Everything you need to do before energy price deadline looms

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Energy prices are set to soar next month and many householders are already feeling the squeeze on their purse strings as the overall cost of living continues to rise.

Shoppers are already seeing rises in petrol, food and other retail costs and from April 1, gas and electricity bills will increase by a record-breaking 54%.

The rise is due to an increase in the energy price cap, which was announced by Ofgem, the energy regulator, earlier this year.

The price cap is the maximum amount a utility company can charge an average customer for their gas and electricity. The average household will see bills increase from £1,277 to £1,971, although the amount that prices will rise is dependent on how much energy Britons use. Read more:Everything you need to know about the energy crisis if you are a British Gas customer Prepayment customers will be worse hit, with a jump of £708 from £1,309 to £2,017, and that's without the possibility of further hikes, with wholesale gas prices increasing regularly.