Cut your gas & electricity bill by £200-£400 this year

Start with the Compare suppliers category. Have a recent bill in hand so you can check your annual kWh use, then read the cheapest gas and cheapest electricity guides. Switching is free, takes around 21 days and your supply never goes off during the change.

Your MPAN is the electricity supply number, your MPRN is the gas equivalent. Both appear on every bill, usually near the meter readings. Step-by-step screenshots are in the Meters category, including how to read the numbers off the meter itself if the bill is missing.

The main schemes are the Warm Home Discount (a one-off GBP 150 rebate), the Winter Fuel Payment (for over-66s) and the Cold Weather Payment (triggered automatically during cold snaps for benefit recipients). Full eligibility and how-to-apply detail is in Schemes & grants.

Check whether neighbours are affected. If yes, dial 105 from any phone, free of charge. The call is routed to your Distribution Network Operator (DNO), who restores supply. If you suspect a gas leak instead, leave the property and call 0800 111 999 from outside. Region-by-region detail is in the Distribution and Power outages categories.

It depends on the supplier. Some buy REGO certificates without sourcing physical green electricity, while others (Good Energy, Octopus, Ecotricity) generate or directly buy renewable power. The Renewable energy category ranks UK suppliers by how green they actually are.

Ofgem regulates the market: licences, the price cap, supplier conduct. The Energy Ombudsman resolves disputes between you and your supplier once an internal complaint is unresolved after eight weeks. Both processes are explained in the Market & regulation category.