In order to entice you into choosing a company, many energy suppliers are offering free gifts when you sign up to their energy deals. Whilst this can be alluring, it is important to make sure that you are getting the best value deal overall. In this guide we will look at what sort of free gifts energy companies offer, and whether choosing one of these deals is your best option.
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The best place to find reliable information for free gifts is to look at the energy suppliers’ websites and the terms and conditions of their deals. Suppliers are always changing their energy deals and the free gifts that come along with them, so a lot of the online lists that you may see can often be out of date.
Energy suppliers offer a whole variety of gifts and incentives for choosing their energy deals.
Some suppliers even offer gifts to existing customers in order to encourage loyalty. British Gas, for example, offer a rewards scheme where you can enter competitions for prizes, as well as discounts on movies or meals out. Shell Energy offer a similar rewards scheme which can help you save on fuel costs (3% on up to 60 litres in a month).
Other providers offer free gifts to those signing up to encourage you to switch to them. Some, such as EDF Energy and Eon, offer you free smart gadgets for your home when you sign up with them. EDF offer an Amazon Echo and a HeatSmart Netatmo smart thermostat when signing up to their Energy Connect tariff, which if you are to buy them separately, would cost around £290.
Some providers offer you gifts in the form of gift vouchers, such as Spark who offer a £15 Amazon gift card to new customers. Others give out credit on energy, such as the £25 offered by Tonik when you sign up.
When you sign up to an energy deal, you should prioritise what you are looking for. The overall price that you will be paying should be the main consideration, as well as the customer service reputation of the company and the contract length that you are signing up for, so you are not hit with early exit fees.
Having £25 off of your first energy bill is all well and good, but if you co
uld save £100 altogether by going for a cheaper deal, then you should definitely choose that option. The best way to find out what your cheapest options are is to compare energy online, using our energy comparison tool. Just type in your postcode and you will be able to easily see the energy options that will be available where you live, and how much it is likely to cost.
Factor in the value of the free gifts that are available, but you should also make sure that the free gifts will actually be that useful to you. For example, a £50 travel voucher, such as the one offered by the Co-operative Energy, will have no use to you if you don’t plan on going on holiday any time soon.
A growing trend, especially from newer energy suppliers such as Bulb and Octopus Energy, is to offer cash referral deals in an effort to entice you to switch and convince others to as well. Both Bulb and Octopus offer £50 in energy credit, as well as £50 if you refer a friend.
This could mean saving £100 with just signing up and referring one friend, but if you are popular and refer several, this could save you hundreds of pounds! However, it is important that the package you are choosing is still the best energy deal for you. If the customer service is bad and the deal is expensive, it probably would not be worth the £50 saving that you could get.