As more price hikes are announced could cashback deals help you claw back some of the costs of rising bills this winter? By Emma Gunn Those with a keen eye for a bargain may already be aware of the hoards of money-saving deals hidden on cashback websites. But for those who aren't, it might be time to join the cashback revolution. Cashback is one of the easiest and most effective ways to claw back some of the costs of rising bills, plus there are some clever tricks which could help boost your returns. While many people have probably heard of cashback, most don't know that you can get money back on one of life's expensive outgoings - energy. So, with price hikes promised for the winter, savvy households planning to switch to a cheaper energy provider should be on the lookout for extra deals to soften the blow of rising bills. Cashback revolution: Savvy switchers could boost their savings with a cashback website How does it work? There are lots of money-saving gurus out there that rave about the earnings they have made by using a cashback website. But a large proportion of people still remain unconvinced. More seem to be taking heed though. According to cashback website Quidco, last month the number of energy switchers taking advantage of cashback deals quadrupled compare to the previous month's figures. It has also seen a 93 per cent increase in people taking out energy tariffs via the site during the past year. And, although there a few hoops that you have to jump through, there is no real catch when using a cashback website. Energy providers, like most companies, put aside a budget for marketing and advertising, which they pay to search engines and comparison sites to refer customers to their website. A cashback provider will offer you a percentage, if not all, of the commission it gets from referring you on - meaning, rather satisfyingly, the provider's money goes straight to your pocket. How can I use cashback websites to take out a new energy tariff? The first thing you will need to do is find the best energy tariff. Don't forget, with price hikes almost everywhere you turn, you might be best off checking out the best fixed-rate tariffs. Most last between 12 and 18 months. But there are still some good deals that allow you to fix for four winters, potentially protecting against hikes for longer. npower currently offers the longest deal on the market, lasting until December 2017, on it's Price Protector tariff. A fixed-rate deal might be a bit more expensive than the cheapest variable deal (currently offered by Spark energy, which costs an average £1,116 a year) but in the long run these can save you a heap of cash, particularly if rates continue to rise by an average of around nine per cent each winter. A best-buy table is a good place to start, but prices vary according to where you live, so it is worth trying a price comparison tool which uses your postcode to find the cheapest provider in your area. Try This is Money's tariff finder powered by Energy Helpline above. For those who want to try the cashback route, it is possible to check whether there are any offers available for switchers. When hunting for cashback, rival websites Quidco and TopCashback are the best places to look as they tend to offer the most choice. In order to get your hands on the money you will need to sign up for an account - but you will only need to use your email address to register. Although this does risk clogging up your inbox, the websites often send updates on what their best-paying deals are, which can serve as a reminder to make the most of them in the future. First Utility - up to £52.50 npower - up to £52.50 M&S Energy - up to £48.72 uSwitch up to £22.05 confused.com - up to £25.20 npower- up to £50 SSE - up to £46.40 M&S Energy - up to £46.40 First utility - up to £40 Make it Cheaper - up to £36 EnergyLynx - up to £33 Watch out There are a few conditions to the deals, one of the most important being that you are only paid cashback if you are signing up as a new customer - if you are not switching supplier, you won't get paid. To make sure the cashback website always tracks your purchase properly and ensure you are paid what you are owed, it is a good idea to clear your cookies regularly or use a different web browser. It might take a while for your earnings to get paid into your online cashback account and you will need to remember to transfer it into your bank or Paypal account. You should always consider cashback as an added bonus rather than a swaying factor. Finding the right energy tariff and provider for you should be your main priority. Remember the highest-paying offers are likely to be paid on the least cost-effective tariffs in a bid to get more people to sign up to them - so beware. What about comparison sites? it is worth remembering that some of the comparison sites out there offer cashback when you sign up for a deal through them, too. Energy Helpline is currently offering a decent cashback handout when you use its switching service. It pays an appealing £70 if you switch to Scottish Power's Online Fixed Price Energy February 2015, Fixed Price Energy February 2016 Online, or its Help Beat Cancer Fixed Price Energy January 2017 tariff. While those taking out a npower's Price Protector December 2017 get £30 in cashback. You could also try sites such as uSwitch which often advertises cashback deals through its switching service. It also occasionally offers perks like a free case of wine to customers signing up for certain tariffs, so look out for those, too. Use your current account to boost returns With new switching rules making it quicker and easier to change your bank, a whole host of cashback deals have appeared to entice households looking to make the most of their spending. Sadly there is only one bank at the moment offering cashback on your utilities bills, Santander. The Santander 123 account will pay you 2 per cent interest on your energy bills, as well as 1 per cent on your Santander mortgage (up to maximum monthly mortgage payments of £1,000), and on any spend on water and council tax bills that come out of the account. It also pays out 3 per cent on money spent on mobile, home phone, broadband and paid-for TV packages. Plus, it offers some appealing incredit interest rates - 1 per cent on balances up to £1,000 and 2 per cent up to £2,000. Once your balance reaches £2,000, the maximum interest of 3 per cent will kick in at £3,000 up to the maximum of £20,000. TOP TIP: TopCashback is currently paying up to £47 when you take out a Santander 123 current account through its site, and Quidco will pay you up to £50. What about a credit card? If you pay your bills by cash or cheque you might be able to earn money when using a cashback credit card. Remember, most providers offer a discount if you pay your energy bills by monthly direct debit - so you may save more money if you pay this way than you would gain in cashback.. American Express offers the highest money-back rate on its Platinum Cashback card, paying 5 per cent for the first three months, capped at £125, and 1.25 per cent on everything else after that. Quidco offers £50 cash when you take out the Platinum card through its website, while TopCashback pays £26.25. Using a cashback card to pay the average bill of £1,420 would earn you at least £17.25. But this would be higher if you paid any bills during the first three months, when you would benefit from the boosted cashback rate. Using the card each month on your general spending would boost your cashback rate even more - if you spent an average of £250 on the card each month you would earn you an extra £65.63. But, it is only worth taking out a cashback credit card if you know you can clear the balance each month otherwise interest charges will quickly overtake any cashback gains as the Amex card comes with 14 per cent interest on purchases. The Capital One Aspire Elite card has a higher cashback rate of 5 per cent for the first three months and two per cent thereafter, but it comes with a whopping £125 annual fee. Santander's 123 credit card pays one per cent cashback on supermarket spends, two per cent on money spent in department stores and three per cent on petrol and both National Rail and TFL spends - this a good deal, but unlike its current account there's no opportunity to earn money from your utilities bills. Remember, as these are all popular cards, you are likely to find that your application is not accepted if you have a poor credit rating, in which case you should be careful as repeated applications for credit can further affect your rating. You might also be offered a higher interest rate than advertised as providers legally only have to offer the advertised rate to 51 per cent of their customers. You can get cashback on almost anything nowadays, from clothes, insurance, holidays and train tickets to broadband packages - and even when you take out a credit card or open a current account, writes Emma Gunn. It can all come across as too good to be true, but you shouldn't let your disbelief get the better of you as there are some great savings to be made. My latest cashback victory came from a broadband deal. I had settled on the Sky Broadband Unlimited deal as it offered the fastest speeds in my area with the lowest price. At the time, TopCashback was offering a whopping £84 cashback, while Sky itself was giving away £25 in M&S vouchers. This resulted in an impressive deal considering the total cost over the 12 month deal was £234 - meaning I effectively only paid £125. With free cash and the feeling of satisfaction of having in some way 'beaten the system', the only downside of the whole experience for me came from my 13-week wait before the money hit my Topcashback account. As loyalty never pays, particularly when it comes to your bank or on your household bills, shopping around to make sure you are always getting the best rate and then taking advantage of cashback deals can really help stretch a tight budget.