British Gas Referral Scheme: Rewards & How to Claim

The British Gas referral scheme rewards both you and a friend with an online gift voucher when your friend switches to a qualifying British Gas product. For energy, both of you receive £25 for electricity and £25 for gas; for a new boiler, you each get a £100 voucher, according to British Gas’s own Refer a Friend terms.

The scheme is an acquisition incentive rather than a bill discount, so the reward is a separate gift card, not credit taken off your account. To qualify, the person you refer must be new to British Gas, must join through your unique referral link, and their contract must stay active for at least 90 days after the supply start date.

Free Price Compare sources this information from British Gas’s published Refer a Friend terms and from Ofgem energy market data. Below we set out exactly how much you can earn, who is eligible, how long the voucher takes and whether referral rewards should influence your choice of supplier.

Last updated: August 2026

Written by the Free Price Compare editorial team | Reviewed August 2026

How much can you earn with the British Gas referral scheme?

The British Gas referral scheme pays £25 for electricity and £25 for gas to both the referrer and the friend, meaning a dual-fuel energy switch is worth £50 to each person, based on British Gas’s published Refer a Friend terms. If you refer someone for a new boiler instead, both of you receive a £100 online gift voucher, and some boiler referral routes offer a choice of Amazon.co.uk, PayPal or Hive rewards. The reward arrives as a separate gift card rather than as credit on your energy bill, so it does not reduce your unit rate or standing charge. Because British Gas states no limit on the number of referrals, a household that refers several friends over a year could accumulate a meaningful sum in vouchers.

Referral rewards are a one-off bonus, not an ongoing saving. A £50 voucher is welcome, but it is small next to a full year’s gas and electricity spend, so treat it as a top-up rather than the main reason to switch. The tariff you and your friend end up on matters far more over 12 months than the voucher itself.

Compare energy tariffs before you switch

Where do you find your British Gas referral code or link?

Your British Gas referral link is found inside your online British Gas account, which is why the scheme is only open to existing home energy customers who have registered online. Once you log in, the Refer a Friend or Offers area generates a unique link or referral code that you share directly with the person you want to refer. That link tracks the referral back to your account, so the friend must use it when they sign up rather than joining through a general British Gas web page. If they join without your link, neither of you qualifies for the voucher, even if the switch itself completes successfully.

Sharing the exact link is the single most common point of failure with any energy referral scheme. Send it directly to your friend by message or email, and ask them to confirm they started their application from your link rather than searching for British Gas separately. Keep a note of the date they applied, which helps if you later need to chase a missing reward.

Who is eligible to refer a friend?

Eligibility to refer requires you to be an existing British Gas home energy customer with a registered online account, while the friend you refer must not already be a British Gas customer. The friend must join a qualifying product, such as a dual-fuel or single-fuel energy tariff or a new boiler, using your unique referral link. British Gas also states that the friend’s contract or policy must remain active for at least 90 days after the supply or policy start date for the Amazon.co.uk gift card offer to qualify. If the friend cancels or switches away inside that 90-day window, the reward is forfeited.

These conditions are standard for UK energy referral incentives and exist to stop people gaming the scheme with short-lived sign-ups. A household moving into a new property, or someone whose fixed deal has just ended, is the most likely candidate to refer, because they are already choosing a supplier. If you are not yet a British Gas customer, you cannot refer anyone until you have joined and set up your online account first.

Weigh the tariff, not just the voucher

A £50 reward is a one-off; the tariff you pick affects your bill every month.

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Do you get bill credit or a voucher?

British Gas referral rewards are paid as an online gift voucher, not as credit applied to your energy bill. For energy referrals the voucher is typically an Amazon.co.uk gift card, and for some boiler referrals British Gas offers a choice of Amazon.co.uk, PayPal or Hive rewards. This distinction matters for budgeting: a bill credit would directly lower what you owe British Gas, whereas a voucher is spending money you can use elsewhere. Neither reduces your ongoing unit rate or standing charge, both of which are set by your tariff.

If cutting your bill is the priority, the voucher should sit alongside a genuine tariff comparison rather than replacing it. A household stuck on a standard variable tariff often has more to gain from moving to a competitive fixed deal than from any one-off referral reward. Check the tariff type, exit fees and the standing charge before you decide, because those figures shape your bill for the full contract.

How long does the referral reward take to arrive?

The British Gas referral reward is issued after the qualifying product completes and, for the Amazon.co.uk gift card, after the friend’s contract has stayed active for at least 90 days from the supply start date. In practice this means the voucher does not land immediately after switching; the switch itself must finish first, and then the qualifying period runs before the reward is released. British Gas processes the voucher as an online gift card sent to the email registered on the account, so the timing depends on the switch completing and the 90-day active period passing.

If your reward has not arrived a reasonable time after the 90-day period ends, contact British Gas directly with the referral date and the friend’s account details to hand. Missing or delayed referral vouchers are a common complaint across UK energy schemes, so keeping a clear record of when the friend applied and when their supply started makes any follow-up far quicker to resolve.

See how to switch British Gas without exit fees

Is there a limit on how many friends you can refer?

British Gas states there is no limit on the number of people you can refer and no cap on the total referral rewards you can earn, provided each referral meets the scheme terms. This means a household that refers several qualifying friends over a year could earn multiple £50 energy vouchers or £100 boiler vouchers. Each referral must still be a genuine new customer who joins through your unique link and stays active for the required 90 days, so the volume you earn depends on how many eligible people you actually refer.

The absence of a cap makes the scheme more generous than some rival referral programmes, several of which limit how many rewards a single account can claim. Even so, every referral is subject to the same eligibility checks, so you cannot recycle the same friend or refer someone who is already a British Gas customer. Legitimate referrals of people choosing a new supplier are what the scheme is built for.

How does the referral bonus compare with switching for a better tariff?

A referral bonus is a one-off gain, whereas the right tariff affects your bill every month for the length of your contract, so the tariff should always be the primary decision. The Ofgem energy price cap sets a maximum on the unit rates and standing charge a supplier can charge a typical household on a standard variable tariff, and it is reviewed every three months, so a fixed deal below that cap can save far more over a year than any single voucher. A £50 referral reward is worth having, but it is small relative to a full year of gas and electricity costs.

The practical order is: pick the best-value tariff for your usage first, then take the referral reward as a bonus if a friend is switching too. If you are unsure which tariff suits your usage, read our guide on why some households pay more than their neighbours, and use our comparison tool to check current deals across the market. Free Price Compare draws on Ofgem price cap data and whole-of-market tariff information to show what you could pay.

Our guide to the E.ON Next referral scheme sets out a comparable £50-per-friend structure, which is worth comparing if you or your friend are weighing up more than one supplier.

Compare whole-of-market energy deals

What else should you check before switching to British Gas?

Before switching to British Gas to trigger a referral reward, check the tariff type, the standing charge, any exit fees and how the deal compares with the wider market, not just the voucher value. The standing charge is a fixed daily amount you pay regardless of usage, and it varies between tariffs and regions, so two deals with similar unit rates can still differ on total cost. Exit fees matter if you might want to leave early, because they can offset the value of a referral bonus. A qualifying switch also needs to complete cleanly for the referral to count.

• Confirm whether the tariff is fixed or variable, and check the end date and any exit fees.
• Compare the unit rates and standing charge against other suppliers for your postcode and usage.
• Make sure the friend joins through your unique referral link so the reward tracks correctly.
• Note the supply start date, as the 90-day active period runs from there.

Reducing your bill is not only about the supplier you pick. Simple changes at home can cut usage regardless of tariff, and our guides on smart ways to cut energy costs and what uses the most energy in the home show where the biggest savings usually sit. Households in vulnerable circumstances can also register for extra help through the supplier’s Priority Services Register and check eligibility for the Warm Home Discount via gov.uk.

• British Gas Exit Fees & Switching Guide: Avoid Extra Charges
• British Gas Renewable Energy: How Green Are Their Tariffs?
• What Uses the Most Energy in the Home? | FreePriceCompare
• Smart Ways to Cut Energy Costs in the UK
• Reduce Laundry Costs: Energy-Saving Tips for UK Homes

Information correct as of 7 August 2026. Prices, tariffs, policy details and providers change frequently, so please check the latest details before making a decision. This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice. Free Price Compare is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).