Quick Answer: Out-of-contract business energy rates are the default prices a supplier charges when you use its energy without a live contract - after a deal expires, a move-in, or a supplier failure. They are usually among the most expensive prices a supplier publishes. As of October 2026, published no-contract electricity rates from major suppliers run from about 37p to over 66p per kWh, while DESNZ data (opens in new tab) puts the average for the smallest businesses at 38.36p (April to June 2026). That average includes the Climate Change Levy and standing charges; the supplier rates exclude both, so the real gap is wider than it looks.
You are not being punished. You are being priced for a contract you never signed. And unlike almost every other way of overpaying for energy, this one can be fixed today.
TL;DR
- What they are: out-of-contract business energy rates are the default prices - deemed, out-of-contract or rollover terms - a supplier charges whenever energy flows with no agreed contract behind it.
- The distinction nobody makes: deemed, out-of-contract and rollover are three different arrangements. Drax’s published deemed rate (September 2026) is 3.2p/kWh above its own out-of-contract rate - same meter, same limbo, different label.
- The spread: Meet George’s default-rate snapshot (September 2026) found published no-contract electricity rates from 38.67p to 66.36p/kWh - a 27.7p gap depending on supplier, region and schedule.
- The protections: the rules that restrict default rates, require renewal notices and cap rollover contracts apply to microbusinesses only. Everyone else is on their own diary.
- The escape: no exit fees, no notice period. Check your bill’s tariff name today; if it says deemed, out of contract or standard variable, you can switch immediately - or fix a far more competitive rate with your existing supplier.
What are out-of-contract business energy rates?
Out-of-contract rates are the prices your supplier charges when your fixed-term contract has ended and nothing has replaced it. The lights stay on and the meter keeps running - what changes is the pricing: a variable unit rate and standing charge that the supplier sets, publishes and can change with notice (30 days’ written notice, in British Gas’s published schedule, for example).
“Out of contract” is also the umbrella term people use for every version of energy-without-a-contract. That shorthand hides a distinction worth hundreds to thousands of pounds a year: there are actually three different arrangements, and which one you are in changes what you pay and what rights you have.
Deemed vs out-of-contract vs rollover: what is the difference?
They get used interchangeably. They should not be.
| Arrangement | How you got there | What you pay | Are you locked in? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deemed contract | You used energy having never agreed terms - a move-in, a change of tenancy, or a supplier of last resort transfer | The supplier’s published deemed rates - typically its most expensive | No - leave any time, no exit fee |
| Out-of-contract | Your fixed deal expired and you did nothing | Default out-of-contract rates - at some suppliers the same as deemed, at others a separate schedule that can be lower (Drax) or higher (npower) | No - leave any time, no exit fee |
| Rollover | Your supplier auto-renewed you onto a new fixed term when you missed the renewal deadline | The rolled contract’s rates - usually worse than a negotiated deal | Yes - a fixed term, and leaving early can trigger a termination fee |
Deemed and out-of-contract definitions follow Ofgem’s guidance on deemed contracts (opens in new tab) (November 2023), which requires suppliers to publish their deemed contract terms.
Here is the proof these are genuinely different products, from a supplier’s own published schedules. Drax lists deemed and out-of-contract as two separate tariffs: from 1 September 2026, its published deemed electricity rate is 41.87p/kWh and its out-of-contract rate is 38.67p/kWh (Drax, September 2026 (opens in new tab)). Same supplier, same no-contract limbo - a 3.2p/kWh difference depending on whether you moved in without a contract or let one expire.
A rolled-over contract is the odd one out: a new fixed term you never chose. That cuts both ways: the rates are usually better than deemed, but you are locked in, and escaping can cost money. The other two you can walk away from before lunch.
Why do businesses end up on expensive out-of-contract energy rates?
Because nobody chooses default rates - you land on them, through one of four doors:
- Your fixed contract expired and the renewal letter got buried. The deal ran out, the supplier moved you to default prices, and the first anyone noticed was the bill. This is the classic digital renewal trap, and missing the renewal window is a very common route.
- You moved into premises and used energy before agreeing a contract. The textbook deemed contract under Ofgem’s rules - you are “deemed” to have accepted supply from whoever already serves the meter. A supplier you never picked, at prices you never saw.
- Your supplier went bust. Ofgem appoints a supplier of last resort and your supply transfers to it - onto its default rates. British Gas’s deemed schedule says this in terms: the charges “may apply to any customer supplied as a consequence of us receiving a direction from the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (Ofgem) to act as the supplier of last resort”. Here is what happens when a business energy supplier goes bust.
- A change of tenancy left the meters running with no contract. You bought a business or took on a lease, inherited live meters, and never signed your own deal.
Four doors, one room - and as the next section shows, “default” is doing a lot of work in this story.
What are business electricity prices per kWh in 2026?
UK businesses paid an average of 24.51p per kWh for electricity between April and June 2026, and the smallest businesses paid 38.36p, according to DESNZ (opens in new tab). These are all-in commercial electricity prices: DESNZ divides what businesses spent by what they used, so standing charges and the Climate Change Levy are included and only VAT is left out.
| Business size (annual electricity use) | Average price, Q2 2026 |
|---|---|
| Up to 20,000 kWh | 38.36p/kWh |
| 20,000 - 499,000 kWh | 28.59p/kWh |
| 500,000 - 1,999,000 kWh | 27.67p/kWh |
| 2 - 20 million kWh | 25.17p/kWh |
| 20 - 70 million kWh | 24.42p/kWh |
| 70 - 150 million kWh | 22.70p/kWh |
| Over 150 million kWh | 22.25p/kWh |
| All businesses | 24.51p/kWh |
DESNZ table 3.4.2 (including CCL, excluding VAT), published 29 September 2026. Size bands are DESNZ’s own.
Three things to know when you compare your own price:
- Smaller businesses pay more per kWh. The smallest band pays about 72% more per kWh than the largest. Standing charges are spread over fewer units, and big users negotiate.
- The smallest band moved fastest. It rose from 35.02p in January to March to 38.36p in April to June. DESNZ also notes that this series was revised from late 2024 and “is subject to potential further revisions”.
- These are averages, not targets. They include businesses already overpaying on deemed and out-of-contract rates, so a competitive fixed contract should come in below the average for your size.
What do microbusinesses pay for electricity?
There’s no official electricity rate for microbusinesses: DESNZ publishes average prices by how much electricity a business uses, not by its staff or turnover. A microbusiness using up to 100,000 kWh a year falls in DESNZ’s two smallest bands, which paid an average of 38.36p/kWh (up to 20,000 kWh) and 28.59p/kWh (20,000 to 499,000 kWh) in April to June 2026.
Ofgem counts a business as a microbusiness if it has fewer than 10 employees and a turnover or balance sheet of no more than £2 million, or uses up to 100,000 kWh of electricity or 293,000 kWh of gas a year (Ofgem (opens in new tab)). What that status brings is extra protection, not a lower rate: suppliers must give microbusinesses clear contract information and their renewal prices before the contract ends, and limit notice periods on evergreen contracts to 30 days. The protections on default and rollover rates are further down this guide.
To find your own all-in price, divide your bill total before VAT by the kWh you used. Or upload your latest bill: Meet George’s free bill check works out your all-in price per kWh and compares it with the DESNZ average for a business of your size.
What do out-of-contract and deemed rates actually cost?
Meet George checked the published schedules of major non-domestic suppliers on 9 September 2026 - the Meet George default-rate snapshot (September 2026). Where a supplier publishes a rate card, here it is:
| Supplier and schedule | Fuel | Unit rate | Standing charge | Effective from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Gas - deemed | Electricity | 44.88p/kWh | 214.15p/day | 24 May 2026 |
| British Gas - deemed | Gas | 15.01p/kWh | 182.98p/day | 24 May 2026 |
| EDF - deemed (varies by region) | Electricity | 55.21p - 66.36p/kWh | 215p/day | 17 Aug 2026 |
| EDF - deemed (varies by region) | Gas | 16.38p - 17.42p/kWh | 250p/day | 17 Aug 2026 |
| Drax - deemed | Electricity | 41.87p/kWh | 300p/day | 1 Sept 2026 |
| Drax - out-of-contract | Electricity | 38.67p/kWh | 300p/day | 1 Sept 2026 |
All rates as published on each supplier’s website on 9 September 2026: British Gas deemed rates (opens in new tab) (non-half-hourly electricity and smaller gas meters, excluding VAT and the Climate Change Levy (CCL)), EDF deemed pricing (opens in new tab) (standard meter, Direct Debit, excluding VAT), Drax deemed and out-of-contract rates (opens in new tab).
Three things jump out of that table.
The spread is enormous. In Meet George’s snapshot, from 38.67p to 66.36p is a 27.7p/kWh gap for the same predicament - a business with no contract - depending on supplier, region and which default schedule applies. It is a lottery you never bought a ticket for.
The same supplier charges different regions very differently. EDF’s deemed rate spans 55.21p (London) to 66.36p (North Wales) - an 11p/kWh spread inside one tariff.
And these rates move. Drax’s own schedule lists its deemed rate at 39.51p from 1 August 2026 and 41.87p from 1 September - a 2.36p rise in a single month. Default rates are variable and can climb while you sit on them.
Not every supplier makes its current figures easy to find. E.ON Next’s own renewals page (opens in new tab) says its out-of-contract prices are higher than its variable plan, and when we checked on 9 September 2026 the figures themselves were available on request rather than published online. If your supplier does not publish a rate card, ask for the current figures in writing before you assume anything.
For scale against the wider market: DESNZ’s non-domestic price series (opens in new tab) put the Q1 2026 average - the latest available in September - at 35.02p/kWh including CCL for the smallest consumers (under 20,000 kWh a year), and 21.42p for the largest. Put British Gas’s deemed rate on the same basis - 44.88p plus the 0.801p CCL (opens in new tab) is 45.68p - and a small business on it pays 10.66p/kWh above the average for its own size band. On 25,000 kWh a year:
10.66p x 25,000 kWh = £2,665 a year - our arithmetic from the two published figures, and conservative, because that DESNZ average already includes businesses overpaying on default rates.
We have seen this up close. A London boutique we helped had drifted out of contract two years earlier without realising: 38.6p/kWh when we found them, peaking at 56p during volatile periods, moved to a fixed contract at 22.31p - £1,312 a year back, a 46% saving. Rates have moved since, but the shape of the story has not: the money was not buying better electricity. It was the price of not switching.
We have broken down what switching typically saves by starting position - deemed and out-of-contract rates are consistently the biggest-saving starting point there is.
What are Drax, EDF and npower’s out-of-contract rates in 2026?
On 12 October 2026, Drax, EDF and npower Business Solutions all published out-of-contract electricity rates of at least 42.3p/kWh for a standard business meter. That is above the DESNZ Q2 2026 average of 38.36p for the smallest businesses before CCL and standing charges are added, and the average already includes both. Each supplier also gives the tariff a different name.
| Supplier | Name on the bill | Electricity unit rate | Standing charge | Effective from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drax | Out of Contract | 42.30p/kWh | 300p/day | 1 Oct 2026 |
| EDF | Freedom for Business | 53.38p/kWh | 300p/day | 1 Aug 2026 |
| npower Business Solutions | Default | 47.22p - 52.49p/kWh (varies by region) | 190.98p - 227.20p/day | 1 Oct 2026 |
Standard (non-half-hourly) meters, checked on each supplier’s website on 12 October 2026. EDF’s rates are for Direct Debit. EDF and npower exclude VAT and the Climate Change Levy. Sources: Drax (opens in new tab), EDF Freedom for Business prices (opens in new tab), npower Business Solutions default electricity charges (opens in new tab).
What are Drax’s out-of-contract rates?
From 1 October 2026, Drax charges 42.30p/kWh and a 300p/day standing charge on its Out of Contract electricity rate for standard business meters. Its deemed rate, for premises where nobody ever agreed a contract, is higher at 45.86p/kWh, with the same standing charge.
Both went up on 1 October. In September the out-of-contract rate was 38.67p (see the snapshot above), so it rose 3.63p/kWh in a month. On 25,000 kWh a year, that rise alone adds £907.50 a year (3.63p x 25,000 kWh). Half-hourly meters pay 39.15p/kWh, plus network charges passed through at cost. Drax says these rates “are not fixed, and they may change at any time” (Drax (opens in new tab)).
What are EDF’s business out-of-contract rates in 2026?
When an EDF small-business contract ends and you have not renewed, EDF moves you onto its Freedom for Business tariff: 53.38p/kWh for electricity and 18.91p/kWh for gas, each with a 300p/day standing charge. Those are the Direct Debit prices from 1 August 2026, excluding VAT and CCL. If you pay another way, it is 54.38p/kWh and 310p/day for electricity.
EDF’s own guidance says that if you “reach the end of your contract you will be placed on our Freedom tariff” (EDF, February 2026 (opens in new tab)). Freedom has one price for the whole country, and it is below EDF’s regional deemed rates (55.21p to 66.36p in the snapshot above). So a lapsed EDF contract costs less than moving in with no contract at all. With the 0.801p CCL added, it is still about 16p/kWh above the DESNZ Q2 2026 small-business average.
EDF has a third price list to know about. Extended Supply prices (66.99p/kWh for electricity and 250p/day, Direct Debit, from 17 August 2026) apply when a fixed contract ends early: for example, if you give notice partway through or your Direct Debit stops, under EDF’s small business terms (opens in new tab). Check which name is on your bill.
What are npower’s out-of-contract rates?
npower Business Solutions calls them default rates. From 1 October 2026, electricity on a standard meter costs 47.22p/kWh in London up to 52.49p/kWh in North Scotland, with a standing charge of 190.98p to 227.20p a day in the lowest band. Gas default rates are 23.02p/kWh with a £1.33/day standing charge for sites using up to 73,200 kWh a year. All exclude VAT and CCL.
npower does the opposite of Drax: its default rates are higher than its deemed rates. Its deemed electricity rate is exactly 10p/kWh lower in every region (37.22p in London) and its deemed gas rate is 5p lower (18.02p) (npower deemed electricity charges (opens in new tab), gas deemed and default charges (opens in new tab)). At npower, letting a contract lapse costs more than moving in without one. npower says it contacts customers on these rates quarterly when prices change (npower Business Solutions (opens in new tab)).
If you are a small business that used to be with npower, these rates probably don’t apply to you. npower says small businesses that were with it “have been moved to E.ON Next” (npower Business Solutions (opens in new tab)), and E.ON Next gives its out-of-contract prices on request (see above).
Not sure which of these you are on? Meet George’s free bill check reads the bill line by line and flags deemed or out-of-contract rates.
What are business energy deemed rates in October 2026?
A business energy deemed rate - the price under a deemed contract, sometimes called a deemed tariff - is the price a supplier charges when your premises uses its electricity or gas without any contract at all - most often after you move in, or after your old supplier fails. In October 2026, the major suppliers’ published deemed electricity rates for a standard business meter run from 37.22p to 66.36p/kWh, before VAT and CCL.
Ofgem puts it plainly: “You will be put on a deemed contract automatically when you move into a new premises without arranging a formal contract. Deemed rates are usually higher than negotiated contract rates” (Ofgem (opens in new tab)).
| Supplier | Deemed electricity unit rate | Standing charge | Effective from |
|---|---|---|---|
| npower Business Solutions | 37.22p - 42.49p/kWh (varies by region) | 152.78p - 181.76p/day | 1 Oct 2026 |
| British Gas | 41.95p/kWh | 214.94p/day | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Drax | 45.86p/kWh | 300p/day | 1 Oct 2026 |
| EDF | 55.21p - 66.36p/kWh (varies by region) | 215p/day | 17 Aug 2026 |
Standard (non-half-hourly) meters, checked on each supplier’s website on 14 October 2026. EDF’s rates are for Direct Debit; British Gas’s are for whole-current meters. npower, British Gas and EDF exclude VAT; npower and British Gas also exclude CCL. Sources: npower deemed electricity charges (opens in new tab), British Gas deemed electricity charges (opens in new tab), Drax (opens in new tab), EDF deemed pricing (opens in new tab).
Two things stand out. The cheapest and dearest deemed rates on the list are 29p/kWh apart, for the same situation. And British Gas cut its deemed rate on 1 October, from the 44.88p in our September snapshot to 41.95p, while Drax raised its rate on the same day. Deemed rates move in both directions, so check the current schedule rather than relying on an old bill.
What are EDF’s deemed rates in 2026?
From 17 August 2026, EDF’s deemed electricity rate for a standard business meter on Direct Debit is 55.21p/kWh in London and 66.36p/kWh in North Wales and Merseyside, with a 215p/day standing charge, before VAT. EDF has raised it three times this year, and the London rate is up 42% since January.
| EDF deemed price list | London | North Wales and Merseyside | Standing charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| From 1 January 2026 | 38.75p/kWh | 41.06p/kWh | 200p/day |
| From 1 April 2026 | 41.46p/kWh | 49.83p/kWh | 215p/day |
| From 1 June 2026 | 47.07p/kWh | 56.57p/kWh | 215p/day |
| From 17 August 2026 | 55.21p/kWh | 66.36p/kWh | 215p/day |
Standard meter, Direct Debit, excluding VAT, from EDF’s deemed price lists: January (opens in new tab), April (opens in new tab), June (opens in new tab) and August (opens in new tab) 2026.
EDF’s deemed rates apply when you never agreed a contract, for example after moving into a premises EDF supplies. If you had an EDF contract that has ended, you are on its Freedom for Business tariff instead (see above). EDF’s gas deemed rates from 17 August 2026 are 16.38p to 17.42p/kWh, with a 250p/day standing charge.
Why are deemed and out-of-contract rates so expensive?
Deemed and out-of-contract rates are expensive because the supplier is carrying costs and risks it cannot plan for: it doesn’t know how long you will stay or how much you will use, and with a deemed contract it may not even know who you are. Ofgem lets suppliers price those extra costs in, as long as the result is not “unduly onerous” compared with their own contract prices.
When you sign a multi-year deal, the supplier buys most of your energy in advance on the wholesale market, locking in costs because it knows you will still be a customer next winter. When you have no contract, you might leave next week. So the supplier buys your energy at short notice, at whatever the market costs that day, and passes the risk premium to you. During a cold snap, that premium spikes - which is how our boutique briefly paid 56p. Wholesale energy is only one of the charges stacked into your unit rate - here is what determines your business electricity costs, and which parts you can control.
To be fair to the suppliers: the risk is real. Ofgem’s guidance on deemed contracts (opens in new tab) (November 2023) accepts that deemed customers bring “higher risk and costs to serve” through “bad debt, risk of non-payment, poor credit”, or simply because a supplier that has never spoken to the new occupant cannot “predict future supply for deemed customers and hedge their wholesale energy needs”. What Ofgem checks is whether a supplier’s deemed rate is “much higher than an equivalent contracted rate” from that same supplier without good reason. There is no price cap: the domestic price cap covers household deemed rates, but for businesses Ofgem says “we do not set pricing methodologies or hedging strategies for non-domestic deemed rates”. High default rates also do a job for the supplier: they nudge you towards a contract. British Gas’s schedule points at the intended destination - it “may offer to enter into a formal contract with you instead”.
Default tariffs also tend to carry friendlier-sounding names than “deemed” - watch for words like freedom, flexible or rolling in a tariff name. The friendliness is not a discount: the highest published deemed rate is about 75% above the DESNZ Q2 2026 small-business average, even after adding CCL. In energy, stability is cheap and freedom is expensive.
Are deemed and out-of-contract rates always more expensive for small businesses?
Yes, compared with a contract from the same supplier: Ofgem and suppliers such as British Gas both say deemed rates are “usually higher” than agreed contract prices. Compared with the average small business, almost always - but not uniformly, and that is the real trap.
The closest call in October 2026 is npower’s London deemed rate. At 38.02p/kWh with CCL, it sits just under the DESNZ Q2 2026 average of 38.36p for the smallest businesses. But that average includes standing charges, and npower’s deemed standing charge adds at least 2.8p/kWh for any business in that size band (up to 20,000 kWh a year). So the all-in cost on the cheapest deemed rate on our list is still higher than average.
At the other end, the premium is huge. In our September snapshot, measured against the Q1 2026 average then current, it ranged from about 10% (Drax out-of-contract) to nearly 90% (EDF’s top regional deemed rate). Two identical cafés in different towns, both contract-free, can be paying wildly different prices for the same inaction.
There is one group with a safety net. Microbusinesses - businesses meeting any one of: fewer than ten employees and a turnover or balance sheet of no more than £2 million, under 100,000 kWh of electricity a year, or under 293,000 kWh of gas - get Ofgem’s enhanced protections (opens in new tab), which restrict out-of-contract rates, require suppliers to give renewal-window notice, and cap any rollover: under electricity supply licence condition 7A.13A (opens in new tab), a supplier can only extend a microbusiness contract if “the duration of the further fixed term period is 12 months or less”.
Grow past any of those lines and the safety net stops. A business with 10 to 49 employees keeps the right to complain - the Energy Ombudsman’s remit (opens in new tab) has covered small businesses since December 2024 - but not the upfront rules that would have prevented the problem. We have written a full guide to the protection gap when your business outgrows microbusiness status; the one-line version is that past the microbusiness line, the renewal reminder has to be your own.
Weighing up whether to fix instead? See should you fix your business energy prices, including when Ofgem says staying on a default rate for a short while can make sense.
How do you stop your business paying default energy rates?
Switch or sign - today. Default rates have no notice period and no exit fees, which makes this the rare energy problem with an immediate fix.
- Check whether you are on default rates. Look at the tariff name on your latest bill. “Deemed”, “Out of Contract”, “Standard Variable” or a friendly-sounding name built on words like freedom, flexible or rolling - or no contract end date at all - means you are likely paying default rates.
- Find your annual usage and meter numbers. Your annual kWh and your MPAN (your electricity meter’s unique number) or MPRN (the gas equivalent) are on the same bill - our guide to MPAN and MPRN numbers shows exactly where to look.
- Agree a contract or switch supplier - immediately. Deemed and out-of-contract arrangements have no exit fees and no notice period, so there is nothing to wait for. A fixed contract at market rates beats every number in the published deemed schedules.
- Diarise your renewal window for next time. Set a calendar reminder 90 days before the new contract ends. Suppliers only have to remind microbusinesses, so for everyone else the reminder has to be your own.
Do you need a broker to avoid out-of-contract rates? No. The protection is a calendar reminder, and calendar reminders are free. Renewal management is a genuine service some brokers provide - but in the traditional model it is paid for through commission added to your unit rate, so if you go that route, ask exactly how they are paid. Meet George does the comparison and the switch for a flat, itemised 1p/kWh fee, and the reminder we would give you either way is the one in step 4.
What are the best ways to avoid an automatic rollover?
The surest way to avoid an automatic rollover is to give your supplier written notice before your contract’s notice deadline, then agree your next contract - with them or a new supplier - inside the renewal window. Rollovers happen when you do neither: Ofgem says some contracts “automatically renew at the end of a fixed term contract if you have not made a new arrangement, or switched to a new supplier”, usually for 12 months and possibly “on a higher rate” (Ofgem (opens in new tab)).
- Find two dates in your contract: the end date and the notice deadline - how long before the end you must tell the supplier you are leaving. Ofgem tells businesses to check “when you can switch” and “how much notice you should give your supplier” (Ofgem (opens in new tab)).
- Send notice in writing, early, and keep a copy. If you are a microbusiness, your supplier must take all reasonable steps to acknowledge it within five working days (Ofgem microbusiness factsheet (opens in new tab)).
- Read the renewal letter, but don’t treat it as your only offer. A microbusiness renewal letter must show your current prices, new prices and annual consumption, which makes it easy to compare against other quotes.
- Don’t click “accept” or “confirm” on a renewal email until you have compared. Here is how the digital renewal trap works.
- Sign your next contract inside the switching window. Ofgem says the window “opens a few months before the end of your contract”, and you “can sometimes switch during this window without paying a fee”.
If you have already been rolled over, check whether you sent notice in time. If you are a microbusiness, the rollover cannot last more than 12 months (see above).
Can a broker help you avoid out-of-contract rates?
Yes: a broker can track your contract end date and bring you quotes inside your renewal window, which is how out-of-contract rates are avoided. But you don’t need one to do it, and you should know how the broker is paid before you sign anything.
If you do use a broker, four checks make it work for you:
- Check it belongs to a redress scheme. Ofgem says that if a broker “is paid by an energy supplier, they must be a member of an approved redress scheme” (Ofgem (opens in new tab)). You can search the Energy Ombudsman’s broker register (opens in new tab).
- Ask for the fee in pence per kWh and in pounds. For contracts signed from 1 October 2024, Ofgem requires suppliers’ principal terms “to clearly display any broker fees” for all business customers (Ofgem factsheet, April 2024 (opens in new tab)).
- Give a Letter of Authority that lets the broker get quotes, not sign for you. Here is the difference between LOA levels.
- Agree in writing who sends the termination notice, and by when. If the notice is late, you can still be rolled over.
If you have never switched before, our step-by-step guide to switching business energy walks the whole process in about 20 minutes.
The bottom line
Out-of-contract, deemed and rollover rates are what happens when energy keeps flowing and nobody signs anything - and they are priced accordingly: 37p to 66p/kWh on suppliers’ own published schedules in October 2026, before standing charges, against a 38p all-in average for even the smallest businesses. Deemed and out-of-contract arrangements can be left at any time with no exit fee, so the only thing keeping any business on them is not knowing. Check the tariff name on your bill today. If it promises a freedom you never asked for, that promise is the most expensive thing your business is buying.
Sources
- Ofgem - Guidance on Deemed Contracts (SLC 7.3 and 7.4), November 2023 (opens in new tab)
- Ofgem - Get a business energy contract (opens in new tab)
- Ofgem - Switch your business energy supplier (opens in new tab)
- Ofgem - Microbusiness renewals factsheet, July 2015 (opens in new tab)
- Ofgem - Non-domestic market review decision factsheet, April 2024 (opens in new tab)
- Energy Ombudsman - broker membership register (opens in new tab)
- British Gas - electricity deemed charges from 1 October 2026 (opens in new tab)
- EDF - deemed price lists, January, April, June and August 2026 (opens in new tab)
- Ofgem - Non-Domestic Market Review decision, 2023 (opens in new tab)
- Ofgem - Electricity supply standard licence conditions, condition 7A.13A (microbusiness rollover cap) (opens in new tab)
- British Gas - schedule of deemed contract charges, effective 24 May 2026 (opens in new tab)
- EDF - deemed pricing, effective 17 August 2026 (opens in new tab)
- Drax - out-of-contract and deemed rates, September and October 2026 (opens in new tab)
- EDF - Freedom for Business prices, effective 1 August 2026 (opens in new tab)
- EDF - What is a deemed tariff (Freedom tariff at contract end), February 2026 (opens in new tab)
- EDF - small business terms and conditions, including Extended Supply prices (opens in new tab)
- npower Business Solutions - default electricity charges, effective 1 October 2026 (opens in new tab)
- npower Business Solutions - deemed electricity charges, effective 1 October 2026 (opens in new tab)
- npower Business Solutions - gas deemed and default charges, effective 1 October 2026 (opens in new tab)
- E.ON Next - business renewals and out-of-contract prices (opens in new tab)
- DESNZ - gas and electricity prices in the non-domestic sector, Q2 2026 (published 29 September 2026) (opens in new tab)
- HMRC - Climate Change Levy rates (opens in new tab)
- Energy Ombudsman - small business annual review, 2026 (opens in new tab)
