Loyalty to your energy supplier doesn’t pay – switch

New measures will make energy suppliers22 switch you to a cheaper deal when your fixed-rate tariff ends.

Regularly switching energy supplier can shave hundreds of pounds off your energy bills. Many of us are still sitting on expensive standard rates because we’ve forgotten, don’t know how, or can’t be bothered to switch provider when our introductory deal has ended.

If you don’t switch energy supplier regularly you end up on your provider’s standard tariff. These can leave you paying “over the odds by as much as £324 for gas and electricity”, Hollie Borland reported in The Sun last year. Known as the “loyalty penalty”, that’s the difference between the price of a provider’s standard rate and their cheapest deal.

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Ruth Jackson-Kirby

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.

Ruth started her career at MoneyWeek after graduating with an MA from the University of St Andrews, and she continues to contribute regular articles to our personal finance section. After leaving MoneyWeek she went on to become deputy editor of Moneywise before becoming a freelance journalist.

Ruth writes regularly for national publications including The Sunday Times, The Times, The Mail on Sunday and Good Housekeeping, among many other titles both online and offline.