Martin Lewis Money Show: what did he say about cost-of-living and energy price cap in one-off ITV special?

Martin Lewis was back on screens with a one-off special on energy bills.

With the sprialling cost of living, energy prices cas and government assistance announced, it can be hard to get your head around just how it will affect your individual bill. Lewis was granted 30 minutes on ITVs Thursday schedule to asnwer questions and allay fears.

What did Martin Lewis say about the energy price guarantee?

As one of her first announcements as Prime Minister, Liz Truss said that the government would be taking steps to make sure that no household would be paying more than £2,500 for energy bill. The government then announced a energy price cap guarantee, which is set to come into place on 1 October.

However, Lewis gave a stark warning to households that this may not mean that your bills will go down, or that they won’t increase in the first place. He said: “From October 1, the huge shift coming to households has gone. The household bills will still be just under double what people were paying last December.”

He explained: “In reality, this new guarantee is just a price cap but for longer and by another name. Like all price caps, there is no total cap on what you can pay. The £2,500 limit is an illustration of what it would be for what a typical household would pay.

“The guaranteed rates and cap are actually on the standing charge and unit rates. If you use more gas and electricty you will still pay more - there is no total cap on what you will pay.”

Lewis went onto explain that the £2,500 cap will also give saving based on usage, but warned that bills are still likely to increase, saying: “The first thing capped is the standard charge, at 46.3p for electricity and 28.5p for gas, which still costs £270 a year just for the facility of having it. It is too high and I have lobbied against it.

“The unit rate for electricity is going to be 34p per kWh for electricity and to 10.3p for gas. This is still 27 per cent more expensive than the current cap, so for every £100 you pay now it will be £127 a month from October.”

What did Martin Lewis say about the Energy Bills Support Scheme?

However, he also highlighted the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme, which will be introduced from October. For many, this payment will either be credited into their electicity account, or it will be deposited as a refund into their bank account.

Those on prepaid and top-up meters will receive their money via a check or voucher sent to them in the mail. Lewis said that this uplift could see lower-end users of energy bills actually save “19 to 20%” on their bills.