Frequently asked questions

TPI is an abbreviation of "Third Party Introducer", commonly referred to in the industry as "Energy Broker", "Energy Consultant", "Energy Bureau" or "Comparison Site" — and basically means they are the middleman between you the energy client and the energy supplier.

Your TPI may not charge you directly for their service, but they will add their commission to the unit rate from your supplier and your supplier will pay them that amount. Indirectly, you pay your TPI fee — so no, it's not free. See our Savings Illustration or Savings Calculator.

The majority of TPI's use what is called "Uplift" — the amount they are allowed by the energy supplier to add to the supplier unit rate as their commission for introducing you to the supplier as a client. This can be as much as 5p per unit of energy consumed by you, and can cost your business hundreds or thousands of pounds per year. See our Savings Illustration or Savings Calculator.

Dependent upon how much your TPI adds to your unit rate multiplied by your annual usage, it can be significant. This is why thousands of businesses are saving with Smile. See our Savings Illustration or Savings Calculator.

You can simply ask them, or when they send you a new offer it must be stated how much your TPI is earning from your annual energy cost. Then use our Savings Calculator and we will show you how much we can save you on TPI commission, then Get Started.

Not only could we save you money on your renewal, we give you access to many trusted, vetted and audited suppliers and give you the option to choose. We will not increase the supplier unit rate to earn commission for ourselves — we only charge a small service user fee for each contract submitted through our portal, which can save you thousands of pounds. See our Savings Illustration or Savings Calculator.

We only work with and recommend established and trusted energy partners — see Our Energy Suppliers.

You can sign another contract to continue supply up to 12 months in advance of your current contract end date — this can be either a renewal with your current supplier or a change of supplier. See our Savings Illustration or Savings Calculator.

A Letter of Authority (LOA) is your signed consent for Smile to act on your behalf, which is required by all energy suppliers to allow us to represent you and your business. We will not enter into contracts on your behalf — it merely allows us permission to access your energy usage, meter and current contract details, etc.

You don't necessarily need to switch from your current supplier — it may be the best option for you, but you do need to compare what's available in the market. Click Get Started and review your options, but remember if you're using a TPI, check out Uplift to make sure you're not paying unnecessary commissions. See our Savings Illustration and Savings Calculator.

Possibly — click Get Started and find out for yourself.

As the energy market constantly changes, so do suppliers' prices.

Simply means that the deal you sign up to is fixed for the duration of your contract.

Yes — you can stay ahead of the inevitable price increases.

If you do not renew or switch at the end of your current contract, your supplier will continue to supply your meter — but as there is no agreement in place, they will place you on "Out of Contract Rates" (a.k.a. Deemed Rates), which can be considerably higher than what you were paying.

Agree a renewal contract with your current supplier, or agree a contract with another supplier to start when your current contract ends — ideally at least 12 weeks from the current contract end date to allow time for either to be accepted.

Especially with fixed contracts, it means that you will have budget certainty for the term, as the unit rates will be fixed for the duration.