Some providers may ask you to pay slightly higher monthly Direct Debit payments during the winter months, and then reduce your summer payments by the same amount. This is what’s known as a ‘winter uplift’ or ‘seasonal payments’.

According to the providers, they do this as you generally use more energy during the winter, so to avoid building up a big debit balance, they set your monthly Direct Debit payment higher. Don’t worry though, your total cost over the year will still be the same.

Typically, these seasonal payments will only be applied in your first year with the provider, if you join during winter – though some do apply them year-round. Winter months usually cover October to March.

Where we know about it, we’ll let you know if a particular tariff has seasonal payments in Cheap Energy Club, but the monthly costs we show are always an average over 12 months, so if your provider sets seasonal payments, it will be different. You can always check directly with supplier to find out the exact difference between their summer and winter Direct Debit payments.