How the energy price caps affect your business
It's great news that the industry regulator Ofgem announced that the energy price cap would be lowered by £75.00 per year as of the 01/10/2019. However if you're thinking this applies to your business energy contracts then you'd be wrong... The price cap only applies to consumers to protect them from excessive default tariffs which at one point where widely available.
If you are one of the many business owners in the UK who has never switched or officially renewed your energy contract, then you could be severely out of pocket every month. With out of contact rates being up to 80% higher than fixed or variable contract tariffs it's crucial that you keep on top of your energy bills.
There are a few simple ways you can do this.
- Read the small print on your bill (this should indicate your terms)
- Check the contract end date (if there isn't one you're probably on a deemed tariff)
- Set a reminder at least 3 months before the renewal is due to start getting new prices in. I would recommend looking at new rates 6 months before your end date, the longer you leave it the higher the prices tend to be.
Of course without sounding to biased the best thing to do is to leave this to a reputable business energy broker. Ideally a good one will automatically send through your renewal choices when the time is right and advise you on the best action to take. For businesses the protection just isn't there yet when it comes to energy tariffs and with the industry being such a mine field it's best to leave it to the experts so you can focus on the more important aspects of your business.
I think it is important to note that more and more businesses are realising the importance of keeping track of their energy spend. For years the simple lack of understanding in the commercial energy market was enough for many business owners just to sit back and hope for the best. There is still a long way to go before businesses get on board to scale of the 500,000 consumers who switch every month but the fact you're reading this post means your one of the increasing number of business owner/operators that is consciously aware that keeping tabs on your energy contracts is of growing importance.
