Martin Lewis urges EDF, British Gas, E.on and Octopus customers to act and 'get money back in your pockets this May'
Britons could find extra cash sitting in their accounts as they are using less energy due to warmer weather
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Martin Lewis has issued an energy warning to millions of households that may be in credit with their energy supplier.
The finance expert urged customers to ring their supplier and get money back if they are in credit.
Speaking to EDF, British Gas, E.on, Octopus, Sainsbury’s and Outfox the Market customers, Lewis explained it is the "perfect point" for people to "get that money in your pocket".
Without making a call to check, Britons could find extra cash sitting in their accounts as they are using less energy due to warmer weather.
May is the point of the year where accounts should in theory be at about zero in terms of debt or credit, meaning if someone has money in their account, they can claim it.
Lewis explained on his BBC podcast how the direct debit cycle works and when people’s accounts will go into credit and debt.
customers can do a meter reading to check and make sure their energy bill is correct
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He said: “The way monthly direct debit works is they take what it is estimated you’ll pay across the year, and you pay the same amount each month even though you use more in the winter, and we use less in the summer, but it smooths out that usage.
“So, whether you’re in debt or you’re in credit depends on where in the cycle you are.”
The financial expert gave an example of what the cycle will be roughly for someone who started with that company in January
He said: “As we go from January through to March you would gradually start to be more and more in debt. So after, by around mid-February, you would be about a month’s worth in debt, and it would bottom out, roughly, by the end of April, early May. In other words, today.
“This is when you would expect to owe your energy firm the most. Which is roughly, if you started in January, just over one-and-a-half months’ worth of direct debit.
"So if your direct debit is £200, you owe roughly £350 if you started in January. From this point onwards, you start to repay that debt.
"It goes up, it goes up, you get to about zero in September, and then your maximum credit is reached in November, six months from now. At that point, on this scale, you’d probably one month in credit.”
The financial expert added that customers can do a meter reading to check and make sure, and if it’s right, then they need to get in touch with their supplier, whether that’s British Gas, OVO or EDF, or any other firm.
He added: “The real point is, right now, assuming you’ve done a meter reading, and it’s up to date, you are at the bottom of your direct debit cycle. If you are a month, two months in debt right now, not that big a deal, because you would expect to be in debt.
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“It means if you’re in credit right now, a month, two months, three months in credit, then you are too much in credit because the best case scenario right now is that you shouldn’t have any credit.
“If you’re in credit at this point in the year, this is the time you get in touch with them and say, I’m at the bottom of the direct debit cycle and there’s no way I should be in credit and you might wanna give me that back please.”
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