Switching is easy. The hard part is reviewing all the options and deciding which plan and retailer to switch to. Bill Hero does all that for you, and the actual switch application process will take only about 10 minutes of your time.
Once your application is submitted, it takes about 15 business days, or three calendar weeks of elapsed time, for your new retailer to complete your switch. You'll be updated through this process, but you don't need to do anything at all.
Here's everything you need to know:
Choosing your new plan
Most people switch to save money, and a core part of the Bill Hero service is to automatically monitor, analyse and compare every bill to identify which retailer and plan would deliver the best price outcome for you.
Your Bill Hero results include a link to a personalised comparison showing you a price-ranked list of plans, with the relevant annualised savings calculated for you on each.
You can filter these results in various ways and use this to easily choose the plan and retailer that will give you the best price and savings outcome, while meeting your other requirements.
We have detailed information about this results screen and the available filters here: Bill Hero results screen explained.
Every plan in the Bill Hero results includes a link and a phone number for the relevant retailer so you can proceed with a switch to your selected plan.
'Do It For Me' Switching
Bill Hero offers an optional 'Do It For Me' service to place your switch application with your chosen retailer on your behalf.
Details of this service are available here: https://support.billhero.com.au/en/articles/8075093-bill-hero-plan-details-screen-explained
Place your order
To begin your switch, you need to place an application with your chosen new retailer. Retailers can accept new applications via their website or by phone.
All retailers will need the following information in the application:
The energy plan you're signing up for
Your name & contact information
Your ID—driver's license, medicare, or passport number
Your supply address and meter number
Your billing address (if different from your supply address)
Your concession details, if relevant
Medical devices declaration — there are regulatory safeguards around energy supply to households where residents rely on power for medical and life-support devices. Retailers are obliged to ask if such devices are used in customers' premises and to update a central register with the information.
TIP: There's no need to inform your old retailer that you're switching to a new provider. The old retailer will automatically be informed as part of the switching process.
Application review
It typically takes 2 or 3 business days for a retailer to review and approve a new application, however there is no fixed time frame for this, and it's possible this step might take longer than this.
Retailers will often perform a credit check as part of the initial review, and they may reject an application if they deem the credit check result to be inadequate.
Retailers can have internal policies where they can reject applications from certain localities or postcodes. These policies may exist even where an affected locality falls into a distribution zone that they more generally do serve. See our support article The retailer won't serve my address for more information.
Welcome pack
After review, if your application is accepted, the retailer will send you a Welcome Pack, containing all the detailed information about the energy plan, the rates to be charged, the fee schedule, plus their Terms and Conditions of supply.
This step is a crucial part of the EIC regime since it is here that you are considered to have been fully informed about the plan you're signing up for.
Cooling off period
The retail energy rules require a 10-business-day cooling-off period to elapse from the date of receipt of the Welcome Pack before transferring your meter to the new retailer can be started.
You can cancel your order anytime and for any reason during the cooling-off period without penalty. If you do, your switch will be cancelled, and you'll remain with your original retailer.
Ten business days means two weeks of elapsed time, and possibly longer than that if there are public holidays in that period.
Transfer
Once the cooling-off period has elapsed, the transfer of your meter to the new retailer can occur.
Transfer is facilitated through an industry-wide back-end system that all retailers use to access the meter data required to generate your bills. Your old retailer will relinquish responsibility for your meter, and your new retailer will take up the responsibility.
You may remember having to wait until the next meter reading for the transfer to be completed. New regulation caps the transfer window at 2 days.
Since October 2021, the transfer window for electricity switching is capped at two business days.
Previously, the standard approach was to wait for the next meter reading before the transfer would complete. This meant that customers with manual meters on a quarterly read cycle might have to wait up to 90 days or more before their switch would finally be activated.