepare the amount of money paid yearly.

* Do a little bit of research. You want to know all the energy suppliers in your region and compare their offers. There are websites to help you with this. For example:
- Love Money energy suppliers center - https://energy.lovemoney.com/
- Which energy supplier center - https://www.which.co.uk/switch/
(again, you will need your home postcode and the information mentioned above)

* Do not compare only the tariff but look for other benefits or financial traps. Be careful looking at the different offers. Go to the supplier website and read more about the offer itself and if there are any “hidden” costs / extra charges.

* Choose a new supplier. Base your choice on the following items:
- What is the tariff that offers the best value for my household needs? Make sure the offer fits the amount of fuel you plan to be using.
- What about extra charges or hidden costs? Be careful and read the offers completely.
-  Is there an incentive or any discount, promotional periods, etc... Again, be careful as once the promotion is over you might end up paying more than what you do currently. Calculate your future energy costs precisely or ask for help.
- What payment options are available? Payment options could impact on your energy costs considerably.
- What is the company overall reputation? Talk to your neighbors and read online about the company and the new tariff you want to switch to. What do they say?

* Switch to the new supplier when ready. Just follow those easy steps:
- Contact your old supplier and give a notice that you would like to cancel their service. Usually it will take a month to cancel completely. You could contact the new supplier directly or by the site you are doing the comparison.
- Pay all of your bills to the old supplier.
- Contact the new energy supplier and apply for the tariff you have chosen. It will take some time to do the switch. And you will have to sign a contract first.
- Keep track of your meter figures and on the day specified by your new supplier make a record of the numbers so they could start measuring.