Martin Lewis issues warning to anyone paying energy bills by direct debit

24 October 2022, 12:00 | Updated: 24 October 2022, 12:03

Financial expert Martin Lewis has issued a warning that households could be facing a 73% hike in energy prices from April.

Martin Lewis has issued a warning to all energy customers who pay their bills by direct debit.

New Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that the UK Government’s £2,500 energy price guarantee will end next April.

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This previously replaced Ofgem’s price cap and stopped bills rising to a predicted £6,000 this winter.

However, Martin has now told viewers that early forecasts from industry analysts at Cornwall Insight suggest households could face 73% hike in gas and electricity bills from April.

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This would push the average price up to an estimated £4,350, which will hit many families across the country very hard.

Taking to his Money Show this week, Martin had a warning to anyone who pays their bills by Direct Debits that some companies only review their Direct Debits twice a year.

This means some customers could be facing yet another hefty price rise in their payments next year.

He said: "Direct Debits are currently being assessed by some firms on the back of that 27 percent rise to the energy price guarantee [£2,500], all the major firms are doing it, but there are two I want to point out though.

“British Gas and EDF, big firms there. If you’re a customer of one of those firms, unlike the others, they don’t recalculate your Direct Debit when there’s a price move.

"They just do it at two points in the year - normally the sixth month and one year anniversary of when you joined - which means you may stay on your current Direct Debit for the next few months even though the rate you’re being charged is higher. That means when they do alter your Direct Debit, the increase is likely to be much bigger because you’ve got to catch up."

In order to protect themselves, Martin has advised customers to ask their supplier to increase their Direct Debit now so the jump isn’t as large.