Money and savings expert Martin Lewis, has warned of possible energy bill strikes in the near future - as households refuse to pay continually soaring costs.
Energy bills could rise to an average of £3,300 this winter - as the cost of living crisis and rising inflation takes its toll on families across the United Kingdom.
And due to these rising energy costs, in a time when cash is strapped for many, masses of Brits may choose to completely refuse to pay what they owe.
Read more: Martin Lewis predicts financial timebomb inbound after 'sickening' news on bills
The Mirror reports that while speaking on ITV programme Peston last night, Martin 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.”
The finance expert then went on to discuss the Conservative leadership battle and any Government help coming on the energy bill crisis - beyond rumours of tax cuts. He continued: "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 however fall for thousands of homes in the near future, as Ofgem - who regulate power companies - orders reviews on doubling direct debits for dual fuels. Earlier this month, the review board told a number of suppliers to take 'immediate and urgent action' after problems were found in how much firms are charging customers.
Out of a total of 17 large suppliers in the energy market - most had minor issues. However, five were found to be classified as having 'moderate or severe' weaknesses. In-turn, Ofgem is asking all energy firms that hiked 500,000 customers' direct debits by more than 100 per cent to review the 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 suppliers have to review accounts of all customers faced with these price hikes between February 1 and April 30 2022. It is said that the average energy bill rose by some 62 per cent in this period for those opting to pay via direct debit.
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