Exit Fees and Energy Tariff Contract Terms

An exit fee is the amount an energy supplier charges a household for leaving a contract early, and on today's fixed tariffs it is often around £100 per fuel¹, meaning a dual fuel household leaving a deal part way through could face roughly £200 in charges². The fee only bites on fixed-term deals, and only before the contract's final stretch: Ofgem, the industry regulator, has ruled that a supplier cannot charge any exit fee if a household switches within the last 49 days of the contract³. Outside that window, most fixed tariffs carry a fee for each fuel, payable to the previous supplier on leaving⁵.

The scale of these charges has grown sharply. Exit fees increased by 345 per cent in the three years to August 2024, and the majority of fixed tariffs now carry charges of more than £100⁶. Observed fees on affected fixed tariffs range from £50 to £400, with one supplier, Ecotricity, averaging £150². For a household weighing a switch, the fee has to be set against the savings on offer, and official research shows how heavily it weighs: when a deal carries no exit fee, 93 per cent of consumers who believed they had an exit fee on their current contract would switch, falling to 61 per cent when a £300 fee is present⁷.

How early termination charges work and when they apply

An exit fee is the charge a supplier makes when a customer leaves a contract before its end date. Ofgem's own guidance for households puts it plainly: "You may have to pay your previous supplier an 'exit fee' if you were on a fixed rate tariff and chose to leave before it ended."³ The fee is a contract term, set by the supplier and written into the tariff's terms and conditions, not a regulator's charge, so the amount varies from deal to deal and supplier to supplier¹⁰.

Exit fees are typically only applied to fixed energy deals¹¹. Most fixed tariffs include exit fees for each fuel, which customers have to pay if they want to switch to a different deal before the contract ends⁵. Some tracker tariffs also carry them, since they too are fixed-term contracts¹. Standard variable tariffs, the default rates households roll onto when a fixed deal ends, generally carry no exit fee at all, so a household on a variable rate can leave at any time without charge⁹.

Awareness of the rule is high but incomplete. Ofgem's consumer research, published in July 2025, found 88 per cent of consumers know that exit fees may apply when leaving a fixed tariff contract before it ends⁷. Fewer, 57 per cent, could identify that exit fees may still apply to a fixed contract even when moving to another deal with the same supplier⁷. That gap matters in practice: a household can be charged for moving from one fixed deal to another with the same company, not only for changing supplier. The full rules on when an exit fee is payable on a fixed tariff are covered on a separate page.

The amounts suppliers really charge households to leave

The amounts charged have risen and now cluster around £100 per fuel. Which? reports that exit fees on fixed tariffs are typically £100 or more, often £100 per fuel for leaving before the end of the contract¹. uSwitch gives the same figure: many exit fees are still as much as £100 per fuel, so on a dual fuel deal the total could reach £200¹¹. Which?'s consumer advice in September 2026 described exit fees as "almost universal at the moment, and often £100 on a 12 month fixed tariff"⁸.

The range across the market is wide, and the figures differ between sources because they were read at different times in a fast-moving market:

Older and lower figures reflect a market that has moved. Energy Help Line put typical fees at £25 to £30 per fuel, while noting exit fees upwards of £60 appearing in 2025¹⁰. During the last energy crisis, exit fees climbed to more than £100 per fuel in some cases, and there are early signs that suppliers are once again increasing exit fees on fixed tariffs¹⁶. End Fuel Poverty's Tariff Watch found the majority of fixed tariffs carry exit fees of more than £100, and that Ecotricity charges the highest exit fees, averaging £150⁶.

The 49 day period in which leaving costs nothing

The single most important protection around exit fees is the switching window. Ofgem has ruled that an energy supplier cannot charge any exit fees if a household switches within the last 49 days of the contract¹⁰. StepChange states the rule in the same terms: "Your provider cannot charge exit fees if you switch within 49 days of your current deal ending."⁴ The window is seven weeks: Citizens Advice puts it as a supplier not being able to charge a fee to switch if the contract ends in the next 7 weeks¹⁷.

Inside that window, the fee is waived entirely:

• Exit fees cannot be charged in the last 49 days of a fixed tariff¹
• A household inside the final 49 days can switch without paying any exit fees¹²
• Customers can switch provider in the last 49 days of a contract without paying exit fees¹⁸
• If a fixed plan is ending within 49 days, no exit fees are owed on switching away¹⁹

Outside the window, the fee usually applies. If a household wants to leave a fixed deal before the final 49 days of the contract, it will probably have to pay an exit fee²⁰, and the same applies where more than 49 days remain²¹. Act on Energy summarises the boundary: a household cannot be charged early exit fees if it has 49 days or less left on its contract²².

Timing a switch inside the window has a practical advantage beyond avoiding the fee. Confused.com advises that switching with 21 to 49 days left on a current tariff avoids spending days or weeks on the old rate after it ends²³. The window therefore works as a bridge: a household can line up its next deal before the old one expires, pay nothing to leave, and avoid any gap on a variable rate. The mechanics of switching supplier for free on a fixed tariff are set out in detail elsewhere on the site.

What a fixed tariff locks in and its duration

A fixed tariff locks in the price of energy for a set term. The unit cost of energy and the daily standing charge are fixed; what varies is only the amount of energy used¹⁷. Citizens Advice explains the mechanics: "The amount you're charged is set by the amount of energy you use, the unit cost and the daily fee. The unit cost of your energy and the daily fee are fixed."¹⁷ A fixed tariff therefore protects against price rises, not against higher bills caused by using more energy in a cold winter.

The length of the lock-in varies by deal. Which? puts fixed terms at usually 12 to 24 months¹; uSwitch's press coverage of the market in February 2026 described fixed rates locked in for usually 12 to 18 months²⁴; Confused.com puts the typical contract at 12 months²³; and Citizens Advice states that fixed tariffs usually last for a year¹⁷. Home Energy Scotland notes fixed-rate tariffs often involve signing up for contracts lasting a set period, such as 12 months²⁵. The differences reflect the deals each source was looking at rather than a single market-wide term.

Two protections come with the fixed term. First, the supplier cannot increase the price a household pays unless the government has raised VAT¹⁷. Second, the supplier should remind the customer when the contract is about to end¹⁷. Knowing the end date matters because it opens the 49-day window, and because the fixed rate itself is only guaranteed to that date. What a fixed tariff does and does not fix is covered more fully on the fixed-rate energy tariffs page.

Tariff types and cases where no leaving charge applies

The exit fee question is really a question of contract type. Standard variable energy tariffs do not often come with exit fees⁹, and Which? states the position flatly: "You won't be charged exit fees to leave a variable tariff."¹⁸ A household on a variable rate can leave whenever it likes, at no cost, which is the trade-off for accepting a rate that moves.

That rate movement is the other side of the bargain. If a household does not fix an energy deal, it will typically pay the provider's default variable rate, which is determined by the energy price cap and changes every three months¹. From 1 October 2026 the cap rose by 4 per cent to £1,723 a year for a typical dual fuel household paying by Direct Debit¹², adding around £60 a year¹⁰, driven mainly by higher wholesale gas prices. A variable rate therefore offers freedom to leave but exposure to every cap movement; a fixed rate offers price certainty but a charge for leaving early.

Choosing to leave a fixed-rate tariff before the contract end date might result in exit fees, so a household planning to switch should check whether exit fees would apply and how much they would cost²⁵. The comparison between the two contract types, and which suits which household, is examined on the fixed vs variable tariff page.

The end of a fixed deal and what follows

A fixed tariff does not renew itself. With a fixed rate, a household rolls onto its provider's standard variable rate when the tariff ends⁴. uSwitch describes the same outcome: suppliers will probably move customers to their standard variable tariff when a fixed plan ends, although some suppliers may offer the chance to move to a new deal instead²⁰.

The supplier should give notice that this is coming. Citizens Advice's guidance is that the supplier will automatically move the customer onto the standard variable tariff when the fixed deal has ended, and should remind the customer when the contract is about to end¹⁷. That reminder is the cue to compare the market, because the standard variable rate is rarely the cheapest option: Which? reported in September 2026 that a typical household could save around £115 per year compared with the October price cap by moving off the default rate⁸.

Doing nothing has a cost, in other words, but it does not lock the household in. If a fixed tariff has already ended, the household can still switch supplier or tariff¹⁷, and no exit fee applies to a variable rate. uSwitch's guidance is to treat switching as a habit every 12 to 18 months, since customers who do not sign a new deal are probably rolled onto the supplier's standard variable tariff²⁶. One supplier-specific example shows how terms can differ: on Octopus Energy's fixed-price tariffs, a customer can switch without incurring an exit penalty if energy prices subsequently fall below what they are paying²⁷. The full picture is on the what happens when a fixed deal ends page.

House moves, renters and when a supplier fails

Exit fees generally do not follow a household to a new address. If a household moves its tariff to the new house, exit fees do not apply²⁸, and uSwitch confirms that for energy, a household usually will not pay an exit fee if it moves house¹¹. The position is set out in full on the taking a fixed tariff when moving page. The exception is a household that cancels its tariff rather than moving it: if it is on a fixed tariff, it might have to pay an exit fee²⁸.

Supplier failure removes the fee altogether. If an energy supplier fails, its customers can switch to another provider without incurring any exit fees, even if they were previously on a fixed contract²⁹. This matters because the fee is a contract with a specific company: when that company exits the market, the contract's exit terms fall with it, and the household is free to choose a new deal. Households in this position are moved to a temporary supplier first, but the freedom to switch on without charge remains.

The wider lesson is that an exit fee is a term of one contract with one supplier, not a permanent tie. It ends when the contract ends, when the 49-day window opens, when the household moves and takes the tariff along, or when the supplier fails. What persists is the household's need to keep track of its own contract: official research found considerably more consumers claiming to be on fixed tariffs, 38 per cent, than official data suggests, 11 per cent⁷, and 55 per cent of those who say they are on a fixed tariff for electricity report being very confident this is the case⁷.

Safeguards for switchers if problems arise

Ofgem's rules give households compensation when a switch goes wrong. If an energy supply is switched by mistake, the affected household could get £40³. The protection sits under the Erroneous Transfer Customer Charter, which all energy suppliers must follow: "You could get compensation if this happens to you."³⁰ An erroneous transfer is when a household is moved to a supplier it never chose, and the charter sets out the redress.

A supplier also cannot have it both ways on exit fees. Citizens Advice Wales lists among the things a supplier must not do: charge an exit fee to switch supplier after they said the household can switch³¹. Once a supplier has confirmed a switch can proceed, the fee cannot be added afterwards.

Official research shows how much these terms shape behaviour. Among consumers who thought they had an exit fee on their current contract, 93 per cent would switch to a deal with no exit fee, other attributes at their optimum; the figure falls to 81 per cent with a £50 exit fee, and to 61 per cent for a deal with a £300 fee and £300 annual savings from a 5-star rated supplier⁷. The fee is not a small print detail: it is one of the strongest single factors in whether a household switches at all. Comparing the exit fee against the savings on offer is the practical test, since moving to a cheaper tariff could still save money overall even after paying the fee³².

Other contract conditions to check

The exit fee is one term among several that a tariff's conditions carry. Payment method is another: prepayment meter customers pay for energy before they use it, topping up via token, key or smartcard, online or via an app⁵, and if a household is on a prepayment meter there is a more limited choice of fixed tariffs, though some exist²². Prepayment customers have had specific protection since tariff caps for customers on prepayment meters were introduced in April 2017³³.

Eligibility restrictions also shape what a household can sign up to. Fixed rate tariffs normally carry a minimum term of 12 months³⁴, which is what makes the exit fee possible in the first place: the fee is the price of leaving a term early. Some fixed-rate tariffs charge a fee if the household leaves before the contract ends, and some do not³², so the presence and size of the fee is a term to compare alongside the unit rate itself.

Official guidance encourages households to weigh this at the outset. Climate Action Wales, drawing on consumer advice, recommends choosing a tariff with low or no exit fees, in case circumstances change and the contract needs to be cancelled early³⁵. That is a recognition that a fixed deal is a bet on the next 12 to 24 months¹: on household circumstances as much as on energy prices. The wider rules suppliers must follow are on the tariff rules and consumer protections page, and the practical comparison of deals is covered under comparing energy tariffs.

Exit charges and their effect on household energy freedom

An exit fee is, in effect, a price on a household's freedom to change its mind. Exit fees on energy bills increased by 345 per cent in the three years to August 2024⁶, and End Fuel Poverty's Tariff Watch recorded the same 345 per cent rise over the last three years, with fees on affected fixed tariffs ranging from £50 to £400². A fee at that level can outweigh the savings from switching, which is precisely its function: it keeps a household on a supplier's books through the contract term.

The dependence it creates is narrow but real. A fixed tariff already ties a household to one supplier for the term; the exit fee deepens that tie by making an early exit costly. The counterweights are the 49-day window, which guarantees a free exit at the end of every fixed term³, the absence of exit fees on variable tariffs⁹, and the removal of fees when a supplier fails²⁹. None of these give a household independence from the market itself: every tariff, fixed or variable, leaves the household buying its energy from a supplier at a price shaped by wholesale costs and the price cap.

What exit fees do change is the household's ability to respond. Half of households reported being unsure how to reduce their energy bills amid wars and price volatility, according to uSwitch's February 2026 research²⁴, and a large exit fee narrows the options exactly when responding matters most. A household that knows its contract end date, watches for the supplier's reminder, and acts inside the 49-day window keeps the benefit of fixing without paying for the privilege of leaving. That habit, repeated every 12 to 18 months²⁶, is what turns a fixed tariff from a lock-in into a tool. The wider relationship between tariff choices and self-sufficiency is explored on the tariffs and energy independence page, and the decision itself on should I fix my energy tariff.