Martin Lewis has issued a stark warning to everybody thinking of cancelling an energy direct debit before April's price hike.
The Money Saving Expert took to Twitter to issue a caution to his followers earlier today.
His tweet read: "WARNING! Many talking about cancelling energy Direct Debits to 'keep in control' and just pay when billed.
“Yet be aware that's usually charged at a HIGHER RATE. Price cap (for someone with typical use) paying by Monthly DD £1,971, Prepay meter £2,017, Quarterly bills £2,100."
In response, fans flooded his replies with comments, BirminghamLive reports.
Colleen said: "Can I please ask, if I’m on a pay point form of gas. If I top up several times before April 1?
"Will IU be charged at the current rate or the rate after 1st April? I this makes sense?
"I’m considering buying now to bulk by my gas on the current price plan?"
Anita asked: "We were on direct debit before our provider went bankrupt.
"However we are now on British gas and seem to only be able to pay quarterly?"
Sarah replied: "I have been trying to sort out with BG but they want me to read my own meter and I'm currently too disabled to get to it or let anyone in the front door to access it as communal intercom broken."
Natasha asked: "Arghh makes no sense…… surely you pay for what you’ve used, I don’t go into Tesco and part with £75 for shopping when I’ve only bought £60 worth and Tesco sit on the extra £15 in their bank until I shop again."
Martin's warning comes as many British Gas customers face a bill increase of almost £693 from April 1.
This applies to homes on default tariffs, who are subject to a price cap set by the energy regulator Ofgem.
This cap limits how much the average home pays a year for their energy and will rise from £1,277 to £1,971 on April Fool's Day - an eye-watering rise of around 54%.
Prepayment customers will be the worst hit, with an increase of £708 from £1,309 to £2,017.
British Gas customers are no exception, and the firm has said the typical home paying by credit will face an extra £693 a year from April 1.
This works out at £58 more a month.
Prepayment customers will see an increase of £708 (excluding VAT) per year or £59 per month.
The exact level of any increase depends on your property and how much energy you use.
That's because the price cap limits the rates a supplier can charge for their default tariffs.
This includes the standing charge and price for each kWh of electricity and gas (the units your bill is calculated from).
It doesn't cap your total bill, which will change depending on how much energy you use.
