Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis says that some people can refuse to pay increased prices for electricity and heating. He appeared on ITV's This Morning where he explained why to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
On the show he took requests for help from readers, as he usually does. But one question in particular caught the attention of viewers.
The presenters read out a message from a concerned caller named Robert, who had been informed by Scottish Gas that his energy bill will increase from £86 a month to £251. The average energy bill increased by 54% this month when Ofgem lifted the price cap, however Robert's bill is set to treble - and Martin branded the customer's steep price hike as "terrifying".
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He said: "I gave evidence to the Parliamentary Business Select Committee to say I am worried that energy firms are artificially inflating people's direct debits too high. I am going to be conducting a survey on that over the coming week to try and get some data to see how common this is."
Martin explained Robert's increased price hike could be down to three reasons. He added: "The first is if he was on a cheap fix and his cheap fix ended and he now moves to the price cap. The second is if he's chosen to fix so he was on the price cap and he's moved to the fix.
"But if he's just on the standard variable tariff then the third reason is most likely. That is they have taken this opportunity of the increase in price to increase their estimate of how much he will be using in future. Possibly because they want to future proof against rises in October."
However, Martin explained that if this happens to a customer who is in credit then they should contact their supplier to negotiate a different deal. He continued: "What he needs to do is get in touch with the supplier and say 'I'm in credit, I'm on the price cap. The rate has gone up by around 50% and you are trebling my direct debit. Please can you justify why you need to treble it.'
"And if you can't justify and it doesn't add up then you tell them you do not accept the direct debit being put up that much and you come to a figure that is more appropriate with the 54% rise."
Martin explained that if the supplier refuses the customer's request then they should make a formal complaint to the energy ombudsman.
