What to do if your fixed or capped tariff is ending

by Mark Vickery on 13 April 2012  |  1 comment
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Fixed or capped tariff coming to an end? Here are the tariffs to consider!

If you are currently on a fixed or capped tariff that has expired you could find yourself paying more money than you anticipated for your utilities.

Fixed and capped tariffs offer consumers the reassurance that their energy prices will not go up during a set period of time. Usually these tariffs lock customers into contracts with penalties for termination before the expiry date.

However you may not be aware that, in many cases, if you don’t switch to a new tariff at the end of your contract then you can be rolled onto your current supplier’s standard tariff automatically. This could cause a nasty surprise when your monthly bill arrives, as it could see your bills raise by hundreds of pounds annually.

Some popular tariffs that have recently come to an end include British Gas Price Protection March 2012, EDF’s Fixed S@ver and Annual Fix V2, SSE’s Price Fix 5 March 2012 and e.on’s Price Protection April 2012.

To make sure you don’t get caught out by your tariff expiring, be aware of the end date for the fixed or capped period and compare suppliers. Comparing suppliers before your contract expires can ensure you don’t get automatically rolled onto standard rates and the comparison service can hold the date of your switch application so that you don’t get hit by cancellation penalties.

Here are the current cheapest tariffs:

* against typical bill of £1,345 per year as estimated by Ofgem. All costs are for a yearly average usage dual fuel household paying by monthly direct debit. Average usage defined by Ofgem as 16,500 kWh p.a. of gas and 3,300 kWh p.a. of electricity.

Compare energy tariffs at lovemoney.com