Calls from 0800 0724699

Having switched my Gas and Electric from British Gas a few months ago I'm still getting calls from them on 0800 072 4699 every few weeks or so.

Although I no longer answer the phone calls I have previously. When I did I discovered it was a British Gas representative saying something along that they're very eager to get me back as a customer.

Why do we get these calls?

Gas and electricity suppliers face fierce competition to win you, the valued customer for their energy suppliers and are always fighting to win new customers. Similarly they are always keen to win back previous customers, especially if they know that they always paid their bills on time and are perhaps in a higher-value energy usage bracket.

However - remember the best way to constantly find the best supplier for your gas and electricity is to use one of the energy comparison services which will take your key details and recommend the cheapest supplier for your energy needs.

Whilst it may well be that British Gas is the best provider for you to switch to, using an independant energy comparison service should be able to tell you this.

So don't fall into the trap of submitting to a very persuasive "customer service representative", make sure you're getting the best deal and you could save a fortune on your gas and electricity costs.

Cheaper electric bills

Overall, energy prices are on the rise and so naturally people are keen to find ways to save money on their electricity bills. With that in mind, here are three simple ideas for you to getting cheaper electric bills...

1 - Make your property more energy efficient

An obvious way to reduce your electricity bills is to reduce the energy that you waste. If your property is heated through electricity then ensuring it is well insulated to make sure you're not loosing money is a must. You should also consider replacing lightbulbs with energy saving ones.

2 - Turn off lights and appliances when not in use

The best known waste of energy is appliances that are left on standby when not in use with Televisions and computers being a common culprits. Another easy way to save energy is making sure you switch off the lights when you leave the room.

3 - Switch your electric supplier today

Compare electricity prices to see if you can get a better deal (see How to get cheaper gas and electricity bills).

How much could you save by following these simple steps?

How much can you save on gas and electricity?

One of the strange things about switching gas and electricity providers is that although it's very quick and easy to do, lots of people never actually get round to it. This is just like throwing money down the drain.

Since it take very little time to switch and costs you nothing there's no reason why you can't find a cheaper gas and electrity supplier every six months to continually make sure you're getting the best deal.

But how much could you save?

Well of course this depends on how much you spend at the moment, but it's very quick and easy to find out (see How to get cheaper gas and electricity bills) but if we imagine that you're able to save £200 per year for example then wouldn't that be worth an hour or so of your time?

How long would it take you to make £200? Chances are it's more than one hour.

What's more that saving is "tax free", depending on how much you earn and how much tax you pay you can add on another 25 - 50% back on to that for the amount you'd have to work to earn that money and all of a sudden it becomes £250 to £300, every year.

Of course if you run a business then the savings could be even higher as savings of over £1,000 are possible which would go straight onto your bottom line profit. Just imagine how much in sales you'd have to get to generate £1,000 extra profit. If you have, say 30% margins on your products then you'd have to turn over more than £3,000 to generate this same £1,000 profit. I'm sure you'd agree that an hour or so on the phone to negotiate a better deal on your business gas and electric bills is a much easier way to increase your profits.

Food for thought? Comments welcome.

Cheaper business energy

As a business energy users you're likely to have higher gas and electricity costs than a domestic energy user and so there are often even greater savings to be made by switching your supplier.

It may supprise you but the difference between the cheapest business gas and electric provider and the most expensive can by a factor of three. So if you're business electric bill us currently £3,000 per year and you're able to switch you could save 66%. That's £2,000 per year added straight to your business profit.

So how do you switch your business energy provider?

Business energy contracts tend to be a little more complex than domestic ones and are sometimes a little more difficult to change, however by following a few simple rules and keeping on top of your contract's renewal dates you can make sure you're on the cheapest business energy supplier and save thousands every year.

The best advice for business users is to use a specialist business energy switching service. As with domestic energy switching companies they will guide you through the process but will typically know more about the process for businesses and be able to provide better advice on what contract you currently have in place and if/when you are able to switch.

Business energy contracts often have clauses whereby you can only change provider within a certain time-window. If you miss this then you may have to pay large cancellation fees and/or not be able to change. With this in mind it's worthwhile contacting a switching company early and having everything prepared and ready to act swiftly.

One UK business energy switching service is Make It Cheaper (www.makeitcheaper.com) who specialises in helping businesses swicth their gas and electricity supplier. There are also others out there including smaller business energy broker firms.

Contact one of these firms and ask them for assistance and they should be able to help you review your contract, find a cheaper supplier for you and help you through the switching process.

How to get cheaper gas and electricity bills

Since the UK energy suppliers market was de-regulated in 1999 you have the ability to shop around to find the cheapest gas and electricity supplier that's right for you. And it's very simple to do so.

Whereas before you had to use the supplier that operated in your region you now have much more flexibility and can change who you buy your gas and electricity from very easily indeed. In essence, there are three main steps to finding and switching to a cheaper energy provider.

So, here are the three main steps...

1. Find out what supplier and package you're currently using
2. Compare your current provider with the others in the market to find the cheapest
3. Go through the swiching process and move to the new provider

These steps are very simple and just by investing an hour or so as a one-off you could be saving a significant amount of money every year.

Let's go through each of these steps in order.

Step 1 - Your current supplier and package

In order to find out what different suppliers will charge for your gas and electricity and how much you could save you need to find out how much you're using, and what you're paying for it at the moment. But don't worry, this is very simple to do and only take a few minutes.

Grab hold of the most recent gas or electricity bill you can find. This will tell you the supplier you're currently using; such as British Gas, E.ON, N-Power etc, approximately how much you're using and the tarriff that you're on.

Hey Presto - you've got everything you need in one place.

As your gas and electricity bill is most likely based on estimated usage it may be that what you're actually using is different from the estimate. A good way to get an up-to-date idea of your usage is to call your current supplier with your current meter reading and ask them to calculate your usage for you. Make a note of this as it's useful info for the next step.

Step 2 - Compare the energy market to find the cheapest

This sounds much more difficult that it is as there are lots of gas and electricity energy comparison companies out there that will look after this for you.

Below is a list of UK energy switching companies for you to choose from:

• U Switch
• Energy Helpline
• Money Supermarket
• UK Power

These companies work by taking your energy usage info (as you gathered in step 1) and then calculating the prices that other suppliers that operate in your area would charge on their energy tarriffs. They can then present these to you and, should you wish, help you proceed with the transfer to the new, cheaper gas and/or electricity provider.

These energy comparison websites and companies do not generally charge for their service but instead get paid a commission from the company that you change to, assuming that you decide to make the switch through them.

Although the energy companies pay the comparison company a commission, there should be no difference in price to you compared to if you had dealt directly. With this in mind it's definitely worth switching with the energy comparison company if they find a deal that you're happy with as they can help you through the process and are on your side if you have any questions along the way. These companies may also have access to special tarriffs that you can't always get when dealing directly with the energy company themselves.

One thing to ask the comparison company that you're working with is whether there are any energy companies which they don't provide prices/quotes for as if this is the case it may be worth calling them directly and getting a quote from them as well for comparison.

Step 3 - Make the switch and save

The process of switching should be quite straightforward and there are thousands of people that make the switch every week. If you're using an energy comparison service then they will usually look after the entire process for you. If you're dealing with a gas or electricity supplier directly they will usually have a standard process that they follow for notifying the supplier that you are leaving and moving everything accross to them.

You may find that when your current energy supplier is told that you're moving away that you receive letters and/or phone calls from them trying to persuade you to stay. They may have an offer that's worth considering however don't be swayed from switching unless they can beat your current price. The sales people from the energy companies can be very persuasive so don't let them get the better of you.

Don't forget, there is no fee for switching energy provider and you can always switch back if/when things change.

Conclusion

Once you've been through the process of switching electricity or switching gas provider you'll realise how easy it is and wonder why you didn't do it before. There are great savings to be had and it's well worth it.

I'd recommend checking what you're paying and whether there is a better deal to be had quite regularly as the gas and electricity suppliers change their tarriffs quite regularly and it may be a better deal has come along.

I hope that you've found this post useful. If so, please post a comment and let me know your experiences when switching your gas and electricity energy supplier.