Start here
Energy is the odd one out — twice
If you arrived from our broadband or insurance rights pages, reset your assumptions. Energy differs from both, in two ways that change what you should actually do.
First: there is no cancellation call. Switching is run entirely by the supplier you are moving to. You sign up with the new one; they arrange everything with the old one, who can only object if you owe money. Any guide giving you a supplier’s “cancellation number” has misunderstood the market. Verified
Second: energy has a price cap, but not the kind people think. It caps unit rates and standing charges on default tariffs — not your bill. More below, because this is the single most misunderstood thing in UK energy. Verified
Scope: Ofgem regulates Great Britain only. Northern Ireland has its own regulator, the Utility Regulator, and its own rules — this page does not apply there. Verified
End of a fixed tariff
The notice they must send — and the fee ban that comes with it
Ofgem requires your supplier to tell you your fixed tariff is ending 42 to 49 days before the end date. From the moment that notice is sent until the tariff actually ends, charging you an exit fee for switching away is banned.
That is where the “49 days” you see on supplier sites comes from: the regulation guarantees the window from whenever the notice lands, and the major suppliers publish the full 49. Near the end of a fixed tariff you can leave free of charge even if your tariff carries an exit fee. 49 days is the common figure — British Gas, Octopus, E.ON Next and EDF all state it, and British Gas writes it as “49 days / seven weeks”, which is the same thing and explains why some suppliers quote weeks instead. Two do differ: OVO gives 53 days, and ScottishPower’s exit fee page says seven weeks in one section and six in another. Verified
If you do nothing, they cannot roll you onto another fixed deal. Ofgem requires that you drop onto a tariff with no fixed end date and no exit fee — in practice their standard variable tariff, usually at the price cap. Doing nothing is safe from lock-in, but rarely cheap. Verified
Exit fees
Banned in the window — otherwise, your contract decides
Outside that end-of-tariff window, a supplier can charge an exit fee if your contract terms say so — typically a flat amount charged per fuel, so electricity and gas count separately. Variable and default tariffs generally carry none; it is a fixed-tariff feature. Verified
What we could not verify — and will not tell you. Comparison sites widely claim Ofgem requires exit fees to be “proportionate” or capped at the supplier’s loss. We could not find that rule on any Ofgem or Energy Ombudsman page, and no monetary cap exists in any primary source we checked. Until we can trace it, treat the exit fee as whatever your contract says it is. Unverified
Price rises
Fixed means fixed — which changes the leverage
On a fixed tariff, your unit rate and standing charge cannot rise before the end date. Citizens Advice notes the one exception: a government change to VAT. If a supplier tries to move a fixed price mid-term, that is a complaint, not a negotiation. Verified
On a variable or default tariff, Ofgem requires at least 30 days’ notice before a price increase takes effect. Verified
The framing to ignore: “a price rise lets you leave penalty-free” is telecoms logic, and in energy it is mostly a non-event. A fixed price cannot rise, and variable tariffs rarely carry exit fees to escape from. No primary source frames the 30-day notice as a special exit right — it exists to give you time to shop around, which you can do anyway. General
Switching
Five working days, and £40 if they are late
You contact the new supplier only. Once the switch starts it must complete within five working days — and if it takes longer, Ofgem’s Guaranteed Standards require the new supplier to pay you £40 compensation automatically. If they are then late paying that (more than ten working days), they owe you another £40. Your supply is never interrupted; nothing happens to the wires or pipes. Verified
A new energy contract carries a 14-day cooling-off period during which you can cancel for any reason. Citizens Advice notes that using it in full can stretch the total elapsed time to around three weeks — the five-day clock is the transfer itself, not the whole journey. Verified
When things go wrong
Eight weeks, then a free ombudsman that binds them
Complain to the supplier first. If it is not resolved within eight weeks — or they send you a deadlock letter sooner — you can take it to the Energy Ombudsman. It is free, and this is the part worth knowing: once you accept the ombudsman’s decision, the supplier is legally bound to implement it, with 28 days to do so. You lose nothing by escalating; they are the only side that can lose. Verified
Note this is a different threshold from broadband and mobile, where escalation now comes at six weeks. Energy has not moved yet. Verified
This one is dated, deliberately. In June 2026 the government confirmed it will cut the energy threshold to six weeks too, and the ombudsman’s own decision time from six weeks to four. As of 27 July 2026 the change was not yet in force, so eight weeks is still the rule — but if you are reading this months later, check before waiting the extra fortnight. Verified
The price cap
It caps the rate, not the bill
Ofgem is explicit: the price cap does not limit your total bill. It caps the unit rates and standing charges a supplier can charge on default and standard variable tariffs, and is reviewed every three months. Use more energy, pay more — the cap does not stop that.
It also does not apply to fixed tariffs at all. When headlines say “the cap is rising”, millions of fixed-tariff households are unaffected until their deal ends. Verified
The “typical household” annual figure quoted alongside every cap change is a modelling assumption about average consumption, not a promise about your bill. We do not print those figures on this site for exactly that reason. General
Two rights nobody mentions
Back-billing, and the Priority Services Register
The 12-month back-billing rule. If your supplier never sent you an accurate bill for a period, Ofgem bars them from billing you for energy used more than 12 months before the error was found. You lose the protection if the failure was yours — blocking meter access, ignoring their requests, or theft. If a surprise back bill lands, this is the first thing to check. Verified
The Priority Services Register is a free support scheme for customers in vulnerable situations — including temporary ones, like an injury or a period of poor mental health. It brings a safe-visit password scheme, help with meter readings, and advance notice of planned power cuts. The catch worth knowing: it does not follow you when you switch. Re-register with the new supplier. Verified
Sourcing
Where this comes from
| Claim | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| 42–49 day end-of-tariff notice; exit-fee ban from notice to end; default to an evergreen tariff | Ofgem press release on its retail market reform rules for fixed-term deals | 27 July 2026 |
| Fixed prices cannot rise mid-contract (VAT excepted) | Citizens Advice, Your gas or electricity supplier has put up its prices | 27 July 2026 |
| 30 days’ notice of a price rise on variable tariffs | Ofgem press release on advance notice of price rises | 27 July 2026 |
| Gaining-supplier switching, 5 working days, £40 delay compensation, 14-day cooling-off | Ofgem switching guidance; Ofgem, Get compensation for problems switching energy suppliers; Citizens Advice switching guide | 27 July 2026 |
| Eight-week ombudsman threshold; decisions free and binding, 28 days to implement | Ofgem complaints guidance; Energy Ombudsman, Our process | 27 July 2026 |
| Planned cut of that threshold to six weeks | GOV.UK consultation response Fairer, Faster Redress in the Energy Market, June 2026 — confirmed, not yet in force | 27 July 2026 |
| Price cap limits unit rates and standing charges, not bills; quarterly; default tariffs only | Ofgem, Energy price cap and standing charges explained | 27 July 2026 |
| 12-month back-billing limit | Ofgem, What to do if you get a back bill | 27 July 2026 |
| Priority Services Register | Ofgem press release on the Priority Services Register | 27 July 2026 |
| A cap on exit fees, or a “proportionate” requirement | Not found in any Ofgem or Energy Ombudsman source. Widely claimed elsewhere; we do not repeat it | Not verified |
| The specific licence condition numbers behind these rules | Ofgem’s consolidated licence documents could not be machine-read; rather than cite a number from a third party, we cite none | Not verified |
Bill Watch
One email, three weeks before your renewal or fixed deal ends, telling you it's time to shop around. Free, and that's the whole product.
No spam, no sharing your address, unsubscribe in one click. We'll email you once to confirm — the reminder only starts after you click that link.