Martin Lewis issues urgent ‘check now’ warning for customers on fixed rate energy contracts

Martin Lewis has issued an urgent warning to people on a fixed energy contract, telling customers: “check now”. The consumer champion sounded the message in wake of some fixed price contracts increasing in price over the weekend.

Mr Lewis tweeted this afternoon (Tuesday, July 4): “WARNING: On an energy fix CHECK NOW if your price just rocketed. On Sat, those who locked in on costly fixes - usually c.1yr ago - lost the govt ‘Energy Price Guarantee’ subsidy.

“If so you will see rates jump to substantially more than the price cap rates. So check if your fixes rates have changed. If so, and it’s materially higher than the cap rates you should consider ditching the fix and moving to your provider’s price cap (though factor in any early exit penalties).”

The Money Saving Expert founder also outlined new average price cap rates (when paying by direct debit). They are as follows from July 1:

• Electricity: Standing charge: 53.0p/day Unit rate: 30.1p/kWh
• Gas: Standing charge: 29.1p/day Unit rate: 7.5p/kWh

But Mr Lewis added that this varies by region along with how you pay, and doesn’t apply to Northern Ireland. He added that the warning only applies to fixed rate contracts that have increased in price.

For “exact info” he encouraged energy customers to vist the utilities section of the Money Saving Expert website.