- Contract Renewals
Energy Contract Renewal
Business electricity and gas suppliers are offering moderate and medium sized business consumers a bad deal by hiding behind the contract small imprint. Price is the driving factor when negotiating a new business electricity or gas deal but don’t fall into the commodity trap as suppliers will catch you out. Business Electricity and Business Gas suppliers in the UK are hiding behind the supply agree small print to the detriment of their customers. Supply contracts for small and middle sized business electricity and gas customers are heavily weighted in favour of the supplier as many of the contract terms mystical in the small print, are very ambiguous and will undoubtedly win the consumer out if they are not explained before they agree to the contract.
The Contract Small Print
Hidden in the small print is information about the cancellation clauses, price variability conditions, advanced termination timescales and how long the contract lasts for.
These clauses are crucially important when a customer takes out a contract or switches electricity or gas provider.
Always keep the terms and conditions that you agreed to, as these can change.
One of the most important questions the customer needs to ask before they agree to the business energy contract is how long the price is fixed for and what type of contract is being offered? Most business electricity and gas supply contracts for small and medium sized business customers in the UK are “evergreen”, which means that the contract will continue unless the customer serves notice within a specified number of days before the fixed term renewal date.
Although the contract price is the “carrot” when negotiating a new energy agreement please ask the company the following questions before agreeing to sign up:
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How long is my business electricity or gas price fixed for?
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What type of contract am I being offered, is it an evergreen contract that will assume renewal if I do not serve notice?
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How many days termination notice do I have to give you before my fixed price expiry date?
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What method do you use to offer me renewal prices prior to the end of my fixed price expiry date - post, email or telephone?
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Can I cancel the contract mid term and how much will it cost?
New - Ofgems Micro-Businesses Reform:
Small businesses vary significantly in their size and in their energy buying expertise. The probe identified that the smallest businesses struggle to engage in the energy market. So, Ofgem has introduced new rules to give them better protection. The majority of small businesses in Britain are micro-businesses and Ofgem’s reforms only apply directly to these companies. Under the new rules an energy micro-business is defined as a company which*: A business only has to meet one of these criteria to qualify as a micro-business customer. For the full document click here. The new rules take effect from 18th January 2010 and will apply to all new contracts entered into on or after that date. The conditions will not apply retrospectively, meaning that for customers on existing contracts, the new rules will only begin to apply when the contract is extended on, or after that date. Request your Electricity Renewal Quote