Martin Lewis explains 3 reasons why energy bill could be wrong and how to check

ok.co.uk:

Martin Lewis has been a cost of living crisis expert for those who have been left confused about changes in bills.The money saving expert, 50, was back on TV on Tuesday in the next series of his Money Show Live on ITV and dedicated the first part of the show to answering questions about energy bills.

During the show Martin explained three reasons why energy bills could be wrong, and what to do about them. One viewer emailed in to query why her energy bill had risen from £49 to £123 as she wrote: “I have just received my new monthly direct debit from my energy provider and it has gone from £49 to £123 from September and then £181 per month from October 28. “I am in credit of £200, is this correct, as this will be one week’s pension money?,” she added.

Martin explained that normally, your energy bill should be roughly double what it was last year - but there are some exceptions.

He said: “There are some checks I have to make. First of all, are you giving regular meter readings or do you have a working smart meter? “If you don’t, you need to get in touch and do a regular meter reading because the estimate could be wrong. “You’re in credit, not in debt, so that would indicate it shouldn’t go up much.The one other thing is, have you come off a cheap fix, in which case your bill would have risen by far more than double over the last year. “If you’ve passed all those tests, then that would seem far too high for me.” Martin recommended using an online energy calculator, which takes into account your energy use, to work out if your direct debit is likely to be accurate.