Martin Lewis shared a new video on his social media and YouTube channels over the ongoing energy crisis following reports from E.on customers over two new fixed-tariff deals being offered to them in their online accounts.
Earlier on Monday, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com took to social media to share details of the deals available to some existing E.on and E.on Next Direct Debit customers currently on the price cap.
Describing the deal as a “winner” the financial guru urged customers to log into their online energy account to see if they were being offered a one-year fixed tariff deal.
Posting on Twitter, he wrote: “IMPORTANT PLS SHARE: Eon & Eon Next Direct Debit customer on the price cap?
“Log in today & see if ur offered NEXT ONLINE V11 1yr fix. It should be SAME rate as the April price cap (ie 54%ish more than now - check) - if so, as cap likely to rise another 24+% in Oct it's a corker.”
However, in an updated post on Tuesday, Martin shared the news that E.on had pulled the one-year fixed deal - but some customers who receive the offer by post may still be able to get it.
He wrote: "IMPORTANT: Eon's existing customer V11 fix I said to bag yesterday (in tweet & in m'vid) has as predicted been pulled
"Its new V12 fix is c15% costlier (& 15% more than Apr price cap). It's the cheapest tariff but borderline if its worth it (depends on how much u value certainty)."
The energy price cap limits the rates a supplier can charge for each unit of gas and electricity you use and is going up by £693 from £1,277 to £1,971 on April 1.
Some E.on customers are also being offered a slightly more expensive two-year fixed-tariff deal, which Martin described as a “slightly less but still a definite winner”.
The reason why this could be seen as less of a ”definite” is that you're signed up for a longer period of time and it's hard to predict how energy prices could fluctuate over the long-term.
He explained in response to a query on Twitter: “While the 1yr is a definite winner, the 2yr is a likely but less definite winner.
“As it depends on the cap from April 2023 (which current predictions say'll drop).
“Yet if for price certainty it's not a bad call.”
Martin also warned customers they would be missing out on around a month of lower rates if they lock in now before the new price cap comes into force from April.
But he predicted that it could still save you money in the long-run if prices rise again in October - which he explained in the video is almost certain to happen, but not by the eye-watering £3,000 being reported by some media over the weekend.
The risk with the longer-term fixed deal is that if prices fell within the year - and they are expected to in April 2023 - then you could end up paying more if you stay on the fixed rate - but experts at Cornwall Insights think this is very unlikely.
Martin also urged everyone to “check all the terms you're offered before signing up” as some customers reported being offered these fixed-rate tariffs from E.on on the condition that they accept a smart meter.
The advice for the majority of households during the energy crisis has been to "do nothing" and roll onto the price cap once your current fixed-rate ends because there haven’t been any fixed-rate tariffs on the open market that are cheaper than the price cap due to the soaring costs of wholesale gas prices.
In the 10-minute Martrin shared he explained the E.on deals and how there are no comparison sites offering anything at the moment.
He also addressed the letters being sent to millions of households advising them of “huge, horrifying” increases coming to their energy bills from April which is prompting many people to contact him asking if they should lock in a deal elsewhere.
But, as he explained on his social media posts, there are no better deals - the E.on deals are for existing customers.
He explained: “Some of you might be lucky enough to still be on a cheap fix from before this all happened - if so, just stick with it as long as you can because prices have increased so much you will be way way below what you could move to anywhere else.”
Martin added: “And even for the idea of moving quickly to bag a bargain is just not worth it - stick on your cheap fix for now.”
You can watch Martin’s Urgent Energy Bills Crisis Video Briefing on Youtube here.
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