What Happens When Your Business Energy Contract Expires
Nothing magical happens at 23:59 on the end date—your supply continues physically, but the commercial terms revert to whatever the supplier’s published out-of-contract schedule says. In practice that is a sudden jump toward deemed percentages that can add thousands before finance notices.
Next step: If you use under about 50,000 kWh a year, you can get a quote in under 90 seconds online — fast, no obligation. Larger supply, half-hourly metering, or prefer chat? Use the contact page.
Key takeaways
- Microbusiness letters must state renewal prices and compare them with existing tariffs under Ofgem’s microenterprise provisions—bigger firms still get marketing mail but fewer automatic safeguards.
- If you neither terminate nor accept, you may roll onto deemed rates or auto-renew for a capped period—read the exact wording; there is no single national default.
- The electron flow never stops; only the billing code changes, so safety-critical sites should not fear blackouts merely because paperwork lapsed.
- Objections to transfers can still block switches while out of contract, so clear debt first.
Timeline most owners miss
T minus 120 days: diarise termination notice. T minus 60: confirm HH data flush so new supplier will not inherit estimates. T minus 30: sign replacement contract digitally. T day: first invoice may still show blended rates while reads settle—watch for “closing read dispute” flags in the customer portal.
A Sheffield packaging firm assumed expiry meant automatic deemed for one month only. Their EDF contract auto-renewed 12 months because silence counted as acceptance under a poorly read clause—costing an extra £9k before arbitration.
What “expiry” does not mean
Lights stay on. Gas keeps flowing. Your relationship with the local distribution network is separate from the retail contract that prices electrons or therms. When the end date passes, you either sit on the supplier’s out-of-contract or deemed schedule, roll into a new fixed term you never consciously chose, or move straight onto a deal you signed in the final weeks. The physical kit does not care which label is on the invoice.
Microbusiness renewal packs: use them as a control sheet
If you qualify as a microbusiness, suppliers regulated under Ofgem’s supply licence must give you clearer end-of-contract and renewal information than they send a random warehouse with multi-megawatt demand. That does not guarantee kindness on price, but it gives you dated evidence if someone pushes a telephone deal that conflicts with written terms. File those letters next to your VAT certificate; you will need them if the Ombudsman gets involved.
Money on the table when you drift onto deemed
Say a Reading office uses 55,000 kWh a year. On a negotiated renewal it might sit around 25–27p/kWh plus standing charge in a calmer market; out-of-contract schedules sometimes print 32–38p/kWh for the same profile when wholesale stress returns. That six-to-ten-pence gap is £3,300–£5,500 a year before VAT on consumption alone—enough to fund an energy audit and LED retrofit. Deemed is not automatically evil, but it is rarely the sharpest tool unless you are mid-switch and need a bridge for a few meter-read cycles.
If you are trying to switch in the last month
Industry timescales still apply: registrations need clean data, objections may appear if debt is messy, and half-hourly sites may wait for settlement runs. Starting late does not freeze you forever, but it increases overlap with expensive interim billing. Pair this page with how to switch business energy supplier and how to negotiate your business energy contract so procurement, finance, and facilities share one calendar.
Table: expiry outcomes
| Scenario | Billing effect | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No notice given | Often deemed or rollover | Serve notice + sign new deal |
| Switch in flight | Bridge billed until registration | Track industry flow in portal |
| Disputed final read | Settlement delay | Use photo evidence + DC dispute |
What to do the Monday after
Download the final invoice, verify CCL and VAT continuity, and store the loss-making deemed period as evidence next time the board debates hiring a buyer. If sums shock you, read what is a deemed rate and rollover contracts so the same pattern does not repeat silently.
Update your internal risk register: note the actual end date served, the notice channel (email portal or post), and any cooling-off acknowledgement if you are microbusiness and accepted a renewal online. That chain matters if someone later claims you verbally extended. Finance should accrue the higher out-of-contract weeks explicitly so EBITDA does not look artificially healthy.
Facilities should photograph meter registers if reads were estimated during the handover. Disputed opening reads are a top source of shock bills two quarters later. Where DUoS banding or capacity charges shifted because a contract lapsed, pull half-hourly data from your data collector if you have it—sometimes a short spike during the messy week pushes you into a higher category until you prove it was transient.
What do you want to do next?
Browse more independent guides on the SwitcherMate Business energy hub. If you would rather speak with us about procurement or a complex site, use the contact page. For fast online comparison under typical small-use thresholds, you can also use our business quote tool where it fits your situation.