Your fix ended. Here is what that costs.
Being out of contract costs up to £56 a year, measured against the cheapest fixed tariff we can verify at Ofgem's medium electricity consumption, and the gap is different in every electricity region. In 1 of the 14 regions there is currently no fix we can verify that beats the cap at all. Nobody writes to tell you your fix has ended. Checked 27 August 2026.
What being out of contract actually means
When a fixed energy tariff ends and you do nothing, you are not cut off and you are not penalised. You are moved onto your supplier's default tariff, which is the one the Ofgem price cap applies to. That is why the cap exists: it is the ceiling on what a supplier may charge somebody who is not paying attention.
So being out of contract does not mean you are being ripped off. It means you are paying the regulated maximum rather than the best price on the market, and the difference is the number above. There is no exit fee on a default tariff and you can move whenever you like.
You can tell from your bill. A default tariff is usually called standard variable, flexible, or simply your supplier's name followed by the word variable. If it has an end date printed on it, you are still in a fix.
The gap where you live
Electricity only, at Ofgem's medium consumption of 2,500 kWh, paying by direct debit. The cap column is the regulated price for a default tariff. The fixed column is the cheapest fixed tariff we could verify in that region on 27 August 2026.
| Electricity region | Out of contract | Cheapest fix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | £822 on the cap | £796 E.ON Next | £26 a year cheaper |
| Eastern England | £854 on the cap | £823 E.ON Next | £31 a year cheaper |
| London | £822 on the cap | £775 EDF Energy | £47 a year cheaper |
| Merseyside and Northern Wales | £943 on the cap | £887 E.ON Next | £56 a year cheaper |
| North Eastern England | £861 on the cap | £839 EDF Energy | £23 a year cheaper |
| North Western England | £829 on the cap | £807 E.ON Next | £22 a year cheaper |
| Northern Scotland | £860 on the cap | £861 EDF Energy | no saving. The cheapest fix here is £1 a year dearer than the cap |
| South Eastern England | £863 on the cap | £829 E.ON Next | £34 a year cheaper |
| South Wales | £866 on the cap | £836 EDF Energy | £30 a year cheaper |
| South Western England | £867 on the cap | £846 E.ON Next | £22 a year cheaper |
| Southern England | £836 on the cap | £806 E.ON Next | £30 a year cheaper |
| Southern Scotland | £877 on the cap | £841 E.ON Next | £36 a year cheaper |
| West Midlands | £849 on the cap | £817 E.ON Next | £31 a year cheaper |
| Yorkshire | £865 on the cap | £814 E.ON Next | £51 a year cheaper |
Fixing is not automatically cheaper
In 1 of these 14 regions, every fixed tariff we can verify today is dearer than the price cap. That is worth saying plainly, because the usual advice is that being out of contract always costs you. It does not. A fix buys certainty about next winter, and sometimes you pay for that certainty rather than save by it.
What a fix protects you against is the cap moving. What it costs you is the difference above, if there is one, plus an exit fee if you want out early.
Three suppliers publish their prices openly enough for us to check them every morning, so this is not the whole market and a better fix may exist elsewhere. The cap rates are for 1 October to 31 December 2026 at 0% VAT. Every tariff we can verify →
If you are still inside a fix
Leaving a fixed tariff early usually costs an exit fee, charged per fuel, so a dual fuel household pays it twice. Whether moving is worth it is simple arithmetic: the annual saving, minus the fee, over the months you have left.
One rule is worth knowing. A supplier cannot charge you an exit fee in the last 49 days of a fixed term. That window exists so you can switch away as your fix ends without being penalised for it. If your fix ends within seven weeks, moving costs you nothing.
Ask the assistant on the front page and it will do the arithmetic with your own numbers, including the exit fee where the supplier publishes one. Check yours →
How to check, in two minutesEverything you need is on your own bill
- Find your tariff name. It is on the first page of a bill or the front screen of your online account.
- Look for an end date. A fix has one. A default tariff does not.
- Find your annual consumption in kWh, usually near the meter readings.
- Put the tariff name, your kWh and your postcode into the assistant on the front page.
It costs every tariff we can verify at your usage rather than at an average household, and shows the arithmetic so you can check it. Do it now →
Where this comes from, and where it could be wrongSources and limits
The out of contract column is the Ofgem price cap for that region at Ofgem’s medium electricity consumption. The fixed column comes from suppliers’ own published rates, refetched every morning, on the direct debit basis.
What could be wrong. It is electricity only and ignores gas, so a dual fuel household’s gap is larger. It uses Ofgem’s medium consumption, and yours will differ. Only three suppliers publish openly enough for us to check them daily, so the genuinely cheapest fix on the market may not be here. Some suppliers price slightly below the cap on their default tariff, so your own out of contract price may be a little under the cap column. And the 49 day rule is an Ofgem licence condition, not a promise from any particular supplier, so check your own terms.
Found a mistake? [email protected].
30 price changes logged. Every one had a date you could have known in advance.
Tell us which bills you care about and we will email you when one of them changes, with the figure, the date it starts and a link to the regulator that set it. Free, no account, one click to stop.
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