Cut 15% off your energy bills

An energy price war could be heating up as winter draws near. First:Utility has just released a new online tariff iSave which, at an annual cost of £967 to standard consumers, is the cheapest deal on the market.

This is good news for consumers. So far, the big six energy suppliers have resisted making any big cuts to their prices, despite the fact that wholesale gas costs have fallen by 56% over the past year. With any luck, this move from First:Utility might force them to act.

But don't just wait around in the hope that your energy company will drop its prices. You have to chase the savings yourself. If you haven't switched suppliers in the past couple of years, you can probably get a better deal. Head to Uswitch.com or Confused.com to quickly compare all the deals. And if you've never changed supplier you should definitely switch, as you could save yourself hundreds of pounds.

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Even if you've switched recently, you can still trim up to 15% off your annual bill just by paying by monthly direct debit rather than paying the bills as and when they appear. This will save the average Scottish Power consumer £206 a year, for example, according to Confused.com. That's a nice easy bonus to make in your lunch hour.

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Ruth Jackson-Kirby is a freelance personal finance journalist with 17 years’ experience, writing about everything from savings accounts and credit cards to pensions, property and pet insurance.