http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/p...no-thanks.html

Customers can reject their supplier's price rises while switching to another energy provider.

Under Ofgem rules, energy companies cannot enforce their price rises if a customer tells them that they reject the rise within 20 working days of receiving a letter about it.

By Rosie Murray-West 6:00AM GMT 21 Nov 2010

Customers who face energy price rises next month could enjoy their current lower prices for most of the winter, simply by using a little-known regulatory rule.

Thanks to an obligation put on the energy companies by their regulator, Ofgem, customers are able to reject their supplier's price rises while switching to another energy provider.

The old prices will apply until the switch goes through, buying customers several months' grace on their current tariffs.

Scottish Power was the latest company to announce a price rise late on Friday. Customers will see gas prices go up by 2pc and electricity prices by 8.9pc from November 25. British Gas is increasing prices by 7pc on December 10, while Scottish & Southern Energy will raise gas prices by 9pc on December 1.

Other providers are expected to follow suit, except for EDF Energy, which has announced a price freeze on all standard tariffs until March. It confirmed late last week that this included its online tariff, which is now the cheapest on the market.

Under Ofgem rules, energy companies cannot enforce their price rises if a customer tells them that they reject the rise within 20 working days of receiving a letter about it. At present, energy companies can send letters about price increases up to 65 working days after the increase has been applied.

Once customers have informed the supplier that they reject the price rise, they must make arrangements to switch suppliers within 15 working days. The switch will then take around six weeks, during which time the customer will continue to enjoy the lower price.

Depending on how long it takes suppliers to inform customers about prices changes, this entire process could last as long as 20 weeks, during which time customers could continue to enjoy their current energy prices, including British Gas's cheapest Websaver tariffs.

British Gas said it had already begun to send letters to its customers warning them about the changes. However, it added that it had so many customers that the letters would take a while to be sent out. Scottish & Southern also said it had sent letters to customers.
If you're on the mains it's really straightforward to switch suppliers, I did it over a year ago & no-one visited me and on top of the savings I had £60 cashback through www.topcashback.co.uk so it was definitely worth doing.

If you're being forced from a really good rate just add some units on when you swap, easy.