’Tis the season to shop around

Households are being reminded to shop around for a better gas and electricity deal as temperatures fall.

GoCompare Energy says standard variable rates are the most common form of default energy tariff that people who do not switch will end up on – and they can be hundreds of pounds more expensive than the best deals on the market.

Ben Wilson, from GoCompare Energy, says: “Energy suppliers announced their price increases in the spring and summer, when the weather was warming up and the big winter bills had been dealt with, so there’s a good chance that millions of people would have done nothing about them.”