How we get paid
Business Energy
Utility Trade are compensated in a simple way by all the business energy suppliers on our panel for introducing our customers to their gas and/or electricity and associated services. We receive our commission directly from the supplier, you as the customer will never be asked to pay this to us directly.
The commission we receive pays for our service, including securing the competitive tariffs, price comparison, sales support, switch management, processing, customer service and account management. The commission earned by Utility Trade balances the cost to provide these services, in line with providing good customer outcomes and retaining our standing within the market in order to continue to provide customers with competitive deals for their business. By agreeing to use our service, you are agreeing for Utility Trade to receive commission from suppliers for this service as follows.
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The commission is included within your unit cost of energy usage by way of a small uplift (i.e. within the cost of the energy contract you agree with your chosen supplier).
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This uplift is determined by Utility Trade. Whilst it can differ across contracts, our commission is generally just a few percent of the cost of the total energy contract and typically under 1 pence of the unit rate.
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Because our commissions are based on estimated future usage, they are forecast amounts. As an example, we may secure an electricity unit rate of 30 pence per KwH (kilowatt hour) from a supplier, to which we may apply an uplift of 0.8 pence, per KwH so the price presented and contracted would be 30.8 pence per KwH. The calculation for our commission is therefore our uplift multiplied by your total energy consumption (in KwH), over the contract term. For this example, it is around 2.5% of the total retail price.
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The payment terms and period over which the commission is actually paid varies by supplier therefore these commissions may also be subject to amendments over time by suppliers.
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For some suppliers who install new meters, they may choose instead to pay a fixed commission per contract.
If you would like to find out the remuneration we expect to receive from your contract, please email [email protected].
Some suppliers may make additional discretionary marketing and other volume-based payments to us for growth over a given period, however, these payments do not impact the impartiality of the comparison service provided.
Business Water
Utility Trade receive a commission from our water partner for the introduction of customers to their service. This is included within the cost of your water retail service fee by way of a small uplift applied to usage over the life of the contract, which therefore would be included within the cost of the water contract you agree via Utility Trade. You are not required to make any direct payment to Utility Trade. This commission balances the cost of service, including quoting, sales support, and switch management with providing good customer outcomes and retaining our standing within the market, in order to continue to provide customers with competitive deals for their business. By agreeing to use our service, you are agreeing for Utility Trade to receive this remuneration for our service.
If you would like to find out the remuneration we expect to receive from your contract, please email [email protected].