Martin Lewis issues Direct Debit warning to people with credit on their energy account this month

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The Martin Lewis Money Show Live returned to the small screen this week in a packed programme that covered a range of consumer-related issues, with a heavy focus on energy bills and the impact of the colder months ahead.

The consumer champion warned energy bills will be higher this winter, despite the lower price cap in effect until January 1, 2024.This is largely due to the removal of the UK Government’s £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme, which gave millions of households a monthly rebate of £66/£67 off their electricity bills between October 2022 and March 2023.

They will also be impacted by higher daily standing charges, which cost each household around £303 each year.However, Martin also explained that if you have around two months’ worth of credit on your energy account and pay by Direct Debit, it may be worthwhile asking your provider to refund some or all of the money.Audience member, Steven, told Martin how he has accumulated around £1,100 in his energy account with his provider and wanted to know if that was too much for this time of year.Martin quickly identified that Steven’s monthly Direct Debit bill is £150 per month, which is roughly eight months’ of credit.He advised that having a couple of months’ worth of credit is ideal and showed a graph which displayed at what points of the year you have more or less credit in your account.

The financial journalist explained how during the winter months energy debt goes up and up, then comes down during the summer months.Martin said: “The peak time of the year when you’re in the most credit is right now, this is the time when you start to use that credit.“Typically, I’d say you want to be two months’ in credit at the moment.”He then explained to Steven that he should