With the huge rise in gas and electricity prices in recent months thousands of people moved from one provider to another in a bid to keep costs down. Now that the prices have begun to fall again though these people, and thousands of others, are again switching to a new supplier so they can benefit from the cheapest prices available. But is it worth switching every six months or so or is it better to stay where you are for the foreseeable future?

The answer to this question depends on a number of factors and switching from one supplier to another won’t benefit everyone. Before making the switch you have to ask yourself things like:

• What unit prices am I getting now for gas and electricity?
• Do I get a discount price for any units I use over a certain number per day, week or month?
• Are my prices capped for the near future?
• How much is my annual bill for gas, electricity or both?
• Do I get any other benefits such as a direct debit discount or a paperless billing discount?
• Will I be charged for switching supplier? (Some contracts have an early switch clause which keeps you loyal for 12 or 18 months)
• How easy is it to get in touch with customer services when I need them?

Once you know the answers to these questions you can look around and compare the tariffs available from other suppliers to see if it is worth switching. In some instances it will be worth the swap but in others it will make more sense to stay with your current provider. A switch will be beneficial if:

• You save money on your annual bills. It’s important to check that this saving isn’t eaten up by the cost of making the switch in the first place though.
• You get the same benefits or better ones from the new supplier.
• You aren’t tied into a long term contract that costs a lot to get out of.
• You get a promotional tariff with a capped rate so that the unit prices can’t go above a certain level but they can fall in line with other tariffs.

These questions can be asked as often as you want and they should definitely be asked at least every six months. If the answers aren’t favourable to you though it is probably worth staying with your current provider. It might be that you find a better deal every six months and in this case it would be beneficial to keep switching from provider to provider. Compare what each provider has to offer and make the choice as and when you need to…and if that means every 6 months then so be it.