With hundreds of confusing tariffs and bills that are hard to understand, the regulator, OFGEM, is forcing companies to make it easier for us to work out exactly what we're paying for.

If you’ve ever looked at your energy bill and felt none the wiser about what you’re actually paying for and whether you're getting a good deal, you’re not alone. A survey by the comparison website uSwitch last year found that 75% of people thought their energy bills were confusing. The good news is that new rules taking effect from today mean that we'll all receive clearer bills from gas and electricity suppliers, together with annual statements with information about the tariff you’re on and how to switch to a cheaper deal.

Timetable for change
The new rules, imposed by the energy regulator OFGEM, take effect from July 1st and mean:

• You’ll receive an annual statement from your supplier. Gas and electricity companies have until the beginning of December to send out an annual statement, depending on their billing cycle.

• Your bills should become clearer. Your next bill will have information about tariffs and how much energy you’re using.

Clearer information
The new bills and annual statements will include more – and clearer – information.

The bill will include:

• The tariff you’re on. Energy suppliers will have to give its exact name.

• How much energy you’ve used in the last 12 months. This information will be given in kilowatt hours – as long as you’ve been with your supplier for a year or more.

• The estimated cost for the coming year – assuming you use the same amount of energy as you did last year and that there are no price changes to your tariff.

The annual statement will include all this information, plus:

• Any discounts or premiums you pay. This could be a direct debit discount or additional costs – for example, if you pay your bill quarterly by cash or cheque, your statement will tell you how much you could save by paying by direct debit.

• Information on how to switch supplier. Your annual statement will remind you that you’re able to switch to a different supplier and signpost you to sources of information.

Switching supplier
The annual statements and bills will help you compare the tariff you're on and your energy supplier's current cheapest deal. But you might decide you’d prefer to switch to a different supplier altogether.

SAVVY TIP: The fact that you’ll have information about how much energy you’ve used in the last year, together with your annual bill will make it far easier to switch supplier. But you must be careful when you shop around.

• Different price comparison sites sometimes come up with different results for the cheapest deal and because tariffs are so complicated (and companies bring out new deals all the time) a better rate may be just around the corner.

SAVVY TIP: Always shop around at several price comparison sites. There are dozens of them to choose from and Consumer Focus has a list of price comparison sites accredited to its confidence code.

If you have a problem
If you’re not happy with your energy supplier or you have a problem over billing or switching to a new supplier, there are several organisations that can help.

• Consumer Direct. This is who you should contact in the first instance. It can give you advice on how to deal with your complaint or refer your complaint if it thinks it’s serious.

• Consumer Focus. The consumer watchdog can monitor complaints and will take up issues if it sees that particular companies or services are generating a stream of complaints.

• The Energy Ombudsman. If you have complained to the energy provider and you’re not happy with their response, you can take your complaint to the energy ombudsman.

SAVVY TIP: You have to give the gas or electricity company up to eight weeks to deal with your complaint unless they give you a ‘final response’ letter sooner. Once you’ve received that you have nine months in which to complain to the energy ombudsman.

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