MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis has warned of possible energy bill strikes as households refuse to pay soaring costs.
Energy bills could hit an eye-watering £3,300 on average this winter as the cost of living crisis continues to grip families.
But Martin Lewis said rising energy costs could lead to masses of Brits refusing to pay them.
Speaking on ITV programme Peston last night, Lewis said: "I think I can categorise it more accurately now, the big movement that I am seeing is an increase of growth in people calling for a non-payment of energy bills, mass non-payment.
"Effectively a consumer strike on energy bills and getting rid of the legitimacy of paying that. It’s small at the moment, there’s a Twitter handle with about 5,000 followers.
"We are getting close to a Poll Tax moment on energy bills coming into October and we need the Government to get a handle on that, because once it starts becoming socially acceptable not to pay energy bills people will stop paying energy bills and you’re not going to cut everyone off.”
Lewis went on to talk about the Conservative leadership battle and any Government help coming on the energy bill crisis - beyond talk of tax cuts .
He said: "Tax cuts of course will put more money in people’s pockets, but they won’t help the poorest who have the least financial resilience because most of them are on the full State Pension and nothing else and those on the lowest end of Universal Credit don’t pay tax.
"They don’t earn enough to pay tax, so it won’t help them, and my great frustration is the lack of this in the debate, the lack of what’s coming in October.”
Energy bills could fall for thousands of homes as regulator Ofgem orders power companies to review doubling direct debits for gas and electricity.
Earlier this month Ofgem told a number of energy suppliers to take "immediate and urgent action" after a review found problems with how these firms charge customers.
Out of a total of 17 large suppliers in the market most had minor issues, but five were found to have "moderate or severe" weaknesses.
Ofgem is asking all energy firms that hiked 500,000 customers' direct debits by more than 100% to review these bills.
Ofgem added: "Where appropriate, Ofgem also expects suppliers to adjust any miscalculations, including making repayments if needed, and consider whether a goodwill payment is warranted."
Energy firms have to review the accounts of all customers whose direct debits increased by 100% or more between 1 February and 30 April 2022.
The average energy bill rose by 62% in this period for people paying by direct debit.
