MARTIN Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert has created a calculator to show how much extra you’ll when the energy price cap changes in October.
Energy bills are set to rocket to £3,459 from October 1, causing misery to millions of households.
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Over 24million households will be hit by the increase as bills for the typical households rise by £1,578.
According to MoneySavingExpert: “The energy price cap is misnamed – there’s no cap on how much you pay.
“The cap is actually on the standing charges and unit rates for gas and electricity, and this means if you use more energy, you’ll pay more.”
So to make the process easier, Martin Lewis’ team have launched a calculator which lets you estimate how much your energy bills will cost from October the first.
The calculator is only for customers who pay their energy bills by direct debit and will not calculate bills if you use another payment method or if you’re on a prepayment meter.
The calculator requires that you enter two key pieces of information – but you won’t need to share any personal details or your address.
You have the choice of either filling in your average energy usage in kWh or your average monthly spend.
If you choose to input your average annual energy usage, you’ll need to input how much gas and electricity you use in kWh a year.
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You’ll usually be able to find this out by looking at your latest energy bill.
If you choose to input your average monthly spend you’ll need to input your monthly gas and electricity spend.
MoneySavingExpert says that it’s more accurate to enter your average annual energy usage.
You’ll then need to selection what region you live in as the price cap varies here.
You can find your region by entering your postcode at EnergyBrokers.co.uk.
For example, the tool shows that if you use on average 12,000kWh of gas and 2,900kWh of electricity a year your average bill will rise from £1,980 to £3,570 in October.
How are energy bills calculated?
Energy bills are usually made up of a unit rate and a standing charge.
The energy price cap, set by the regulator Ofgem, limits the maximum suppliers can charge customers for each unit of gas and electricity on the standard variable tariff.
However the exact cap rates varies by region – so some may pay slightly more than others.
Right now, the current rates for duel fuel tariffs are:
- 7p per killowatt hour (p/kWh) for gas
- 28p/kWh for electricity
- A standing charge of 27p per day for gas
- A standing charge of 45p per day for electricity
From October the first the new rates will be:
- 15p per killowatt hour (p/kWh) for gas
- 52p/kWh for electricity
- A standing charge of 28p per day for gas
- A standing charge of 46p per day for electricity
What if I don’t pay by direct debit?
Those who don’t pay their bills by direct debit or who are on prepayment meters fall under a more expensive price cap.
Those who don’t pay for their energy by direct debit will see their bills hiked from £2,100 to £3,764.
Meanwhile those on prepayment meters will see their bills increase by £1,591 as the price cap for these customers moved from £2,017 a year to £3,608 a year.
