Martin Lewis issues urgent 8-word warning – ‘don’t ignore this’ | Personal Finance | Finance

Martin Lewis has urged Brits not to ignore his “urgent” warning to get off the energy price cap while they can. The founder of MoneySavingExpert said the cost to households of fixing their energy bills dropped in the wake of the ceasefire agreement struck between the US, Israel and Iran.

But he cautioned that this may unravel, so a “window of opportunity” to fix could close. Lewis urged his followers: “Act now and you can lock in a fixed rate below the new lower April price cap, which most of you are on (even if you don’t know it).”

He added: “This is crucial if you want certainty your rate can’t rise, as the cap is predicted to jump 14% on July 1.”

The finance expert, writing in moneysavingexpert.com, recommended doing a full comparison of the market as whether or not you can get a fixed deal and at what price depends not just on your region but also your payment method.

Lewis wrote: “You’re looking for one that saves you even a small amount over the current cap, as far bigger savings will come from July.”

Household energy prices fell by 7% from April 1, offering a short-lived respite for households braced for an estimated 18% increase from July.

Ofgem’s price cap dropped from £1,758 to £1,641 – a reduction of £117 or around £10 a month for the average household using both electricity and gas.

This is an 11% year-on-year fall, but still £600 more than bills were in the winter of 2020 to 2021.

The reduction is lower than the average £150 cut to bills pledged by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in November, when she moved 75% of the cost of the renewables obligation from household bills onto general taxation and scrapped the energy company obligation scheme.

There is increasing concern about the amount energy bills could rise by from July as a result of the Middle East conflict. The latest predictions from Cornwall Insight suggest this could be 18% or £288 a year – almost £900 above pre-crisis levels.

Meanwhile, the results of a survey for comparison site, Uswitch, published on Tuesday (April 14) show that over half of UK households are emerging from winter with credit in their energy accounts.

The survey found energy suppliers are holding £3billion of households’ money built up by direct debit but not used over the winter. The average home that is in credit has built up almost £200 with its supplier, according to the poll.

Overall, credit is £179million higher than last year, which Uswitch said could be due to a milder winter than expected and direct debits not changing as quickly as energy rates. Sixteen million households (57%) have credit with their energy supplier at the end of this winter, according to the survey.

Uswitch said 63% of households on fixed deals were currently in credit compared with 56% of those on standard variable tariffs. One in 10 consumers (12%) has balances over £300, and 4% are more than £500 in credit.