Cash point

As winter approaches and we turn up the heating, it’s vital to ensure we are on the best energy deal and not paying hundreds of pounds too much.

It’s worth checking because people who have switched their energy supplier this year have saved an average £252.

No wonder almost half a million people changed over in August alone, ready to help beat the bigger winter bills ahead.

Nine out of 10 people are happy with their decision to jump ship, while two-thirds said the Energy Switch Guarantee gave them confidence to make the move, according to research from Energy UK.

The Energy Switch Guarantee, launched last summer, is a set of commitments from energy suppliers to help provide extra reassurance that the process will be simple, speedy, safe and managed by the new energy supplier.

There will be no interruption to your energy supply, the old and new supplier will work to ensure you’re not charged twice for the same energy and the switch won’t take more than 21 days from receipt of your completed application.

Three-quarters of the energy market has signed up to the Guarantee including British Gas,

E.ON, EDF, npower and Scottish Power along with smaller firms such as First Utility, Flow Energy and Sainsbury’s Energy. Find out if you are on the best energy tariff at mirror. co.uk/energy or call 0800 0836 632.