How to Cancel British Gas: Exit Fees, Final Bill and Refunds

To cancel British Gas, the route depends on why you’re leaving: if you’re switching to another energy supplier, your new supplier handles everything and you don’t need to contact British Gas at all; if you’re moving home or closing the account entirely, you do it through the online account, by phone, or by post, giving a move-out date and final meter readings. In most cases the process takes up to four weeks from your last day of supply to the final bill landing. Knowing how to cancel British Gas cleanly comes down to three things: providing accurate meter readings, keeping your Direct Debit active until the account is fully settled, and checking whether an exit fee applies to your tariff.

Switching to a Different Supplier

If you’ve chosen a new energy company, they take care of the switch on your behalf and notify British Gas through the industry systems. British Gas keeps supplying your energy until the transfer completes.¹

Do not cancel your Direct Debit at the bank. British Gas needs it live to collect any final payment or, if you’re in credit, to send your refund back. Cancelling early creates avoidable problems and can trigger debt collection letters for money you actually owe.¹

Customers on a standard variable tariff can switch at any time with no notice period and no exit fee.² Fixed-rate tariffs are treated separately below.

Closing the Account When You’re Moving Home

To close a British Gas account because you’re moving out, log in to your online account and use the “moving home” section. Enter your move-out date, submit final gas and electricity readings, and British Gas will generate a final bill from those numbers.³

If you’d rather do it by phone, call 0330 100 0056 with your account number, move-out date, and meter readings to hand. There’s also a postal option: British Gas, PO Box 227, Rotherham, S98 1PD. Post is the slowest route and gives no instant confirmation.⁴

Give British Gas a forwarding address so the final bill and any refund correspondence reach you. If you’re staying with British Gas at a new property, add the new address to your existing account through the same portal instead of closing it.

The 14-Day Cooling-Off Period

Every new energy contract carries a 14-calendar-day cooling-off period under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. You can cancel within that window without a reason and without penalty.⁵

If supply has already begun during those 14 days, you may still owe for the energy you actually used, but only if you gave express consent for the supply to start. Where the supplier began without that consent or without telling you about your cancellation rights, you owe nothing for the period. A cancellation notice you send within the 14 days is valid even if it reaches British Gas after the window closes.⁵

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Gather these before you contact British Gas or begin a switch:

Your account number, which appears on any previous bill or in the British Gas app.
Final meter readings taken on your last day at the property. For digital meters, read left to right and ignore anything after a decimal point or in red. For dial meters, read each clock face and take the lower digit when the pointer sits between two numbers.
Your exact move-out date, or the date you want a switch to begin.
A forwarding address for the final bill.

Accurate readings matter more than anything else on this list. Without them, British Gas estimates your usage, and estimated final bills are where most disputes start. Even with a smart meter that normally sends readings automatically, British Gas asks you to submit a manual reading when you move.⁶

Exit Fees on Fixed-Rate Tariffs

Standard variable tariff, no exit fee, whenever you leave.² Fixed-rate is different. Leaving a fixed deal early usually triggers a fee, and the amount depends on the specific tariff you signed up for. Check the terms and conditions in your online account.¹

The exit fee falls away during the final 49 days of a fixed-rate contract. Under Ofgem’s licence conditions, suppliers must contact you between 42 and 49 days before your deal ends to let you know you can switch without charge during that window.⁷ Close to the end of a fixed contract, it usually pays to wait for that window rather than pay to leave early.

British Gas also waives exit fees when you move between its own fixed tariffs, so if you’re unhappy with your deal but not fixed on leaving the company, looking at their other tariffs first can save you the fee.⁸

Your Final Bill and Any Credit Refund

British Gas typically sends the final bill within four weeks of the account closing.¹ Accurate closing readings keep the bill straightforward; without them, expect an estimate that could go either way.

When the final bill shows a credit, British Gas refunds it through your Direct Debit. Ofgem rules require suppliers to return credit balances within 10 working days of issuing the final bill. Miss that deadline and you’re entitled to £30 in automatic compensation, plus another £30 if the compensation itself isn’t paid on time.⁹

If you owe money, British Gas collects it via the same Direct Debit. That is the main reason not to cancel it early. An unpaid final bill can end up with a debt collection agency, so settle it promptly or call to arrange a payment plan if you can’t.

Back-Billing: The 12-Month Cap

Sometimes a final bill includes charges for energy used months ago that was never billed correctly. Ofgem’s back-billing rules stop suppliers charging for energy used more than 12 months ago if you were never sent an accurate bill for it, never received a statement of account mentioning the charges, or had your Direct Debit set too low through no fault of your own.¹⁰

The protection doesn’t apply if you blocked access to your meter, ignored payment requests, or tampered with your supply. For most customers who simply weren’t billed properly, though, the 12-month cap is a hard limit on how far back the supplier can reach.¹⁰ If your final bill reaches back further, challenge it.

Prepayment Meter Accounts With Debt

On a pay-as-you-go meter, debt can block a switch. British Gas can raise a “debt objection” that stops the transfer if you owe money that’s been outstanding for 28 days or more.¹¹ The rules run in tiers:

£20 or less: the debt won’t block the switch. Contact British Gas to clear it and carry on.
Between £20 and £500: your new supplier can agree to take on the debt through the Debt Assignment Protocol; you’d repay it to them instead. If they decline, you’ll need to clear the debt before switching.
More than £500: you must bring the balance down to £500 or below before a switch can proceed. Call British Gas on 0330 100 0303 to pay or set up a plan.

These thresholds apply per fuel, so gas debt and electricity debt are assessed separately.¹¹

HomeCare Is a Separate Contract

Cancelling your energy supply does not cancel a British Gas HomeCare policy. Boiler cover, heating insurance, and similar HomeCare products are separate contracts, and they’ll continue billing you unless cancelled through their own process.¹²

Cancel HomeCare by live web chat, by calling 0333 202 9343, or in writing to HomeCare Membership Office, Murdoch House, Bothwell Road, Uddingston, G71 7UD. Stopping the Direct Debit at your bank does not cancel the agreement. If a payment fails, British Gas will try to collect it and only cancel the agreement at least 30 days after the first failed payment, and in the meantime the debt keeps building.¹² Use the proper channels.

Closing an Account After Someone Has Died

Handling a British Gas account as an executor or personal representative is easiest through the online bereavement form. You’ll need the deceased person’s name and address, their account number if you have it, details of the services they received, and an up-to-date meter reading if you can get into the property.¹³

Standing charges keep running on an empty property until the account is formally closed, so act quickly. Once closed with an accurate reading, any credit balance is refunded automatically. If the credit is more than £250, British Gas requires a copy of the death certificate before releasing it.¹³

If the deceased had a HomeCare agreement, the same bereavement form covers cancelling or transferring it. Properties receiving Feed-in Tariff or Smart Export Guarantee payments from a solar installation need to be dealt with separately, with a death certificate and proof of ownership of the installation.¹³

If Something Goes Wrong

When cancellations go wrong, they tend to go wrong in familiar ways: a final bill that looks too high, a credit refund that never lands, or an exit fee you weren’t expecting. Raise it directly with British Gas first, through their complaints process. They have eight weeks to resolve it.¹⁴

If eight weeks pass without a resolution, or British Gas sends a “deadlock letter” saying they can’t take it any further, you can escalate to the Energy Ombudsman. Once you have a deadlock letter, you have 12 months to file with the Ombudsman.¹⁵ The service is free for consumers, and the Ombudsman’s decisions are binding on the supplier, which has 28 days to comply once you accept a decision.¹⁶

1
British Gas. How do I switch suppliers? – Help and Support
2
British Gas. Fixed vs Variable Energy Tariffs Explained
3
British Gas. Moving Home
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Information Now. British Gas
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Ofgem. Cooling off background paper
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British Gas. Ultimate meter read guide
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Ofgem. Ofgems Compliance Work With Npower And EON
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British Gas. Compare energy – Gas and Electricity Tariffs
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Ofgem. Customers entitled to automatic compensation for switching problems
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Ofgem. What to do if you get a back bill
11
British Gas. Switching energy supplier when there is debt on a Pay As You Go meter
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British Gas. Cancelling your HomeCare cover
13
British Gas. Bereavement
14
Ofgem. Complain about your energy supplier
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Energy Ombudsman. FAQs
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Energy Ombudsman. Energy Ombudsman – Resolve Energy Complaints