Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has shared 'crucial info' to Brits about their energy bills before winter.
The Martin Lewis Money Show returned to our screens this week to discuss everything from travel insurance to energy tariffs and debits.
Following the programme, the financial expert shared a clip from the programme where he explained what is going to happen to energy bills this winter under current predictions.
Resharing the video, the journalist posted: " Spoiler alert: a typical home will pay more for energy over the coming winter months than they did last year, even though that was the horrendous winter year," before encouraging users to "watch to understand why."
What’s going to happen to your energy bills this winter and is it worth fixing?
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) November 2, 2023
This is just the start. For all the crucial info watch the whole of the latest @itvMLshow on ITVx pic.twitter.com/dNzcJUCCZo
Should I fix my energy bills?
The clip shows Martin Lewis outlining the current energy bill trends and answering that all-important question: is it worth fixing?
One audience member quizzed the Good Morning Britain presenter: "Is it worth taking out a fixed rate, a fixed tariff. And if so, should it be for one or two years?"
"The answer to that question is that it depends on the rate that you'll be fixing at," Martin said.
He added: "It's great to fix at a cheap rate, it's not good to lock yourself into a high rate.
"As for one or two years, I'm not aware of any two-year fixes available at the moment in the mainstream market.
"So you don't have a choice. And in fact, the choice of one year isn't that good.
"But to understand whether it's worth fixing, we go into the crunch of what is going to happen to energy bills.
"And that's what my big briefing's about.
"You will recognise this, this is my constant energy graph, if you've watched the show before.
"Wholesale prices those gas and electric providers paid went up to sky-high levels.
The financial expert noted that while "they've come down now", they're still double what they used to be as he warned consumers not to expect "prices to go down to anything like they did before."
Continuing his explanation, Martin said: " The price the majority of people pay is dictated by Ofgem, the regulator's price cap. That went up.
"It then was limited how much it went up by state subsidy called the Emergy Price Guarantee.
"It's come down since and here we are now, October to January. That's the crucial point."
Although it appears from the graph that things will be cheaper than last winter, "there's a but," according to Martin.
He added: "Do you remember last October to March, you all had that £66/£67 payment each month off your energy bills for every household? You will not be getting that this year."
Taking this into account, the MoneySavingExpert founder has confirmed that the typical UK household will be paying more in the next six months than it did at the same time last year when we were living in "nightmare energy conditions".
The financial expert then broke down the 'big picture' of the average direct debit price cap rates for electricity and gas which varies by region.
Answering the audience question, using data from before the recent events in Israel and Gaza and changes at Ofgem, Martin shared some predictions from Cornwall Insight for what energy bill trends could look like in the next year.
"They're predicting in January, they're going to go about 4%," he explained.
The broadcaster notes this as "quite a solid prediction" since we're quite a way through the assessment period.
"Then in April, down 4%," He adds.
The predictions start to do some "crystal ball gazing" as he shows a 2% drop when we get to July and a 2% rise in October 2024.
When deciding whether you should fix, Martin explains that we need to look at the average price of where we're at now and what it could be next year.
"When you factor it all in, it's 1% higher than the current price cap," he added.
The financial journalist advised that it's worth fixing at a maximum of 1% above the current cap.
Most good deals are for existing customer offers - and they change regularly - which is why he has shared that 1% figure.
However, Martin Lewis ultimately concluded: " I wish it were worth fixing but for most people right now, based on current predictions, it isn't."
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