Martin Lewis reveals whether you should fix your energy bill before £2,800 price cap rise

25 May 2022, 10:31 | Updated: 20 September 2022, 15:46

Martin Lewis reveals tip for fixing energy bill amid latest reports of £2,800 price cap

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

Martin Lewis has issued new tariff advice to British Gas and E.On customers which could beat the October price cap.

Martin Lewis has issued new advice on whether you should fix your energy bill after the latest price cap prediction.

Appearing on his Martin Lewis Money Show Live, the 50-year-old warned that the energy price cap is set to rise 42 per cent to £2,800 in October.

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This means households could see their bills go up by £830, following the huge increase in April which saw prices jump 54 per cent.

Martin has now said that Brits should only fix their bill if they can find a deal that's 30 per cent more than the current cap.

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“[The price cap] is going to go up 42 per cent, we’re predicting in October," he said.

"And then even though the new price cap only lasts three months, the latest estimates I’ve had from analysts is the January price cap for the next three months is going to be the same.”

He continued: "So we’re expecting it to be around £2,800 until next April - it’s horrible isn’t it - then it is going to drop a little bit.

“When you plug all that in to where we are now - four months on this price cap, then six months on the next price cap - effectively.

"Effectively, if you could find a fix below around 30 per cent more than the current price cap then it's probably worth doing - and you can add five per cent on top of that because you'll get price surety of knowing what your prices are."

He went on to say that British Gas and E.On are now offering existing customers fixed deals below the 30 per cent threshold or 35 per cent for those after price assurance.

Martin added: "We’re seeing existing customer fixes where an existing company is offering you a cheap fix. They don’t have to publish those rates, unlike those open market ones, so I don’t have them. I ask people to feed them in and we estimate them.

"I believe there is an E.On two-year fix that people are being offered and British Gas one-year fix that people are being offered that are within less than 30% [of the price cap]. If you’re being offered those, you may want to look into it."

This comes after Ofgem boss Jonathan Brearley told the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee that ‘conditions have worsened’ and gas prices are higher and highly volatile.

"At times they have now reached over 10 times their normal level,” he said.

"I know this is a very distressing time for customers but I do need to be clear with this committee, with customers and with the government about the likely price implications for October.

“Therefore later today I will be writing to the Chancellor to give him our latest estimates of the price cap uplift.

“This is uncertain, we are only part way through the price cap window, but we are expecting a price cap in October in the region of £2,800.”