Terminating your electricity contract If you have signed a contract or accepted a verbal agreement with an Energy Supplier you should be aware of your obligation to give the correct notice to leave when your contract expires. Some suppliers rely on your failure to do this, so that they can lock you into another years business, often at inflated rates. This applies even though a renewal contract may never have been signed.   The period of notice required by two of the leading suppliers is NOT LESS THAN 90 days notice in writing prior to the contract end date. Others require either 60 days or 28 days. One even has a set review period of a few weeks which is the only period you can end the contract on. (Yes, what if you are on holiday?) If you do not give notice and end up with inflated new rates you will not have a choice of alternative suppliers for another contract period. You can complain as much as you like but the answer will be, "you should have read the contract terms and conditions" (magnifying glass usually required).   So what can you do about it? Well, we recommend you set a reminder on your calendar or in your diary to give written notice after your first bill has been received on a new contract. This will be well within the stated notice period! Whatever, do it now! Make sure you ask for confirmation in writing of your termination notice.  We also recommend you use recorded delivery. Notice can also be given by e-mail if preferred. Again ask for confirmation of receipt. Set your e-mail options to auto-reply and save the record when returned.   Even after the correct notice has been given some companies will deny all knowledge and ask you to ‘prove it’, hence your request for written confirmation.  You may need to chase this confirmation up and when you do, take notes of who you spoke to, at what time and the date.   Suggested wording for a contract termination should be along the following lines.     Termination of Contract     To …….[Current Electricity Supplier]          Dear……,               I herewith give notice of termination of the electricity supply contract (ref no ……..) for  …………..[site name and MPAN number]…………… with effect from ……….[end date of contract].         I would be pleased to receive a competitive quotation for the continuance of the supply of the electricity to the site beyond the end of the last contract. I look forward to hearing from you.               Yours faithfully, The MPAN number is the bottom line of your supply number which should be found on your electricity bill. It is in an oblong box with a large letter ‘S’ on the left hand side of it.    We hope this information is of help to you. If you require help in finding an alternative supplier please remember that we do operate an energy service in partnership with the NFU. Give Peter a call on 024 7669 6512 who will be pleased to help.