Martin Lewis shares how energy bill could be wrong as he urges regular readings

dailystar.co.uk:

Martin Lewis. The MoneySavingExpert founder was contacted by a viewer during his Money Show Live series on ITV this week.Yvonne, the caller, questioned whether it was right her energy bill is rising from £49 to £123. READ MORE: Martin Lewis explains energy bill rises next year as he shares predictionShe said in an email to Martin: "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 on week's pension money?" Martin explained that normally your energy bill should be roughly double what it was last year, but there are some exceptions.

He said: "If it was £50 last year, you'd be expecting to pay around £100 now on your direct debit."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."He also said if you've come off a cheap fix your bill would have risen by far more than double over the last year.Martin recommended using an online energy calculator which takes your energy use into account to work out if your direct debit is likely to be accurate.Once you've got a rough amount, get into contact with your energy firm and ask why your direct debit increased so much.His advice comes as the Government confirmed its Energy Price Guarantee will be scaled back from April.Want all the biggest Lifestyle news straight to your inbox?