What Happens to Your Credit When You Switch Energy Supplier
If your account is in credit when you leave a supplier, that money is still yours. It doesn’t get absorbed, written off, or quietly kept as a leaving fee, an energy switching refund is something Ofgem requires suppliers to pay back automatically, without you having to fight for it.
The confusion usually comes from timing rather than entitlement. Your final bill can take a few weeks to land after you’ve actually switched, and the balance on it depends on your last meter reading, not the number sitting in your account today.
This catches out a lot of people right when switching activity picks up, which is exactly what’s happening now with October’s price cap decision due by the end of August. More households comparing deals means more energy switching refunds working their way through the system at once, so a slightly slower response from a supplier isn’t necessarily a red flag.
Is Your Old Supplier Allowed to Keep Your Credit?
No. Once your final bill is settled, any credit left over is due back to you, full stop. Suppliers sometimes drag their feet, but they don’t have a legal right to hold onto it once the account is closed and the numbers are confirmed.
The one exception worth knowing about is debt, not credit. If you owe money rather than being owed it, a supplier can sometimes object to a switch or ask you to clear a balance first, particularly if the amount is large. That’s a different situation from a standard energy switching refund and worth sorting out with your supplier directly before you attempt to move.
Key takeaways
- Credit on your account when you switch is legally yours, suppliers must refund it.
- Suppliers get up to six weeks after your switch to send a final bill.
- Once that’s settled, the refund itself should follow within about 10 working days.
- If it doesn’t arrive, the Energy Ombudsman is the free next step.
How Long Does the Energy Switching Refund Take?
Suppliers typically have up to six weeks after your switch completes to issue a final bill. Once that bill is settled, the actual refund usually follows within around 10 working days. Add those together and you could be waiting six to eight weeks in total between your switch date and the money landing back in your account.
That’s slower than most people expect, and it’s the single biggest source of “where’s my money” questions we see about switching. It isn’t lost, it’s just working through a process with a fixed timeline attached.
The amount itself can vary a lot too. Someone who overpaid through a single winter on a fixed direct debit might be due back a modest sum, while someone who’s been on the same tariff for years without ever checking their balance can find an energy switching refund runs into a few hundred pounds. Either way, the process and the timeline are the same regardless of the amount.
What if the Refund Doesn’t Turn Up?
Start with your old supplier directly and ask for a written timeline, most delays are administrative rather than deliberate. If weeks pass beyond what they’ve told you and nothing changes, you’re entitled to raise it with the Energy Ombudsman once your complaint has been open with the supplier for eight weeks, or sooner if they issue a deadlock letter.
Ofgem’s own guidance on unclaimed energy credit is worth a read too, since suppliers occasionally hold onto money for accounts that were closed some time ago and never chased. It’s also where you’ll find a running list of old, dormant energy switching refunds sitting with suppliers that have since merged or changed hands.
Keep hold of your final bill and any switch confirmation emails until the refund actually lands. They’re the quickest way to prove what you’re owed if a query drags on longer than it should.
How to Avoid a Big Credit Balance Building Up
Large credit balances usually creep up because a direct debit was set based on last winter’s usage and never adjusted once things settled down. Checking your balance every few months and asking your supplier to recalculate it, rather than waiting for an annual review, keeps the number closer to what you actually owe.
It also means less of your own money sitting with a supplier waiting for an energy switching refund to release it, and a smaller final bill to untangle whenever you do decide to move.
If you’re already switching, our guide to switching supplier covers the process end to end, and our energy price cap guide explains how the rates behind your bill are actually set.
Frequently asked questions about energy switching refunds
- Do I need to ask for my energy switching refund, or does it happen automatically?
- It should happen automatically once your final bill is settled. You shouldn’t need to request it, though chasing is reasonable if it’s overdue.
- Can my old supplier refuse to refund my credit?
- No, not once your account is closed and the final bill confirmed. If they do refuse, that’s exactly the kind of case the Energy Ombudsman deals with.
- What if I owe money instead of being in credit?
- You’ll usually need to pay off what you owe, or agree a plan with your old supplier, since debt works differently to credit and can sometimes affect whether a switch goes through.
- Does switching supplier affect my credit score?
- A standard switch itself doesn’t. Unpaid energy debt that goes to a debt collector can, which is another reason to sort out any balance owed before or during a switch.
- Is there a time limit on claiming an old energy switching refund?
- Not a strict one, but the longer it sits unclaimed the harder it can be to track down, especially if a supplier has since been through a merger or sale.
