Martin Lewis says customers of major energy firms including British Gas, EON, EDF and Octopus energy can land themselves £332 by making two changes.
Right now, a lot of people have built up credit that they are owed by their energy firm, and customers can also switch to cheaper fixes and anyone combining the two could find themselves hundreds of pounds better off.
Firstly, the money saving expert told his followers about money which firms owe to their customers because they’ve overpaid.
Via his MSE website, Martin explained that energy firms are holding onto about £3Billion of our money, which equals £180 per household on average.
Because of the way monthly energy direct debits work, the amount you pay per month is an average of your usage through the year. In winter, you will pay less than you’re using, building up debt, but in summer you will pay more than you’re using, paying the debt down and building up credit.
Because May is the ‘bottom’ of the cycle, you shouldn’t have much credit now as winter has just ended and summer usage is just beginning. As Martin says: “So if you’ve done an up-to-date meter reading (or your smart meter has), your bill is up to date, and your Direct Debit is the right level (see our Direct Debit Calc), now is the perfect time to see if you’ve too much energy credit. More than a month’s worth right now is certainly a lot, so ask for it back.”
The second step is to look at cheap fixes. Right now, the Ofgem energy price cap sits at £1,690 per year for an average household’s energy usage.
But prices are only expected to drop about 3 percent over the next 12 months, while some firms are offering as much as 9 percent off if you lock in now.
Ecotricity is offering a one year Green fix worth 9 percent off bills, which added to the £180 average credit you can get back makes a £332 return.
Other fixes include 6 percent under the price cap at EDF and 8 percent at Outfox the Market.
Martin added that British Gas is also offering a fix 5 percent cheaper than the price cap with no smart meter needed.
