Martin Lewis warns British Gas, OVO, EDF, Octopus customers to 'act' by Sunday

James Rodger
·2-min read

Martin Lewis has urged energy bill customers to act by Sunday June 30 - or risk higher bills. The ITV The Martin Lewis Money Show star, who has regular stints on the likes of Good Morning Britain and This Morning, spoke out on his latest BBC Sounds podcast.

Mr Lewis explained how people need to act by June 30 and fix ahead of the brand-new Ofgem energy price cap. Discussing the ongoing standing charges on his latest podcast, the Money Saving Expert said: "I personally believe it is effectively an energy poll tax."

He said: "It's a moral hazard that reduces the impact of reducing your usage on your energy bills, because you have these fixed daily standing charges. I've been campaigning to get them lowered. Both Labour and Tories have now spoken to me and said if they're elected they will work to lower standing charges - we'll see how much they deliver on that."

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And on whether to fix, Martin added: "While the energy price cap is due to drop 7% in July the current prediction is it will rise by 12% in October. So actually over the next 12 months if the predictions are right you will pay more than you do right now if you stick on the price cap."

Martin said if you can find a good deal when your bills drop in 10 days - at the start of July - it is worth locking in before the rates rise again. If you're not on a fix, you're almost certainly on a price-capped tariff, so that's what you need to compare against.

The price cap is forecast to rise 12 per cent in October and then stay the same in January. That is based on a dual-fuel household paying by Direct Debit and 2,700 kilowatt hours of electricity, 11,500 kilowatt of gas.

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