British Gas and Ovo customers told how to save ‘£100 or more’ on bills | Personal Finance | Finance
UK households struggling to pay their energy bills are being given tips from the Ofgem executive on how they can cut at least £100 off their energy bills. Neil Kenward is the energy watchdog’s interim chief executive of markets.
speaking on Making Money podcastIt said finding out your energy consumption last year and shopping around on a price comparison website could save ‘£100 or more’ on your bills. You can easily save money by switching to a tariff that reflects the energy price cap, he said.
However, he warned that it was always worth checking first, as you may already have ‘a good tariff’ and have to pay an exit fee, making this an even less attractive option.
He said: “There is almost always a tariff on the market that is cheaper than this, which for the average household is £100 a year or less.
“Price comparison sites; what’s potentially misleading is that you need to know roughly what your energy consumption is to get an accurate quote from a price comparison website.
“The best thing to do is to look at the whole year because obviously you consume a lot more in the winter than in the summer and you want to make sure you’re getting value for the whole year’s consumption, but that’s the right way to do it. “Check which tariff you’re using, you may already be using a good tariff.
“If you’re already on a fixed tariff you may have to pay an exit fee to leave, so it may not be worth doing. But in normal times people can often save over £100 if they switch rather than the price cap.”
The energy price cap refers to the maximum amount a supplier can charge together for a unit of energy and a fixed fee. However, it does not limit the cost of your overall bill, which depends on the actual amount of energy you use.
There are still concerns about the price ceiling in the coming months. Britons saw a drop from £1,758 in January-March to £1,477 in April-June as inflation fell. However, the US and Israel’s attack on Iran caused tensions to flare up in the Middle East and energy prices to rise. The closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz caused an increase in oil prices.
This saw the July-September price cap rise to £1,663 per year, a 13 per cent increase. Although there is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the USA and Iran, it is feared that the price ceiling will increase between October and November.
Although energy prices have fallen sharply, they have not yet reached pre-war levels. The MoU looks increasingly shaky after both sides resumed military offensives earlier this week. Donald Trump He said the ceasefire was ‘over’ and that Iran’s leaders were ‘scum’.
