Martin Lewis blasts 'moral hazard' that will be added to energy bills from April

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Personal finance guru Martin Lewis has spoken out on his podcast about the 'moral hazard' of increasing standing charges on energy bills from next month, which he likened to a modern-day 'poll tax' on ordinary people.

From April 6, the price per unit of gas or electricity is set to fall substantially, with the cost of using gas falling by almost 20 per cent in the North West.

However, at the same time, the fixed standing charge tacked onto each day's bill for Direct Debit customers is set to increase by seven per cent to 31.6p per day.

Speaking on his The Martin Lewis Podcast, the financial guru said: "I have long campaigned about the moral hazard of this poll tax of paying well over £300 a year just for having the facility of having gas and electricity, which means lower users get relatively less gain from cutting their use." READ MORE: Temu issues statement over 'free money' adverts as users ask if it's real The standing charge was set up to cover the daily running costs of energy companies, from the cost of laying cable and maintaining the network, to the staff that interact with customers and keep the business running.