The market has become so competitive that a few of the comparison websites (moneysupermarket.com, energyhelpline.com) will actually pay you for switching as well as helping you to reduce your bills in the long run. Uswitch.com will do all the paperwork for you, ensuring that you are not left without electricity for any period of time. Plus they provide the customer with incentives to change suppliers. The companies receive commission from the utility companies when customers switch, with most of the benefit passed on to the customer.

You are free to change supplier as often as you like but obviously the saving will decrease each time. The only downside to uswitch.com is the requirement of a land line number for your application. This could prove problematic for students who only have mobile phones.

Energy suppliers are currently offering direct debit bills to lower income customers, but don’t be fooled into believing this is as good as it sounds. In some extreme cases instead of lowering the tariff which customers are on, the companies are simply lowering the direct debit charges and issuing customers with a large bill for the remainder, at the end of the contract.