What to check when your fixed energy deal ends

What a fixed energy deal is

A fixed energy deal locks the unit rates and standing charge you pay for a set period — the fixed term. Your bills can still vary month to month with how much energy you use; what is fixed is the price per unit, not the total.

The fixed term has an end date, and that date is the point at which the deal — and the prices it fixed — stops applying.

What happens if you do nothing

When a fixed term ends, your supply does not get cut off. Instead, suppliers typically move you onto a default tariff — often called a standard variable tariff — unless you have chosen something else before the end date.

A default tariff works differently from a fixed one: its prices can change over time rather than being locked for a set period. The rates on a default tariff may be higher or lower than the fixed rates you were on, so it is worth checking what they would actually be rather than assuming.

Where to find your end date

Your fixed term’s end date is usually recorded in several places, and many suppliers also write to you as the end of a fixed deal approaches.

Knowing the date matters because it frames everything else: it tells you when the default tariff would take over, and how long you have to think anything through.

• Your online account or the supplier’s app, usually under the tariff or plan details.
• A recent bill or statement, which often names your tariff and shows when it ends.
• The confirmation email or welcome letter from when the deal started.
• Any end-of-tariff letter or email the supplier sends as the date approaches.

Exit fees and the run-up to the end date

Some fixed deals carry an early-exit fee if you leave before the end of the fixed term; others do not. The tariff details should say whether one applies to your deal and how much it is.

Timing can matter here: whether an exit fee applies may depend on how close you are to the end of the fixed term, so it is worth reading what your own tariff says about leaving in the final stretch.

Questions worth thinking through

The weeks around the end date are a natural moment to look at your own situation, because the deal you were on is ending regardless of what you decide. There is no single right answer — the choice is yours.

These are the questions people commonly weigh up, not a checklist you have to complete.

• What the rates on the default tariff would be, compared with what you have been paying.
• Whether your supplier is offering a new fixed tariff, and what its rates, term, and any exit fee look like.
• How much energy you actually use across a year, which recent bills or your online account can show.
• Whether anything about your household is about to change — moving home, working patterns, new heating — that would alter your usage.
• How you feel about fixed prices versus prices that can move: one offers certainty, the other flexibility.

After the end date

If you move onto a default tariff, nothing further is fixed: the rates can change, and the tariff generally continues on a rolling basis with no new end date to watch for.

Default tariffs typically do not carry an exit fee, so moving to a different tariff later is usually a matter of choosing one rather than waiting for a term to run out — the tariff details will confirm what applies to yours.

A note on this guide

This guide is general information to help you understand your own contracts. It is not financial advice or a recommendation, and it does not rank or endorse any provider. Every decision about your contracts remains with you. To see how PEAMO surfaces your contracts and renewals, read How PEAMO works.