# Ending a Dutch energy contract: fees and notice periods > How notice periods and termination fees work when you cancel a Dutch energy contract - including what happens if you leave the Netherlands. Ending an energy contract in the Netherlands is administratively straightforward and financially unpredictable. The administrative part is fixed by law: whatever you signed, whoever you signed it with, you can give notice and be out within a month. The financial part depends on the small print – specifically, on whether your supplier can charge you an *opzegvergoeding*, a termination fee for leaving a fixed-term contract early. For people who arrived in the Netherlands with a two- or three-year fixed contract bundled into a rental handover, this is usually the first time the question comes up. It is worth understanding before you act, because one assumption trips up almost everyone: leaving the country is not a way out. Emigration is not treated as an exceptional circumstance, and the fee – where one is due – is due anyway. ## The notice period is one month, whatever you signed For every Dutch energy contract, the *opzegtermijn* (notice period) is a maximum of one month. This applies regardless of contract type or length: a one-year fixed deal, a three-year fixed deal, a variable contract, a dynamic hourly contract and the indefinite *modelcontract* all sit under the same cap. The clock starts the day after you give notice, not at the start of the next calendar month. So you are never trapped for long. If you give notice on 8 March, your supply can end on 8 April. What a long fixed term buys the supplier is not a longer exit, but the possibility of a termination fee. ## When a termination fee applies – and when it does not A supplier may only charge an *opzegvergoeding* if **all three** of the following are true: 1. the contract is for a fixed term (*bepaalde tijd*); 2. that term has not yet run out at the moment you give notice; and 3. the fee is set out in the contract itself. If any one of the three fails, no fee is owed. That means there is no termination fee on a contract with variable or dynamic rates, none on a contract whose agreed term has already expired, none where the supplier is the party ending the contract, and none where the contract does not state how the fee is calculated. The *modelcontract* – the open-ended contract whose terms are set by the ACM, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets, and which every supplier is obliged to offer – carries no termination fee at all. Which rules apply to you therefore starts with knowing which type of agreement you are on; our overview of [the contract forms available on the Dutch market](https://www.energievergelijker.nl/en/dutch-energy-contract-types) sets out the differences. One warning about older information. The ACM rules on termination fees introduced in 2023 were replaced on 1 January 2026 by the new *Energiewet* (Energy Act). English-language forum posts and news articles still circulate fixed maximum amounts from that earlier regime; treat any specific euro cap you read online as out of date and check the calculation stated in your own contract instead. ## How the fee is calculated, and why it can come to nothing The fee is not a flat penalty. It is a compensation calculation, and it looks like this: your remaining consumption until the end of the contract, multiplied by the difference between the rate you are currently paying and the rate that same supplier charges today for an agreement with the same remaining term. The consequence is one people rarely expect. If wholesale prices have **risen** since you signed, the supplier’s current rate for a comparable remaining term will be higher than yours, the difference is zero or negative, and the fee can come to nothing – because ending your contract costs the supplier nothing. It is only when prices have **fallen** below what you agreed that a meaningful amount appears. This is why the answer to “what will it cost me to leave?” cannot be given in advance in the abstract. Ask your supplier for the calculation in writing before you commit to anything. ## Leaving the Netherlands Emigration is not an exception to the termination fee. Neither is moving house, nor moving in with a partner. If the three conditions above are met, the fee remains payable when you cancel because you are leaving the country. There is no hardship clause for relocation, and no supplier obligation to waive it. What you can do is manage the timing and the money. **Check the end date first.** If your fixed term expires within a few months of your departure, the cheapest route may be to leave the contract running to its natural end date – the fee disappears the moment the term is over. **Ask for the calculation before you cancel.** Because of how the sum works, the amount may be far smaller than you fear, or nil. Get it in writing. **Give notice with the actual departure date in mind.** One month is the maximum notice, so there is no advantage in cancelling months ahead – and doing so can leave you without a supply contract while you are still in the flat. **Submit final meter readings.** Your *meterstanden* on the day supply ends are what the *eindafrekening* (final bill) is built on. Photograph the meters, including the date. **Sort out the refund.** Most households pay a monthly *voorschot* (advance instalment) against actual consumption. If you have paid in more than you used, the balance comes back to you – which means you need a bank account that still works after you leave. Closing your Dutch account before the final bill has settled is the single most common reason refunds go astray. **Leave a forwarding address.** Give your supplier a postal address abroad and a working email address, and keep them until the final bill is paid and cleared. **Tell your landlord or the new occupant.** The address needs a supply contract after you go; if nobody arranges one, the fallback arrangements apply, which is nobody’s preferred outcome. ## Moving house within the Netherlands If you are moving within the country, cancelling is often unnecessary. An existing contract can usually move with you to the new address, keeping your rates and your term intact – and, by extension, avoiding any termination fee. You register the move with your supplier, provide meter readings at both addresses, and receive an interim final bill for the old one. Whether relocating the contract is actually a good idea depends on your rate: if you are on an expensive fixed deal that is nearly finished, a move can be a natural moment to review. ## Switching supplier: who cancels what When you move to a new supplier, you do not normally cancel anything yourself. The new supplier arranges termination with the old one as part of the switch, applies the one-month notice period, and coordinates the handover date so there is no gap in supply. Your old supplier then sends a final bill. If a termination fee is due, it appears on that bill and is charged by the old supplier, not the new one – so establish the amount before you sign elsewhere rather than after. If you want to see what the alternatives actually cost before deciding, you can [run your postcode and consumption through the comparison](https://www.energievergelijker.nl/en/compare-energy-providers-netherlands). ## The 14-day cooling-off period Anything you agree online, by telephone or otherwise at a distance carries a *bedenktijd* of 14 days: a cooling-off period during which you may cancel without giving a reason and without cost. It runs from the conclusion of the agreement. This is the clean escape route from a contract you signed in haste – provided you use it inside the window. ## Checking the final bill The *eindafrekening* settles what you actually used against what you paid in advance, and it is the document worth reading closely. Confirm that the closing meter readings match the ones you submitted, that the supply period ends on the date your contract ended, that any termination fee is calculated the way the contract says it is, and that network charges and energy tax adjustments are pro-rated to the right period. Our walkthrough of [how a Dutch energy bill is put together](https://www.energievergelijker.nl/en/dutch-energy-bill-explained) covers the line items in detail. ## Before you cancel 1. Find your contract’s start and end dates, and check whether the fixed term is close to expiring. 2. Establish the contract type – fixed, variable, dynamic or *modelcontract*. 3. Read the termination clause and see whether a fee, with its calculation, is actually stated. 4. Ask the supplier in writing for the fee amount as it would be calculated today. 5. If you signed within the past 14 days at a distance, use the cooling-off period instead. 6. Decide the end date, remembering notice runs for a maximum of one month from the day after you give it. 7. Record meter readings, photographed and dated, on the day supply ends. 8. Keep your Dutch bank account and a contactable address open until the final bill has been settled. The full rules, in Dutch, are published by the ACM’s consumer information service ConsuWijzer: [energiecontract opzeggen – opzegvergoeding en opzegtermijn](https://consument.acm.nl/elektriciteit-en-gas/overstappen-vergelijken-en-verhuizen/energiecontract-opzeggen-alles-over-opzegvergoeding-en-opzegtermijn). Where your own situation turns on the wording of your contract, that page and your supplier’s terms are the authority, not this summary. ## Frequently asked questions How much notice do I have to give? No more than one month, for any energy contract in the Netherlands, whatever its type or length. The period starts the day after you give notice. Do I have to pay a termination fee if I am leaving the Netherlands? Yes, if the three conditions are met: a fixed-term contract, still within its term, with the fee stated in the contract. Emigration, moving house and moving in together are not exceptions. Can the termination fee be zero? It can. The fee is the remaining consumption multiplied by the difference between your rate and the supplier’s current rate for the same remaining term. If market prices have risen since you signed, that difference may be nil. Do I need to cancel my old contract myself when I switch? Usually not. The new supplier normally arranges the cancellation with your existing supplier and coordinates the switch date. What if I signed the contract online and changed my mind? Contracts concluded at a distance carry a 14-day cooling-off period, during which you can cancel without giving a reason and without charge.