Martin Lewis has shared urgent advice to households ahead of the revision of the energy price cap in February.
The money guru spoke about the energy crisis in a video shared online, with families across the UK struggling to pay rising bills.
The price cap is set to be reviewed on February 7, and experts are predicting a massive 50% increase in energy bills — reaching an average of £2,000 a year from April.
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The cap refers to the highest amount suppliers are allowed to charge consumers for gas and electricity.
It is evaluated two times per year, and was last reviewed in October 2021.
As reported by The Mirror, the cap is currently set at £1,277 for those on a standard variable tariff.
In the new video shared ahead of the upcoming revision, Lewis revealed that households should not fix into an energy deal unless they are able to find a tariff that is no more than 50% over the price cap.
However, the financial expert stressed that his predictions are grounded in "lots of assumptions" on how the energy market will change — including a potential 20% surge in energy bills again in October.
There have been numerous calls on the UK Government to intervene to ensure that families on lower incomes are able to pay their bills in the wake of rising prices.
Lewis said: "So, what's my best guess at right now? Having done the numbers, depending on what you assume happens in October and that's the really difficult bit, I wouldn't be looking at fixing now unless I can get a fix that was no more than 40%-ish above the price cap.
"That's what I'd say. Think of that as a rough number – 40% above the price cap if you want price certainty."
He continued: "Now I may be persuadable, if someone said to me: 'I really want price certainty and I've got something that's 50% above', well, if we do see a rise in October that may well be a winner in hindsight.
"So, I certainly might stretch to the 50% mark, but I certainly wouldn't stretch to the 70% mark."
Lewis revealed that the energy crisis "drives me sick and worries me", and regrettably is unable to impart definitive solutions.
The money guru added: "We'll do our best, but we can't promise to get it right, but we're going to continue to crunch the numbers for you and give you the best risk-averse answer.
"Right now, do nothing unless you can get a fix no more than 50% over the price cap."
The MoneySavingExpert founder has been telling households to "do nothing" throughout the energy crisis, and roll onto the price cap instead of fixing into a deal.
This is because there has been no significantly cheap open market deals available that beat the current price cap - which means even comparing prices hasn't been worth it in most circumstances.
Looking back at his advice, Martin said "most people were better off doing nothing" but "there are certainly some edge cases where you would have been better" to have locked into a deal.
This is based on people who "absolutely timed it right" taking out a new deal as it takes around 17 days to switch energy provider, according to Martin.
He says the optimum day for some people to have locked into a deal would've been around November 3.
Martin explained: "These are edge cases and the savings from that I wouldn't have thought would be very substantial, maybe £10 to £50 a year on typical usage. But again, only if you absolutely timed this right.
"There may have been some existing-customer fixes that were even cheaper – I'm looking at the open market rates – but certainly the savings from fixing, even for the few who would gain from it, would not be that big."
