Energy suppliers are now offering up to €180 cashback to attract new customers
Mark Whelan
Staff Writer

Many of Ireland’s energy suppliers are now offering substantial sums of cash and account credit to customers who switch. By signing up to the price plans with the biggest cash amounts on offer, customers can pocket up to €295.

Bord Gáis Energy, Electric Ireland, Energia and SSE Airtricity are all offering cash or account credit to new customers who choose to switch. With Christmas credit card bills rolling in, New Year budgeting on the mind and big winter energy bills to worry about, many households may be tempted to opt for the biggest cashback offer when choosing a new supplier. However, it’s important to consider the full cost of a price plan over the course of its contract before signing up.

Which suppliers are offering cashback?

Bord Gáis Energy is offering a €150 cashback, along with a 14% electricity discount and 5% gas discount to new dual fuel customers. By switching to Bord Gáis Energy’s dual fuel deal, customers on standard rates with average consumption will save €318, when you add in the cashback.

Customers who sign up for electricity only will get €100 cashback and those who opt for gas only will get €50.

Electric Ireland is offering a €175 cashback and a 5.5% discount to new gas customers. At this rate, anyone on standard rates with average consumption will save around €241 on gas alone when you include the cashback.

Energia is currently offering €150 cashback, a 16% electricity discount and a 15% gas discount to new customers. This adds up to a saving of €292 on gas and electricity when compared to standard rates.

However, Energia has another offer, which doesn’t include cashback, but adds up to a bigger saving. The supplier’s Clever Dual Fuel deal comes with a 26% electricity discount and a 25% gas discount and could lead to savings of €323 for average households.

Finally, SSE Airtricity is offering €180 cashback – the largest amount we’ve ever seen here at bonkers.ie – and a 10% discount to new dual fuel customers. This could result in a saving of €330 for customers on standard rates with average consumption.

The supplier is also offering €120 and a 10% discount to new electricity customers.

How to get €295 in cashback

By switching your gas to Electric Ireland and your electricity to SSE Airtricity, you’ll get €175 and €120 cashback, respectively. So, €295 in total.

With the discounts associated with those price plans factored in, making this move could save a household on standard rates with average consumption €481 in year one.

How is cashback paid?

With Electric Ireland and Energia, the full cashback amount associated with the price plan is discounted from your first or second bill, depending on when you sign up. The credit will stay on your account until you use it in full.

It’s slightly different with Bord Gáis Energy. You must log in to your account with the supplier and select the month in which you would like your account to be credited to get the cashback.

With SSE Airtricity, you can claim your cashback at any time over the course of your 12-month contract, once you've paid your first bill in full. Once claimed, your cashback will be added to your account within 60 days.

Why doesn’t bonkers.ie include cashback in bill estimates?

On our energy results page, you’ll notice that we list price plans in order of the cost of your expected consumption in year one. We don’t include cashback amounts in these calculations because they are one-off payments that have nothing to do with the amount of gas and electricity that you actually use.

We think it’s much more helpful to show you exactly what you’ll pay for a unit of energy with a particular supplier and show the cashback amount separately. It’s our job to provide complete transparency to energy costs and although cashback offers are very appealing to many households, they can add confusion to the calculations for others. This is also the view of the Commission for Energy Regulation, who say that signup incentives of any type should not be used in calculations.

As always, the best way to find the right price plans for you is to visit our Gas & Electricity Comparison page and take a look at all of the options available to you.