British Gas price hike hits today - most can save up to £300/yr by switching

The UK's largest energy supplier announced the hike in August, immediately after the end of a promised period of price freezes. It confirmed a 12.5% hike to its standard electricity prices, while keeping gas prices unchanged.

About 3.1 million of its customers, including those with Sainsbury's Energy – which British Gas operates – will be affected by today's price rise. But British Gas says more than 200,000 customers classed as 'vulnerable' because they get the Warm Home Discount will receive £76 credit to protect them from the increase.

Prepay customers and those on a fix aren't affected.

Hit by the hike? Don't just put up with it. See if you can switch and save £100s with our free Cheap Energy Club.

What to do if you've been hit by the hike

If the price of your electricity has shot up today, the best thing to do is to switch. A typical user on British Gas's standard tariff can now save around £300/yr by grabbing a cheap one-year fix.

Prices vary by region and usage, so it's best to do a full market comparison on our free Cheap Energy Club. You'll then have different options:

• Go for a cheap fix. The cheapest deals tend to be one-year fixes from new, small suppliers. The market's cheapest right now is One Select, costing a typical £824/yr.

• Grab a cheap deal from a big-name supplier. If you're worried about choosing a small provider, you can use our 'Big Name Suppliers' filter on Cheap Energy Club to see all the cheapest deals from the largest energy firms. This includes the big six, First Utility, Ovo and Co-op Energy.

  If you're prepared to pay a little more for the security of locking in your energy price for two winters, act TODAY and you can still grab Ovo's market-leading two-year fix, until early Saturday morning.

• If you'd prefer to stick with the big six... you can grab our cut-price Big Switch Event 8 tariff with EDF. It's the cheapest big six deal on average, costing a typical dual-fuel user £915/yr – £205/yr cheaper than British Gas's typical standard variable tariff – and lets you lock in your rates until 30 September 2018. After Cheap Energy Club's £25 cashback it works out at £890/yr.

Why is British Gas raising prices?

When it first announced the rise, British Gas said the 12.5% electricity hike reflected "the increasing costs of energy policy, and delivery to customers' homes since 2014", adding that over this period, electricity costs increased by 16%.

Have your say