UK Business Energy Out-of-Contract Rates

They're the rates a supplier applies when a business supply isn't covered by an agreed contract . Your fixed deal ends, nothing replaces it, and the supply carries on — but now at prices the supplier sets and publishes rather than ones you negotiated. They're usually well above what the same supply would cost on a fixed contract.

It comes down to whether you ever had a contract. Out-of-contract (sometimes called standard variable) is where a contract existed and ran out. Deemed is where no contract was ever agreed — typically after a change of tenancy, when a business takes on premises and simply starts using the energy. Suppliers often publish different rates for the two, so which one applies to you changes the number.

Your bill is the fastest tell: look for wording like out of contract , deemed , standard variable or default rates , and check whether a contract end date is shown at all. A unit rate that changed without you agreeing anything is the other sign. If you're not sure, send us a recent bill and we'll tell you which of the three states you're in — no obligation attached to the answer.

A fixed contract lets a supplier buy energy ahead for a known volume over a known period. On an out-of-contract supply they have neither — you could leave at any point — so the rate carries the risk of that uncertainty. There's no cap on business rates equivalent to the domestic price cap, which is why the gap can be so wide.

Deemed rates apply from the point you became responsible for the supply — the day you took the premises on — not from the day the supplier got round to setting the account up. That's why a change of tenancy can produce an unexpectedly large first bill covering a period you'd assumed was someone else's. Telling the supplier the moment you move in is the single best protection.

Faster than most people expect. An out-of-contract or deemed supply generally isn't tied into a term, so once a new contract is agreed the switch itself completes in 2–5 working days .

The exception is a new tenant who hasn't told the supplier they've taken the premises on . Until a change of tenancy is registered, the account isn't in your name — and a supply can't be switched by someone who isn't the account holder. Suppliers can take a few weeks to validate one, so if you've moved in and haven't done it yet, that's the first job rather than the switch. Once the account is in your name, the same 2–5 working days applies.

Yes — supplier by supplier, as they publish them, with the effective date and a link to the source. Where a supplier prices by region or by meter type, we show it that way rather than flattening it to one headline number. And where a charge is payable but the supplier doesn't publish a figure, we say so plainly instead of estimating one.

That's the point of how we work. We hold your contract end dates and flag renewals in advance, so rolling onto out-of-contract rates is a decision rather than an accident. If the market says waiting is better, we'll tell you that too — get a quote and we'll set the reminder up either way.