Does switching energy provider impact my credit score?

When you apply to switch energy suppliers, most will do a credit report check. This is because they want to make sure you’re a reliable customer who pays their bills on time.

This is usually just a soft search, which doesn’t affect your credit score and cannot be used by lenders to assess you when you apply for credit. In rare cases, a supplier may do a hard search, which may temporarily impact your credit score.

But, these searches will only take place when you apply to switch providers. You can compare the different energy deals on TotallyMoney without any supplier doing any credit checks of any kind.

And, if you do apply but don’t pass the check, don’t worry. Your new supplier may suggest you pay a security deposit to switch, or recommend you use a pre-payment meter instead of a regular or smart meter. If you don’t want either of these to happen, you can always stop the switch by telling your new energy supplier.