Contract price increases

Enjoy Heroin Responsibly wrote: »

If one changes supplier/tariff and the new company put up their prices can one change again or is there minimum contract terms ?

Generally 12 month contracts. Some offers have 24 month, e.g. the OneBigSwitch/Bord Gais deal.

The exit fees can be quite small, as there's no physical installation or kit etc to recoup the costs of unlike a mobile phone or a TV setup

Enjoy Heroin Responsibly wrote: »

If one changes supplier/tariff and the new company put up their prices can one change again or is there minimum contract terms ?

Assuming the prices change *after* you switch, and the T&Cs didn't specifically mention the change in price, then yes, you can switch again

L1011 wrote: »

Pretty much all energy contracts are priced as X% off a "standard unit rate" which is not contract controlled, though. There are some limited fixed price contracts.

The supplier's standard unit rate for a tariff and any discount offered at the time of contract forms part and parcel of the contract. The T&Cs as agreed may allow for a discount or special pricing to be limited in time, duration or usage and any price change outside of that other than government taxes/levies is typically a deviation from the contract.

Fixed price contract are different animal, where unit price +/- fluctuations are not passed on to the customer. They too are controlled by contract.

CER have issued their Code of Practice on Customer Billing & Disconnection (PDF download) which states

CER’s Decision –suppliers must notify household customers of changes to tariffs 30 days in advance of the change taking effect with the exception of where a customer has entered into a variable tariff arrangement.