Money saving guru Martin Lewis has slammed a potential energy price cap hike as 'like panto'. It is predicted the price cap could hit as high as 42% later this year.
Ofgem says the price of energy will be almost £3,000 a year in October - when the next price cap review is due. Although this could drop next year.
And on tonight's Martin Lewis Money Show, the expert slammed the cost of energy. He said he feared it could 'cost lives'.
He said: "Inflation is at a catastrophic high, interest rates, food, petrol costs are rocketing. And today we hear Ofgem estimating another 42% hike in the energy price."
Martin's audience groaned at the news. He replied: "Exactly. It feels like panto, I wish it was.
"Together, these are curtailing lifestyles for millions of people. And I worry they are close to curtailing the lives for some who are most in need."
Under the new price cap, families will have to pay £233 a month for gas and electricity - up from £164 after the earlier price hike in April this year. Until this spring's price hike, the average bill had been just £1,277 a year, equivalent to £106 a month.
One key question Martin says he regularly gets from people now is whether they should fix their current rate. Or go onto the price cap-guided tariffs.
Writing on MoneySavingExpert, he said: "If you can find a fix that is no more than 17% higher than the rates you're currently paying on the price cap or the rates that you'll pay on the price cap when your fix ends – and if it's a long time away, the time does change that a bit – then that's worth doing.
"Having said that, I think a fix does have the merit of price certainty. It's effectively a cap in its own right, but the cap lasts longer if you're fixing for a year or maybe even two years. And therefore, if you value that price certainty, I think that is worth factoring in as a premium."
