British Gas referral code 2026: how it works, and how it compares

Affiliate disclosure: this guide links to our tested Octopus Energy and E.ON Next referral links. If you use one, both you and I get the reward described (£50 Octopus bill credit, or a £50 E.ON Next voucher). It never changes the price you pay. British Gas doesn't pay us anything: their scheme is described here from their own published terms.

If you're searching for a British Gas referral code, here's the plain answer up front: British Gas does run a refer-a-friend scheme in 2026, but there's no code you type in at sign-up. The reward is tracked through a personalised link that an existing British Gas customer sends you, so you need to know someone who's already with them. I've never been a British Gas customer myself, so everything below comes from British Gas's published refer-a-friend terms (opens in new tab) and public sources, not personal use.

Does British Gas have a referral code you can enter?

No. British Gas uses a personalised referral link, not a generic code you paste in at checkout. If a friend or family member is already a British Gas customer, they'll find their unique link inside their British Gas online account, under the refer-a-friend section, and send it to you. When you switch using that link, both of you qualify for the reward.

Two consequences follow:

• If a website is advertising a "British Gas referral code" as a string you can type, treat it with suspicion. The real scheme runs on tracked links, not typed codes.
• If you don't already know a British Gas customer, you can't self-serve a British Gas referral. There's no public link that pays out.

Does British Gas do refer a friend?

Yes. Refer a friend is what British Gas calls the scheme, and it is the same one whether you search for it hyphenated or not. An existing customer sends you their personalised link from inside their online account, you switch through it, and you are both paid in gift vouchers rather than credit on the bill. Nothing gets typed in at sign-up, and the payment waits until your contract has survived a qualifying period on supply.

Moving both fuels pays twice what moving one does, and referring someone for a new boiler pays more than either.

What the British Gas refer-a-friend scheme pays

British Gas splits its energy reward by fuel, and runs a separate reward for boilers:

• Dual-fuel switch (gas and electricity): £50, paid as £25 for the gas switch plus £25 for the electricity switch.
• Single-fuel switch (gas only or electricity only): £25. You only get the full £50 if you move both fuels.
• New boiler referral: £100, offered as a £100 Amazon voucher, a £100 PayPal payment, or a £50 Hive voucher.

The energy reward is paid as gift vouchers, typically Amazon, rather than credit on your energy bill. British Gas pays out only once the friend's contract has been active at least 90 days after the supply start date, and a cancellation inside that window cancels the reward. There's no limit on how many people you can refer, provided you and each friend meet the terms.

So on the headline number, a British Gas dual-fuel referral matches what Octopus Energy and E.ON Next pay: £50.

What to do if you don’t know a British Gas customer

The constraint here isn’t the money, it’s the door: no existing customer means no link, and no link means no reward. Two schemes match that £50 without needing one. Octopus Energy credits it to your bill once your first direct debit clears, with no dual-fuel gate and no 90-day qualifying period; E.ON Next sends a retail voucher roughly a month in. Both run on a public link rather than one you have to be sent.

Where British Gas lands against those two and the other nine UK suppliers that run a scheme, each read against its own published terms, is the job of our UK energy refer-a-friend league table. For the head-to-head against E.ON Next specifically, we’ve compared both schemes in E.ON Next vs British Gas referral.

British Gas referral FAQs

Does British Gas have a referral code I can type in?

No. British Gas's scheme runs on a personalised link sent by an existing customer, not a generic code you enter at sign-up. If someone offers you a British Gas "code" as a typed string, it isn't how the official scheme works. Ask an existing British Gas customer for their referral link instead.

How much is the British Gas referral reward?

£50 for a dual-fuel switch, paid as £25 for gas plus £25 for electricity. A single-fuel switch (gas only or electricity only) pays £25. Referring someone for a new boiler pays £100, as an Amazon voucher, a PayPal payment, or a £50 Hive voucher.

How long does the British Gas referral take to pay?

Not until the friend's contract has been active at least 90 days after the supply start date, per British Gas's terms, and it's paid as a gift voucher rather than bill credit. Cancel inside that 90 days and nobody gets paid. For comparison, Octopus applies its £50 credit after your first direct debit, and E.ON Next sends its voucher once your first direct debit clears, usually within four weeks of the switch starting.

Can I get a British Gas referral if I don't know an existing customer?

Not through the official scheme, no: there's no public British Gas link that pays out, so there is nothing for the reward to track against. The open alternative is a supplier whose link works for strangers, which is what Octopus Energy and E.ON Next both run, at £50 each.

Is British Gas or Octopus Energy better for switching?

They pay the same £50 headline reward. British Gas needs a link from an existing customer and both fuels moved, and pays a voucher only once the friend has been on supply 90 days; Octopus pays £50 as bill credit after your first direct debit, for one fuel or both, through a link anyone can use.

You might also like

• E.ON Next vs British Gas referral: which gives you more?
• Octopus Energy vs E.ON Next: which is cheaper, and which pays more?
• Who is cheaper than Octopus Energy?

Sources

• British Gas refer-a-friend (opens in new tab): the split of the energy reward between the two fuels, the boiler reward and the three forms it comes in, that the reward is a voucher rather than bill credit, the qualifying period the friend's contract has to survive, that the referrer needs an existing account to generate a link, and that there is no limit on referrals
• Octopus refer-a-friend (opens in new tab): Octopus's reward for each side, and that it arrives as bill credit after the first direct debit
• E.ON Next refer-a-friend (opens in new tab) and its scheme terms (opens in new tab): E.ON Next's voucher, and that clause 3.5 of the terms releases it once the first direct debit clears, usually within 4 weeks of the switch starting
• I have never been a British Gas customer, so nothing here is firsthand: the scheme is described from the terms above

British Gas runs a real £50 referral, but you need a link from an existing customer, and the reward is a voucher you can't have until you've been on supply 90 days. If you'd rather have a £50 that lands as bill credit after your first direct debit, with no voucher to redeem and no qualifying period to sit out, the tested link and current terms are on the Octopus Energy referral code page.

Get your Octopus Energy £50 referral here (opens in new tab) | Get your E.ON Next £50 voucher here (opens in new tab)