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00:00Thank you so much. Thank you.
00:09Electricity use costs are to jump 5.1% on the 1st of January.
00:15Yet millions of you can beat this rise and save hundreds of pounds more with simple moves.
00:20And chances are you're also sitting on hundreds of pounds in unclaimed energy credit too.
00:27And now, literally right now, is the perfect time to check.
00:31I'll talk you through what you need to do, and later I'll be joined by the boss of Britain's biggest energy retailer, Octopus.
00:38And yes, I'll be putting your questions to him, the nice ones, and the not so nice.
00:42He's on his way on the back of a motorbike. Let's hope he makes it in time.
00:45Seat's empty, but hopefully he'll come soon.
00:47And in news you can use, we just learnt an hour ago the national minimum wage is set to rise.
00:53I'll tell you the new rates and show you, crucially, how to check if you're one of nearly 400,000 people
00:59who are on minimum wage but still being underpaid right now.
01:03Plus, how to also check which network has got the very best mobile signal in your home.
01:10I've got a warning that the top three 400 quid bank switch is about to vanish.
01:14And more people will, one day, be able to get that unbeatable 50% boost to their savings.
01:21Now, to a woman so plugged in, she could power the whole studio.
01:26Jeanette Quatsy, everybody.
01:28Ooh, nice.
01:32I was so intimidated, did they want to set your name wrong?
01:34Thank you very much. Did you decide no?
01:36As always, of course, send us your questions on X or on threads.
01:39You can use the hashtag MartinLewis or you can send an email to the team,
01:43martinlewis.itv.com.
01:44And always remember, if we don't use them tonight, we may use them in a future show.
01:48And a huge good evening to our wonderful studio audience.
01:51How are you doing? Wave those wallets.
01:53Wave your wallets, everybody.
01:55Wave those wallets.
01:56Now, Martin, we had our Christmas show last week, didn't we?
01:58Big Christmas special.
01:59We covered free cash for Christmas.
02:01And Leanne has been in touch.
02:03And she's saying, like the lady in your audience,
02:05I have wanted to switch bank accounts since I've had since I was 11 years old.
02:09I'm now 50.
02:10I've finally done this.
02:11I've received my 175 pounds.
02:13Why did I wait so long?
02:14Thank you so much.
02:15I love you, Leanne. I'm delighted to hear it.
02:19I always think I've got two jobs.
02:21One, giving you the information, but also being a call to arms
02:23on when you need to act to be able to best look after yourself.
02:26So that's great news.
02:27Also in last week's show, you might remember I talked about 28 firms
02:30who had incorrect information on their websites about return rights.
02:3324 had corrected them.
02:35Four still hadn't.
02:36They all have now after we named them.
02:38So that's all fixed now.
02:40Your return rights on most big stores' websites, you can now actually trust them.
02:43So I know you're coming up to energy as well, but I wanted to ask you this before you do your practical questions,
02:48because I know it's something you normally wouldn't cover, but lots of people are asking this.
02:52The gas prices are at the levels we saw in 2018, but the energy prices that we pay are three times more,
02:57including the standing charge.
02:59How do they justify this?
03:00Well, the gas prices are actually a little bit higher than 2018, but nowhere near three times as high.
03:05I actually have quite a lot of that in today's show.
03:08There are some things going on that you need to know about that are causing that problem.
03:11You might not like it, but you need to understand it.
03:14So I will be covering that as we go through this time.
03:16Okay.
03:17And we've got lovely Roberta here in the audience as well.
03:19A little bit nervous to ask the question, so I'm going to ask for her.
03:21Currently on a variable tariff, and you want to know if you should switch Roberta.
03:25Is that right?
03:26Is that right?
03:27And it's just a standard variable tariff.
03:29Standard variable.
03:30Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
03:32You absolutely should.
03:33Watch this, my big briefing.
03:35Okie dokie, look, let me explain.
03:38You may be surprised at this headline.
03:40Electricity usage costs up 5.1% in the new January price cap that lasts for three months.
03:46Now, that's because on Friday, if you saw the news, they said it was up 0.2%, yeah?
03:51That's what you saw.
03:53But that is not the full story.
03:55Now, just as a note, remember, it's a cap.
03:57It's not a cap on what you pay.
03:58If you use more, you'll pay more.
03:59It's a unit rate and standing charges at a cap.
04:01So most firms price at or near the cap.
04:03This is the real picture of what's going on.
04:06These are the new average direct debit price cap.
04:09It does vary by region.
04:10Electricity costs, the unit rate, the price you pay for each unit, kilowatt hour going up 5.1%.
04:17The standard charge, the hated daily standing charge, is going up by 2%.
04:23The gas standing charge is going up by 3%.
04:27But the gas unit rate is dropping by 5.7%.
04:32Now, when you hodgepodge that all together, it gives you an average 0.2% rise.
04:39But that's not the real picture.
04:41I mean, take someone who's got high electricity use and low or no gas.
04:45Well, in reality, they're going to see a rise of 4%.
04:48So while it looks like not much is happening in January, actually, there are significant price changes coming.
04:54Many of you, the majority of you, the huge majority of you, are paying hundreds of pounds more than you need to.
05:02And I want to talk you through that.
05:03I should also note, if you're on prepay, the moves are about the same, but it's 3% cheaper than standard direct debit on the price cap.
05:09Payment in receipt of bills is about 8% more.
05:11So let's get through.
05:12And Roberta, this is you.
05:13I'm so sorry.
05:14But ladies and gentlemen, I don't call it a price cap.
05:16I call it...
05:17Pants cap.
05:18A pants cap.
05:20Because if you can get off it, which most of you can, you should.
05:23So are you on the price cap?
05:25If you don't know, you probably are.
05:2663% of homes in England, Scotland and Wales are.
05:29Northern Ireland is on a different system.
05:30This doesn't apply to them.
05:32The price cap only applies to firm's bog standard default domestic tariff.
05:38Now, people get in touch with me and say, my standing charges are higher than the price cap on my fix.
05:43Yeah, because you're on a fix.
05:44It's not price capped.
05:45It doesn't have to follow the price cap rules.
05:46The price cap is only for these variable tariffs.
05:49So be really plain.
05:50You are capped if you've never switched.
05:53You are capped if you were on a fixed or a special deal and it ended and you did nothing.
05:57Are you the never switched or are you the fixed deal ended?
06:00I've been fixed before.
06:01So this is you here and you didn't fix again.
06:03You're not capped if you're on a fixed or a specialist tariff.
06:07Then the prices are not locked in.
06:09They can charge what they like and it's up to the competitive market.
06:12Just to be really plain.
06:13If you're not sure, if you recognize one of these names, these are all price cap names.
06:17They tend to be called standard or standard variable or flexible.
06:20Those are the things that go in and you can read them on the screen there.
06:23So if you're price capped, you're probably paying too much.
06:26Okay.
06:27Well, TJ has been in touch.
06:28He's tweeted in saying,
06:29What I don't understand is that Ofgem are again announcing increases in energy bills.
06:34But then Martin says we have tariffs out there 10% lower and more offers next week.
06:39So basically, cheaper energy can be given to people yet Ofgem refused to do it.
06:44The price cap was introduced to be a backstop tariff for the people who could not engage in the competitive switching market.
06:53To make sure that those vulnerable people could not be ripped off.
06:56And when it was first introduced, it was a minority of the population.
07:00Then we had the energy crisis.
07:02Firms went bust.
07:03People got nervous.
07:04And suddenly virtually everybody was on the price cap.
07:07And still 63% of homes are on the price cap.
07:11It was not meant to be a tariff you were on.
07:15I call it a pants cap, not because implicitly it's wrong,
07:18because it's trying to protect, you know, a 90-year-old with onset dementia who would never switch.
07:22But those of you who can switch, Roberta, you should do.
07:25That's what's going on there.
07:26You have to understand the price cap.
07:28You shouldn't be on it.
07:29Ofgem don't want you on it.
07:30The government don't want you on it.
07:31The firms probably do want you on it.
07:32I don't want you on it.
07:33That's the most important thing.
07:35Okay.
07:36Shall I move on?
07:37Okay, we're getting into...
07:38This is the big bit now.
07:39This is the graph.
07:40I'll try and go slowly so you understand, because this is what you need to know.
07:43So...
07:44Yay!
07:47These are the wholesale rates.
07:49These are gas, and the electricity tends to move with gas.
07:52How they have moved since September.
07:54You'll see they were high, and then they've come down relatively.
07:58Now, I should say, before that, we had the energy crisis.
08:00They were nearly five times as high.
08:02If you go back to 2018, 2019, before the energy crisis.
08:05Well, they were about this sort of level then.
08:07So they nearly have come down, not the whole way, but back to where they are.
08:11Now let's look at the price cap.
08:15There we are.
08:16It's gone up.
08:17It's gone up.
08:18It's gone down.
08:19And these are recent ones, and it's gone up 0.2%.
08:21But what I really want to bring out to you is this 0.2% rise is based on the period from the middle of August till the middle of November.
08:33And those are the wholesale rates, the underlying wholesale rates for them.
08:37I'd like you to compare that to the prior three months.
08:40There we go.
08:41Which you say is higher?
08:42This one or this one?
08:44The first one?
08:45Yeah.
08:46It was.
08:47Wholesale rates have come down.
08:49But the price cap is going up.
08:52And I've not said that before.
08:54And the answer to why it's going up is because of policy costs.
08:59Investment in nuclear.
09:01Debt forgiveness for people who cannot afford to repay their debts.
09:05The warm home discount costs because that's been extended to more vulnerable people.
09:10Ultimately, what we have, and whether those are rights or wrongs is a political decision.
09:15But what I find quite bizarre, policy costs are put on your electricity bills because electricity is universal.
09:24The government is trying to encourage more people to use electricity with things like heat pumps and less people to use gas.
09:30But because they put all their policy costs on electricity, electricity prices are going up.
09:35And as the wholesale rate has dropped, gas prices are going down.
09:39So we are in a perverse situation.
09:42The government wants you to use electricity, but its policy moves are putting electricity up and gas prices down.
09:49Pew!
09:50Yeah.
09:51Let's have a look at what makes up your bill.
09:53Because this is what you were asking me about before, Jeanette.
09:55Mm.
09:56So let's go through it.
09:57So on the price cap, 40% is the actual underlying gas and electricity used.
10:0222.6% is the cost of infrastructure, moving it around the net and the grid and getting some new renewables on board.
10:0913.4% is policy and government schemes.
10:12These are going up.
10:13Levies and green is 7.3%.
10:15Vulnerable customer support.
10:17The warm home discount is 6.1%.
10:1911% is operational costs of the firms that you're going in there.
10:244.8% is VAT.
10:25For those thinking, why isn't it 5%?
10:27It's because of reciprocal 105 divided by don't worry.
10:30Unpaid bills, people not paying their bills, 3%.
10:34Profits, 2.6%, more or less than you thought.
10:38Profits, 2.6% and 1.6% headroom, which is for other things.
10:42And some, if that isn't used, it can sneak into profits.
10:45That's what's making up your bills.
10:47So with that in mind, let's have a look at the prediction for where the price cap is going to go in future.
10:53Here we are.
10:55Up in April.
10:57Now that up in April is not due to wholesale rates.
11:02That up in April is because it's predicted we're going to pay more for connecting renewables
11:07in distant parts of the country.
11:09We're going to pay more because so many people are moving to heat pumps in electric vehicles.
11:12There's more stress on the grid and we need to build capacity on there.
11:16Again, using electricity even though we bring the gas price down.
11:19So, wholesale rates could bring this down if the wholesale rates, the price of gas and electricity got cheaper.
11:25But we're on a start point that it's going to go up if that doesn't happen.
11:28In fact, they've already come down a bit. This was 4%.
11:31And the truth is, it is very likely our energy bills, unless there is intervention, are going to keep going up
11:37because of the investment that's needed until the mid-2030s over the big picture.
11:41So what am I going to tell you to do about it?
11:44Well, that's where it's going to go.
11:47Where's the cheapest fix on the market?
11:50There.
11:51So look, we're currently here.
11:55This is about typical bill, just under £200 cheaper. If you use more, it'll be much more cheaper.
12:00But the most important thing about doing this at this time of year, we've just had the announcement of the price cap till March.
12:05We now know what your price, who's not fixed, will be until the end of March.
12:10That's the high use period. That's when you're using your gas and electricity.
12:13And we know what you're going to pay now, and this is the cheapest fix on the market, 11% cheaper.
12:19And it's predicted afterwards it's going up, not down after that.
12:22And then maybe come down a little bit.
12:24So what the huge probability is that a fix now, not only will it give you peace of mind,
12:29you know exactly what you're going to pay, which is very important.
12:31Once you fix, the rates are locked in. They cannot move for a year.
12:34But it will also be an instant saving, and you'll save over the high use period,
12:39and you will very likely, less guaranteed, but crystal ballgazing, continue to save after that.
12:45Which is why I say the price cap is a...
12:49Pants cap.
12:51I think I proved my point. Yes, it's a pants cap.
12:53So...
12:55We've got success on this from Miriam, who watched this and saw the graph on a previous show,
13:01and she's saying, I watched your last full show on energy about fixing energy bills,
13:05and I want you to say thank you as I saved myself £1,478 from swapping.
13:10Amazing.
13:14Even I think that's an enormous amount.
13:16I suppose she went for an 18-month fix, and that's the saving over the 18 months.
13:20So she's probably got £5,000 a year energy bills anyway,
13:22and the differential was about 20%, because that's really big.
13:24She saved money.
13:25I'm just saying, £200 to £500 you're doing is more normal, not that type of level, yeah.
13:30But that was really good. And this as well from Julie, because she's speaking of fixes here.
13:33She's asking, we have been with our provider for a number of years,
13:35and if I want to go on to a fixed rate, I have to have a smart meter?
13:39Why does that need to happen?
13:40Well, that was very common a year or two ago,
13:42that the cheapest fixes all required you to have a smart meter.
13:44Most of them don't anymore.
13:45In fact, I'm about to go on to the cheapest fixes now.
13:48None of these require you to have a smart meter.
13:51So ditch and switch and go to someone else.
13:53But my answer, if you don't want the smart meter, though I like a smart meter.
13:56Okay.
13:57Fixing gives you peace of mind that the rate won't change.
13:59Although, of course, if you use more, you pay more and your direct debit would go up.
14:02Cheapers always depends on your region and how much you use.
14:05So these are not locked-in cheapers for you, because it depends.
14:08Use a whole-of-market comparison site,
14:11one that defaults to showing you all the tariffs, many of them, almost all of them.
14:15Hide the tariffs that don't pay them.
14:17So if you want to see it, you have to tick a little box that you'll struggle to find,
14:20and some of the cheapest tariffs will be missing there.
14:23And worth noting, by the way, comparison sites these days, you don't even need to know your usage.
14:27They actually know...
14:28Once they know who you are, you've done it, and they know your usage.
14:31You don't have to put any details in.
14:32It's very simple.
14:33So what are the cheapest fixes?
14:34Well, you've got a fight between Eon Next and Outfox at the top,
14:37around 10.5% to 11% cheaper.
14:40You've got an Octopus one, which is a 12-month fix.
14:42The Eon Next is a longer fix, so you've got a little bit...
14:45That one actually locks you in until the end of next winter, which is quite useful.
14:48The Octopus one, the reason I'm highlighting that, is unlike the others,
14:52which have got early exit fees, though I don't see you'd need to leave,
14:54because prices are unlikely to be coming down.
14:56There's no early exit fees on the Octopus one,
14:58so if you want an absolutely no-risk fix that you could get out if you needed, it's that.
15:02You've got an even longer 18-month fix with Eon Next.
15:05And I put this one at the bottom. It's an EDF fix.
15:08This is the cheapest fix for people who've got smart prepayment meters.
15:12The other fixes are not available to them.
15:14That's the price on smart prepay.
15:16It's actually cheaper if you're on other forms of payment.
15:18If you're on old-school prepay key and card meters,
15:21you're going to have to stay on the price cap,
15:23because there aren't any fixes or cheap tariffs available for you
15:25that I know of at the moment, I'm afraid.
15:27So that's what's going on. All available for new and existing customers.
15:30None of these for Northern Ireland. Totally different energy system.
15:33Question for you. It comes from another Martin, not yourself.
15:36So it says, my current energy tariff is due to expire mid-December.
15:39Is that the right time to fix it again,
15:41or should I just wait until the spring energy cap is set?
15:43I'm going to hold the last bit, because...
15:45OK.
15:46First thing to understand, if you're on a fix,
15:49within the last 50 days of your fix,
15:51so day 49 towards the fix,
15:52they cannot charge you an early exit penalty.
15:54You are free to leave.
15:56So at that point, I would do a comparison.
15:58If the new fix is cheaper than your existing fix,
16:01ditch the existing fix and go to the new fix.
16:05If it's the other way round, and your existing fix is the cheaper one,
16:09well, I would stick on it until the very last day,
16:11because it's cheaper than the cheapest fix on the market,
16:13you may as well stick there.
16:14As for this waiting until the spring energy cap, OK.
16:17I get this question so often, let me try and make this plain.
16:20The cost you can fix at has nothing to do with the price cap whatsoever.
16:24It is totally chalk and a duck.
16:26They are not related in any way.
16:28They have nothing in common.
16:30So the price cap is based on a time lag of what has happened in the past.
16:34The rate you can fix at is what's going on in the market today.
16:37So it's almost looking right now and in the future.
16:39So fixes move up and down.
16:41So the fact the spring energy cap has nothing to do with the price of a fix.
16:44That's just about the price of the price cap.
16:46And people always say, would it be better to wait till the price cap?
16:48It's irrelevant.
16:49That's about the past.
16:51The rate you can fix at depends on the now.
16:53We don't know what's going to happen in the future.
16:55So if you can save by fixing, you don't have an exit penalty fix.
16:58If you can't save by fixing, wait as long as you can on your current fix
17:02and then don't go on to the price cap, go on to the cheapest fix available at the time.
17:05Make sense?
17:06Yes.
17:07OK.
17:08Kerry.
17:09Kerry's also got a question for you here.
17:11Kerry's asking, how do I work out if I should fix my electricity tariff
17:15when I have a cheap EV charging at night rate?
17:18I'm with Octopus.
17:19I feel like I'm on the episode of Mastermind at the moment.
17:22OK.
17:23Right.
17:24So the Octopus are most of the two-tier EV tariffs.
17:27They basically, you pay the price cap rate for electricity during the day
17:30and then you get a super cheap rate, say 9p a kilowatt hour at night.
17:34So really, the question is, how much of your energy do you use in that cheap period
17:41between, say, midnight and 5am in the morning when you get super cheap rates?
17:44Not just your car.
17:45Have you shifted other uses there?
17:47Shift as much as you can, not your tumble dryer.
17:49Fire risk if you put a tumble dryer on overnight while you're sleeping.
17:51If that's over 25% of your energy usage at the very cheap period,
17:56you're probably better on an EV tariff.
17:58If it's not, you're probably better just going for the cheapest fix.
18:01It's a very rough rule of thumb, but hopefully that helps and make sense.
18:04Let's go through to some of those more specialist tariffs now, four of them.
18:08If you're a very low user, the EDF tracker is basically a price cap tariff
18:13but with 50 quid lower standing charges.
18:15It lasts a year.
18:16It's best for those really low usage, under about £1,000 a year of use.
18:20Just before that...
18:21Sure.
18:22I need a sip of water.
18:23Yes, sorry, right.
18:24So, Phil actually, just on that, he's asking,
18:26is it best waiting to see if the standing charges come down in the spring?
18:29Standing charges aren't coming down in the spring on the price cap.
18:32What's happening in the spring is the regulator has said
18:35that firms will have to offer a low or no standing charge switchable deal.
18:40I'll be asking Greg if he turns up.
18:42Very empty, slightly worried about that one.
18:45You may want to wait, but we just don't have a clue
18:49at what rate they're going to offer those
18:51and how much they're going to charge on the others.
18:52So, you might want to just go in for this low user option now.
18:55I simply don't have the data to be able to answer that properly, I'm afraid.
18:58OK.
18:59Got an electric car, we've covered it.
19:00I talked about the two tariff rates, which most of them are.
19:03The alternative is that OVO and Scottish Power,
19:06you can get one of their normal tariffs
19:08and then they give you a cheaper rate just for charging your car
19:11through a special charger, which may be good if they had a cheap fix,
19:15although neither of the two currently offer the cheapest fixes,
19:17but it is worth watching out for.
19:19We'll move on to sophisticated users now.
19:22If that's not you, just move on past this bit.
19:25Rapid price change tariffs can lead to big savings.
19:28These are mainly for existing Octopus customers.
19:31He's not here, so I can tell you this.
19:33What I would do if you want it, you switch to Octopus's standard variable tariff.
19:37Once that's signed up, the next day you switch to one of these
19:40because you're now an existing Octopus customer.
19:42You've got the Agile, which is electricity only.
19:45Prices change every half hour.
19:47And you've got the Tracker, prices change daily.
19:49Let's have a look at a graph on that, OK?
19:51So here you go.
19:52This is the price cap.
19:54Cheapest fix would be about here.
19:56This is Tracker over the last seven days.
19:58It's not been that cheap.
19:59It can be cheaper if wholesale rates are going down,
20:01but it's generally cheaper.
20:02This is Agile.
20:04Peak rates between four and eight at night can be very, very expensive.
20:09But overnight, it can be super cheap.
20:12And there are times you get paid for using electricity.
20:17The cost is negative at the right moment.
20:20So if you are a sophisticated user who can move,
20:23maybe you've got a battery storage in your house,
20:25who can move your usage away from peak time
20:27and into the other times of the day, it can be incredibly cheap,
20:30but it isn't for people who don't know what they're doing.
20:32And then I'll finish on my last one.
20:34I think you've had enough.
20:35I think it's got too complicated.
20:37It's my last one.
20:38I promise no more.
20:39And then I'll take some questions.
20:40If you've got solar panels, many people say,
20:42should I get an all-in-one deal where I get my solar panels
20:44and I get my energy from the same firm?
20:46Well, you can be paid a lot more for your solar export guarantee
20:49for generating electricity if you do.
20:52Again, it just depends.
20:54My rough rule of thumb is over 15% of the energy you use,
20:57you are generating and sending to the grid.
20:59Then linking them together is worth it.
21:01If it's less than that, if you're not sending that much to the grid,
21:04just go for the cheapest energy deal that you possibly can.
21:07I'm done with that.
21:08Brilliant stuff. Well done, Martin.
21:09Well, coming up, energy firms are sitting on over £3 billion
21:14worth of your direct debit credit.
21:16Martin's going to show you how to reclaim what's yours.
21:18We'll see you in full.
21:19Welcome back. We're talking energy bills.
21:34We talked about fixing in the first part.
21:36Roberto, are you going to fix now?
21:38That's good to hear.
21:39I'm glad the explanation worked.
21:41Greg Jackson is here.
21:42He's got off the motorbike, he's in.
21:44Welcome to Greg from Oxford.
21:48Jeanette, what's going on online?
21:49Yeah, it's really, really busy online.
21:50Lots of people asking about direct debit credits
21:53and getting that credit back.
21:54Coming to that.
21:55We are going to come into that.
21:56But also online, we're talking about the Chancellor
21:58perhaps reducing VAT on energy bills.
22:00What will change or impact any of that, do you think?
22:03I don't think that's what's going to happen.
22:05I think the most likely thing she'll do
22:06is she'll take a chunk off energy bills.
22:08I would like to see her reducing money off the standing charge
22:10because then everybody gets the same amount, flat rate.
22:12I think it's more likely she'll take some of the renewable obligation
22:16off the unit rate that you pay for electricity.
22:20So that would mean the people who use more
22:21will save more on the back of it.
22:23Now, the important thing to understand about this
22:25is that should come off everybody's bills,
22:27whether you're on a fix, whatever type of deal you are.
22:29If it only came off the price cap,
22:30it would be absolutely perverse
22:32because it means it would go against the market competition philosophy
22:35that it wants it work on.
22:36So my suspicion is we're going to see an announcement
22:39that it effectively takes 2 to 3p off the unit rate
22:42that everybody is paying for their energy bills.
22:45When that will come in, I don't know.
22:47But you know what?
22:48I've got the boss of the biggest energy company here.
22:50Greg, would you think the same? That's my guess.
22:52Yeah, I think it would make a lot of sense.
22:53I mean, the renewable obligation
22:55is a sort of historical research and development in energy.
22:58It's crazy it stays on our bills for maybe years to come.
23:01So it would be good to get rid.
23:02OK, so we're both thinking the same thing,
23:04so there's probably a good chance that will happen.
23:05All right.
23:06Or maybe not.
23:07Direct debit, energy, credit.
23:09Rebecca's got the question.
23:10I think a lot of people are asking,
23:11our direct debit is £200 a month
23:13and we have £746 in credit.
23:16Should I leave it there or request some back for Christmas?
23:19OK, we're getting into the sexiest piece of energy now,
23:21the thing that I really enjoyed.
23:22There is a sine wave coming, everybody.
23:24There is a sine wave coming.
23:25The answer to your question is yes,
23:27you in your circumstances should get some back.
23:29But let me carry on with my big briefing to explain why.
23:32Here you go.
23:33Monthly direct debit is designed to spread the cost
23:35so that you don't have huge bills in winter
23:37when you're using most.
23:38Effectively, you overpay in summer
23:40and you underpay in winter.
23:42So the first thing you do before you get to that, Rebecca,
23:44is you check that your direct debit isn't too high.
23:47If you've got a working smart meter,
23:49it's doing it automatically,
23:50sending the meter readings in.
23:51If not, then do a meter reading yourself.
23:54Make sure the company has factored in your latest meter reading
23:56before you go any further
23:57and that you're not in any debt.
23:59There are online is my direct debit credit calculators.
24:02And if it's too high,
24:03then you want them to lower your direct debit.
24:04But where Rebecca is really asking about is this one.
24:07Are you owed hundreds of pounds of credit?
24:09Energy firms collectively are sitting
24:11on over three billion pounds of our money.
24:14Some of it, they should be.
24:15Some of it, they shouldn't be.
24:17And this is the perfect time to check
24:20because of the energy direct debit cycle.
24:24I wasn't asking you to do that, but I really enjoyed it.
24:28We'll do that after the show ends.
24:29Right. Let me get you onto this.
24:31Here we go.
24:32So this is the energy direct debit cycle.
24:38It does depend on when you started,
24:39but this is to give you an idea.
24:40What happens during the year is that as you're in those winter months,
24:43you start to get more and more into debt or you use up your credit.
24:46And then once you start to move into summer in about May,
24:49it bottoms out and you start to build up the amount of credit you've got
24:52until the middle of November,
24:55i.e. right now when you are in the maximum amount of credit
25:01and you want to be, you've stored it up like a squirrel scoring up its nuts
25:05in order to be able to eat them when you're hibernating in the winter.
25:09So this is that point I should say.
25:11I mean, I wanted more graphs.
25:12I wanted one that goes like that if you start in May
25:14and I wanted one that goes like that, but they wouldn't let me.
25:16They said this will do.
25:17So this, what my general rule of thumb is,
25:20at this point of the year, right this point of the year,
25:22why it's the perfect time,
25:24if you're more than two months of energy direct debit in credit,
25:29then you want to get the excess back.
25:32That's my rule, more than two months.
25:33So let's do the maths for Rebecca.
25:35Two months is £400.
25:37I'll be asking for £350 back
25:39because she's got £750 in credit.
25:41And that's how it moves.
25:42Let's move on to the next graphic.
25:43I think I've covered the rest of that there.
25:45Final quick note for you.
25:47By the way, you just asked the firm for the excess.
25:49Final quick note.
25:50If you are sitting there going,
25:51I hate direct debit.
25:52You know, I hate monthly direct debit.
25:53They're coming.
25:54They're charging me too much.
25:55I don't like, I don't trust them.
25:56I don't trust them, Greg.
25:57I don't trust them.
25:58That's the most important point on this chart.
26:00There you go.
26:01If you say, I just want to pay when I get a bill,
26:04you pay 8% more, right?
26:06You don't want that.
26:07If you're really going to do that,
26:08ask for variable direct debit.
26:10That's where you are billed each month for what you use
26:13and they take that amount out by direct debit,
26:15but you're still on the direct debit rate,
26:17so it's 8% cheaper.
26:18So if you're going to get rid of your monthly direct debit,
26:20shift the variable direct debit,
26:22not payment in receipt of bills.
26:23Greg agrees over there.
26:24Yes.
26:25I checked a bit earlier when you were talking about this.
26:27I checked, I'm £290 in credit
26:29and we pay around £220 every month direct debit.
26:32Oh, Jeanette, that's why I love you.
26:33Bring me my graph back.
26:34Put my graph back.
26:35I mean, you're like perfect sweet spot
26:37just over one month in energy direct debit credit.
26:40So you don't need to do anything.
26:41You've got your storage.
26:42You're ready for the winter.
26:43You don't want that money back
26:44because it's going to help you during the winter months.
26:45That's absolutely perfect.
26:46Perfect stuff.
26:47Right, Mark has been in touch.
26:48And Mark is saying about this time last year,
26:51of course we do this annually.
26:52It's a cycle, yeah.
26:53Every year at the same time.
26:54I went to my energy supplier for a credit refund
26:56and got back £1,002
26:58and got my monthly direct debit down to £38
27:00instead of £136 too.
27:02Wow.
27:03Thanks.
27:04That's incredible.
27:06So my observation on that is that
27:08that monthly direct debit is too low.
27:10What I suspect happened is he had a lot more credit.
27:12He got a gram back and they said,
27:14we won't give you the rest back
27:15but we'll just lower your direct debit until you catch up
27:17because £38 is too little for almost everybody on a direct debit.
27:22And it's not that much more than just a standing charge, yes.
27:24Brilliant stuff.
27:25I think we can go to break now.
27:27Yeah.
27:28So, coming up next,
27:29Martin puts your questions to the boss of Britain's biggest energy retailer
27:33who has 24% of the market share.
27:36So don't go anywhere.
27:37Welcome back to our show all about energy bills.
27:50I've talked about the importance of fixing and getting off the price cap.
27:53We've talked about getting your energy credit back if you're too much in credit.
27:56Now we're talking to the boss of Britain's biggest energy company.
27:59Seems strange to say that.
28:00You're not British Gas.
28:01You've overtaken British Gas.
28:02Greg Jackson, by the way, everybody.
28:04Hello.
28:05Give him a round of applause.
28:07Hello.
28:09Yeah, I mean, that's quite a change.
28:12Yeah, I think, look, energy is more competitive than it used to be
28:15and I think there's not just us.
28:16There's a whole load of companies you were showing on the screen earlier
28:19that either didn't exist, you know, a decade ago
28:22or, you know, new versions of old companies.
28:25That's good for customers.
28:26I've got to say, the rest of the system, all those fixed costs you were talking about earlier,
28:30that's a real problem.
28:31Well, yeah, so I was talking about how it was perverse
28:33that they're trying to encourage people to use electricity
28:36but because of the way they do the policy
28:37and they put all the costs on electricity bills,
28:39electricity prices are going up and gas are going down.
28:41It's not going to help people get heat pumps, which is what they want, is it?
28:43No, I mean, I completely agree with you and I think, look,
28:46those high electricity costs are because of policy choices.
28:49They've been made over decades, but, you know, it's time we revisited them
28:53because we've got to get electricity costs down, not just to get people to electrify,
28:56but because people can't afford their bills.
28:58Well, look, I mean, we shouldn't be doing this, but I'll just have a moment for myself.
29:01One of the things I find really difficult is we put all these costs onto electricity bills.
29:05Electricity bills are regressive.
29:07Now, really rich people don't have proportionately higher energy bills
29:10compared to poor people.
29:11So, a much better way to look after people would be
29:14take the costs off electricity bills and put them on general taxation
29:16and bring energy bills down and then it would be a more progressive system.
29:19But I'm not here to make those type of points.
29:21So, let me ask you the first question. This came from a Martin.
29:23It's not me, I promise.
29:25Why are energy prices in the UK higher than practically anywhere else in the world?
29:29How can you justify record profits year on year
29:32when they're in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis?
29:34Why should the UK not impose a windfall tax on excessive profits?
29:38Yeah, I mean, first of all, I should say, as energy retailers,
29:41our profits are capped by the price cap.
29:44And so, you know...
29:452.6%.
29:46Yeah, and in fact, we don't make that because of things like the fixed deals.
29:49On an average £1,700 bill, we made about £10 or £11 profit last year.
29:54That's not the reason for high bills.
29:56It's all of that waste in the system.
29:58Now, you talk about international comparisons.
30:00It's worth saying they're hard to make because taxes vary by country
30:04and the way that they put them on bills or in general taxation varies.
30:07But the UK, along with Germany, have got the highest consumer prices
30:10and we've got by far the highest prices for businesses,
30:13small businesses as well as big industry.
30:15And that's because, you know, countries like us in Germany
30:17have followed roughly the same policies for the last decade
30:20and we now need to revisit those because they're loading
30:23more and more fixed costs into the system.
30:25In fact, Martin, let me tell you, there are so many fixed costs in the system now
30:29and planned that even if the wholesale price of electricity falls to zero,
30:33bills probably wouldn't come down.
30:36Wow.
30:37But there are people making excess profits.
30:39There are oil and gas companies out there who have made billions
30:42or, you know, getting on for trillions of pounds
30:44because of the high energy prices.
30:46And this... So, you're a retailer.
30:48I don't know if you have a generation arm or not.
30:50We do, but it's, um...
30:52We don't actually own the generation.
30:55We manage it on behalf of other...
30:56Fine. I mean, they've made...
30:58They have made excessive profits, haven't they?
31:00Undoubtedly, the profits that are being made
31:03are from those global oil and gas companies,
31:05many of whom are not British, by the way,
31:07because we're buying our gas from Qatar and from the USA and elsewhere.
31:10Um, and particularly some of the very big,
31:13highly subsidised renewable generators
31:15who are getting paid at a rate that's attached to the gas price.
31:19When gas was particularly expensive, they were earning a lot.
31:22Now, there was a bit of a windfall tax there,
31:24but where we are today, you know,
31:26there's a lot of profit made in that sector.
31:28They're set to be a lot more,
31:30and there are two things that make it worse, Martin.
31:31The first is, we built loads of these wind farms
31:34where there's no grid.
31:35It's like building a factory where there's no roads.
31:38But we pay these wind farms for the electricity they can't deliver,
31:42and then we're going to pay a fortune to build new grids
31:45to connect them.
31:46And that's part of the reason the price is going up in April,
31:48is to connect some of those to the grid, isn't it?
31:50Yeah, and that cost is going to keep going up.
31:51And look, we also spent...
31:53I don't know, we spent about £1.3 billion a year
31:56turning off wind farms.
31:57I want to go do some more practical stuff with you now.
31:59Kelly commented, we know there's going to be an off-gem rules
32:01that companies have to have low or no standing charge
32:03tariffs offered coming in in the spring.
32:05Will Octopus have a no standing charge tariff in 2026?
32:10Can you tell us?
32:11Yeah, I don't know yet. We're working on it.
32:12I think these go back to those fixed cost problems,
32:15because the day that you switch to us,
32:18we get charged, essentially over the next year,
32:20we will get £200 of fixed costs even if you use no power.
32:23And the question for energy companies is, you know,
32:25obviously, if everyone was costing £200 and not spending anything,
32:29you know, companies wouldn't survive.
32:31So, first of all, we will do what we can.
32:34But my worry is people will have very high unit rates to recoup that money,
32:38and it'll end up not being good value for most people.
32:40Which is why I would complain it wasn't within the price cap,
32:42because there's no price regulation on the unit rates.
32:44But that's getting a bit too complicated for the audience, I suspect.
32:46Dawn, I would like to put a question
32:48to the person in charge of Octopus Energy.
32:50I sadly lost my husband almost a year ago
32:52and had to pay all the bills.
32:54I have to pay the bills,
32:55but I'm struggling to pay the energy bill from your company
32:57as I claim Universal Credit and PIP.
32:59Is there any other way I can pay the bill?
33:01What would you say to Dawn?
33:02Well, first of all, I'm really sorry about her loss,
33:04and I know how hard it is doing with bills when spouses die.
33:08If Dawn gets in touch, there's a bunch of things we can do.
33:11First of all, we can make sure she's getting all the support
33:14from a whole bunch of agencies.
33:15We've got ways of looking that up for her
33:17so we can help with more than just energy bills.
33:19On energy, I think this year we've given 70,000 people
33:22standing charge holidays.
33:24It makes a big difference when they're struggling.
33:26If they're in debt, we can do you pay, we pay.
33:29For every pound they pay, we'll pay a pound.
33:32And then there's, you know, we've got 300,000 customers
33:36where we've visited them to help reduce energy wastage
33:39so they can save money.
33:40So there's a lot of ways we can help.
33:41The main thing is, look, our company and others,
33:45if you phone them up, there are a lot of ways they can help,
33:47and some of them are a lot more helpful than you.
33:49You know, if we find you've got access to more support
33:51and benefits elsewhere, it's bigger than your energy bill.
33:54I would echo that.
33:55Always talk to your energy firm first if you're struggling.
33:58On this one, there are special rules.
33:59You can put yourself on the Vulnerable Customer Priority Services
34:01register which you have to be treated in special ways.
34:03Going quiet isn't the right way.
34:05Look, there are lots of these octopus questions.
34:07I should say whichever firm we had on would probably have similar ones.
34:10Mina.
34:11How can energy companies keep money and refuse to refund any?
34:14I have nearly £700 sitting in Octopus's account
34:17and has asked for a £200 refund as I needed to pay other bills.
34:20They are refusing but have reduced my direct debit.
34:23Why is my money treated as theirs?
34:25That doesn't sound right to me, Greg.
34:26Why is that happening?
34:27No, it doesn't.
34:28If Mina emails me, greg.jackson.octopus.energy, I'll have that looked at.
34:32And anybody else in that situation, if they have too much energy credit,
34:35you shouldn't be reducing the direct debit.
34:36You should be giving them their money, shouldn't you?
34:38You are.
34:39In fact, I think we refund 25,000 customers a week.
34:4270% of them are self-serve online.
34:44So there's no one getting in the way.
34:46There are one or two things.
34:47You need to make sure you've got up-to-date meter readings
34:49because otherwise we don't know the real state of your account.
34:52And the other is, obviously, if you've got a smart meter,
34:54that will automatically be the case.
34:56And then the other one is,
34:57there are actually quite a lot of fraud attempts on refunds.
34:59So sometimes there's a few extra days delay for fraud checking,
35:02but it shouldn't stop it.
35:04OK, and you'll look after that one particular case,
35:06but anybody else should be getting in touch.
35:07And you can quote what he has said on the programme.
35:09Rewind it back, watch it on ITVX,
35:11quote his words down and say, Greg Jackson told me this.
35:14That'll help the customer service.
35:15Can I say, Martin, there's one other thing.
35:16You showed the sine wave earlier, the curve.
35:18For Octopus, every customer that's on a normal tariff,
35:21we do a personalised version of that
35:23so they can see the extent to which they're paying too much,
35:26too little, they've got too much credit or too little credit.
35:28It's called the balance forecaster.
35:30It's well worth checking.
35:31I can't play favourites,
35:32but I love the idea of a personalised sine curve.
35:34Anyway.
35:35So, Jenny.
35:37Jenny.
35:38I'm going to sub Jenny's question because it's complicated.
35:41What she's saying is,
35:42can we take the pain of increasing energy bills now?
35:44Is there a guarantee that the money from the increases
35:46will go to renewable infrastructure
35:48and bring bills down in the future?
35:50Now, this is policy, this is government,
35:52but you probably know better than anyone.
35:54Do you think the investments we're making are going to mean cheaper bills?
35:57And when will we see cheaper bills?
35:59Yeah.
36:00So, it's definitely going into that infrastructure,
36:02renewables plus the grid to connect it.
36:05The models suggest that we'll see cheaper bills from maybe 2035,
36:10possibly a bit earlier if we're faster building.
36:12That's not good enough.
36:13That's why we say that we need to look now
36:15at where can we save money on those new network bills
36:18so we can cut bills a lot sooner.
36:20We can't wait that long.
36:22And one thing I would say, Martin,
36:23earlier you mentioned some of that network build
36:25was for things like electric vehicles
36:26because they put more strain on the grid.
36:28But actually, when you talked about smart tariff electric vehicles,
36:31it reduces the strain on the grid.
36:33And so, one thing we should be doing is saying,
36:35if we can make electricity cheaper,
36:37put more electric cars on the road,
36:39it actually cuts these infrastructure costs for everybody.
36:42And I think we need to have a bit more vision
36:44about doing this faster and cheaper.
36:46I have to say, time of use tariffs,
36:47and you are transparent on yours and publish the algorithm,
36:49my great concern is,
36:50if everybody's doing a tariff that changes every half hour,
36:53how do these people find who their cheapest one is
36:55if it moves every half hour?
36:56And so, I think that we should have rules in place
36:59that say, firms who are going to do time of use tariffs,
37:02they must publish the underlying algorithm
37:04and the cost base
37:05and guarantee that that will last for an amount of time
37:07so that people can help and do some comparisons.
37:10We're getting very complicated.
37:12I hope it hasn't too complicated for those of you at home,
37:13but I think this is important stuff.
37:15Eileen, do you think it's fair that everyone is having
37:17an extra £6 charge added to their energy bills
37:20to cover the debt owed to utility companies?
37:22A lot of people go without rather than going to debt,
37:24so why should they pay less for energy firms to get more money?
37:27You know what? This is a really difficult area
37:29because I know that most people do want to pay their bills,
37:32but I see messages from customers now that are saying,
37:35I can't afford my bills.
37:37Why are they going up to pay for other people's?
37:39I think there's a couple of things.
37:41First of all, you know, we've got to recognise
37:43that one of the causes of the debt is bills are too high.
37:46That's why you and I are both saying we need policy changes
37:49to bring them down fast.
37:51I think the second thing is that how energy companies behave
37:55makes a big difference.
37:57If companies are transparent, if you've got easy-to-read bills
37:59so people know where they stand,
38:01then much less life is getting to debt.
38:03But the most important thing is, if people phone up,
38:05we can find a lot of ways of helping you get out of it
38:07without adding to other people's bills.
38:08I'm sorry, I'm going to have to go to a break now.
38:10I'll try and get one or two more questions after the break.
38:12Greg Jackson from Octopus Energy, everybody.
38:14Thank you very much. Thank you.
38:16Thanks, Greg.
38:17Well, coming up next, it's just been announced
38:19that the minimum wage is set to rise.
38:22What are the new rates?
38:23Plus a £400 bank switch deal.
38:25We'll see you after this.
38:32Kelly, Vogue, Eddie and Tom have spent the night
38:34from hell in the jungle nursery.
38:36Find out how they get on and see how many stars Jack
38:39can bring home from the latest trial, Drown the Hatch.
38:42Join us for all that when Am A Celebrity continues
38:45live from Australia at nine o'clock tonight.
38:48We will see you there.
38:56Welcome back to the show.
38:57Social media has been alive tonight.
38:59Electric, if you like.
39:00Look at this from Daniel.
39:01He's saying,
39:02I've just switched while sat watching the show.
39:05Been paying £226 a month direct debit for over the last year
39:08on a standard variable.
39:10Pants cap!
39:11Just fixed for 12 months with the same company
39:13for £130 a month.
39:15Wow.
39:16£1,200 saving over the next year.
39:17Also £76 in credit.
39:19Wow.
39:20Again, I suspect some of that saving will be they've dropped
39:24your direct debit rather than natural lowering costs,
39:26but there will be a big saving in there.
39:27Well done.
39:28That's really good.
39:29Last quick question for you here, Martin, from Carol.
39:31Carol's asking, my energy company keeps saying my meter is out of date.
39:34I've had it for 10 years.
39:35Are they just trying to make me get a smart meter?
39:37No and yes.
39:38I'm just waggling this because I've got some questions on the computer
39:41so it doesn't go off.
39:42Look, meters do date and they do have a use-by date
39:47beyond which you can't use them.
39:49Now, the thing to do is check, do they have an M.I.D. certification?
39:52If they have an M.I.D. certification, they should not expire.
39:55If they don't, they probably do expire.
39:57There's a brilliant page on the Citizens Advice website
39:59that takes you through how you know if your meter expires or not.
40:02That's where I'd probably send you to.
40:04If your meter expires, they have to fit a new one.
40:08Almost all firms these days only have smart meters,
40:11so there's no requirement for them to fit a smart meter,
40:13but they don't have any others.
40:14If you really hate a smart meter, and I tend to be a bit of a fan,
40:17you can see what, you know, you don't have to do the readings anymore,
40:19it's up to date and you can see what you're using,
40:21but I know some people don't like them,
40:23then you can ask them to turn off the smart functionality.
40:26So you get a smart meter, but it only works as a dumb meter, if you like.
40:30So, Carol, I hope that answers your question.
40:31Now, I'm going to ask Greg a question or two that have just come in.
40:35So, I don't normally use computers, I'm stealing your job, Jeanette.
40:39Joe got in touch.
40:41I would like to know why energy companies can have so many different prices for the same product.
40:45Yeah, that's a great question.
40:47What happens in energy is, every day, the wholesale market is changing.
40:51And it can change dramatically, you know, if there's news about an issue in the Gulf,
40:55the price of gas will go up loads.
40:57On a sunny day, the price of electricity will plummet.
41:00And so, every day, we're going to the market, getting the cheapest energy we can.
41:05We'll buy a year in advance for fixes.
41:07And then, as you said, like, three months afterwards, we set the price, cap price.
41:13I can't bring myself.
41:14But, so, it's really based on those variable costs.
41:18And it just depends on what's going the day we go to market.
41:20So, you're buying it in.
41:21When somebody gets it, you can price them one.
41:23And if it's more expensive a week later, you'll charge them more.
41:25If it's cheaper, you'll charge them less.
41:27Exactly.
41:28There is one thing, though, which is, you know, we talked about the more complex tariffs.
41:31They don't have to be complex.
41:32There are simple ones, for example, some of the two-rate tariffs.
41:35Because there's a general pattern that electricity in the UK is expensive around about tea time.
41:39It's super cheap overnight.
41:41And it's very cheap on sunny days around the middle of the day.
41:44And so, if you can use electricity more at the cheap times and avoid the expensive,
41:49there are other things you can do.
41:51And that makes it more variable, but you'll get a bargain.
41:53I just need to be careful.
41:54Most people, you don't have time-of-use tariffs, so you'll pay the same all day.
41:57But if, as a society, if you get people off 4 to 8pm,
42:00then we don't have enough redundancy in the system that would bring all our prices down,
42:04which is why time-of-use tariffs comes in.
42:06But I have to go to my news you can use at this point.
42:08You absolutely do.
42:11OK, totally different subject.
42:13Just announced at about 6 o'clock this evening, new minimum wage rates from 1 April 2026.
42:17For those aged 21, the main one is going up 50p an hour, which is up about 4.1%.
42:22For those aged 18 to 20, it's going up 85p an hour, which is up about 8.5%,
42:26because they're trying to get that closer to the one for slightly older people.
42:29For those on apprenticeships or under 18s, it's going up 45p an hour, up 6%.
42:35Important to understand, those are not just if you're paid by the hour.
42:38They apply to everyone, however you are paid.
42:41So if you were working full-time, you know, and it varies on the number of hours you're doing,
42:46this is roughly equivalent to £900 a year more, £1,500 a year more, or £850 a year more.
42:53But this is the thing that people don't know.
42:55There are many people on minimum wage who are actually being underpaid
42:59because their employers are not following the rules.
43:01370,000 people in 2024, the last time we had numbers from, were being underpaid.
43:07And this is not small firms. This includes big household name firms.
43:10Don't think this is only small backstreet employers. It isn't.
43:13Now, there are two big reasons this happens.
43:15If you have to buy your uniform, your tools, your safety equipment and your clothing,
43:19the cost of that should not take you below equivalent minimum wage over your pay period.
43:24What does that mean? So you take the cost, you subtract it over your pay period.
43:28So if you're paid by the month, it's in a month. If you're paid by the week, it's in a week.
43:31If that takes you down below minimum wage for the hours you've worked,
43:35you have been underpaid, then you should get that money.
43:38You should also be paid for all your working time.
43:41Overtime, security checks, handovers, opening up, on-call.
43:44And you shouldn't get less than minimum wage once your full working time is taken into account.
43:49Your pay should be at least equal to minimum wage for that period.
43:52Those are the big ones.
43:54A few more. Tips can't be within the minimum wage. They have to be on top.
43:57If you're on commission and you don't get enough for minimum wage, your employers have to top you up.
44:01Is your apprenticeship real? There's a special lower minimum wage apprenticeship rate.
44:05They can't have that rate and not do a proper apprenticeship.
44:08So you need structured training as part of your apprenticeship.
44:11If not, you need to be paid the other minimum wage rate because you're not really an apprentice.
44:15And big one for 18- and 21-year-olds, you should get a pay rise on your birthday
44:19because you're now in a different minimum wage bracket if you're on minimum wage and on the 1st of April when it moves.
44:24If you think you're underpaid, call ACAS, which is the arbitration service, for free help.
44:30You can complain to your employer. Many people won't want to do that.
44:33Or you can complain anonymously via gov.uk.
44:36Obviously, if you're a single employee, then they'll know it's you.
44:39But for most people, that will help.
44:41Er, yeah.
44:42Quickies now. We haven't got time for long.
44:43Mobile. Which network's got the strongest signal indoors and out where you live?
44:47I actually really rate the Map Your Mobile tool on ofcom.org.uk.
44:51It's detailed. Well worth checking to see where you get the best signal.
44:54By the way, if you think it's wrong, then do feedback to them.
44:56The more people feedback, the more accurate it gets.
44:58And there's a little button below.
44:59Ending on Thursday, 400 quid of free cash for switching to Barclays.
45:03It's Barclays Premier. It's only for people who earn over £75,000.
45:06It's only for higher earners. You also get Apple TV.
45:09But it's worth looking at. Biggest cash bonus we've ever seen.
45:11Also, the standard free £200 for everybody else.
45:14You've got to join its Blue Rewards Scheme to get the £200.
45:17But as soon as you're paid, you can get rid of the Blue Rewards Scheme
45:19that costs £5 a month, and it only normally lasts a month or so.
45:21But there are loads of other free cash deals available at the moment.
45:24It's a great time to be switching bank accounts.
45:26Have a look back at last week's show on ITVX.
45:28And finally, the unbeatable Help to Save Scheme
45:30will be extended to 1.5 million people.
45:33We'll learn this in the budget tomorrow from 2028, they've told me officially.
45:36It's for those people on Universal Credit who are also working.
45:39You get a 50% boost on up to £50 a month saved over two years
45:43via gov.uk.
45:44From 2028, it'll also apply to those people who can't work
45:47because they've got parental or kinship responsibilities or they're carers.
45:50You've got a quick case study on that success, haven't you?
45:52We do, very quickly. Single mum, part-time job from Esther here.
45:55After you covered it two years ago, I took your advice
45:57and started to help to save account, received a £600 bonus.
46:00I can't thank you enough.
46:01Really important. Look at that. Haven't got time for a clap because,
46:04most importantly, Thursday night, where am I?
46:07Thursday night, 7.30, it's my budget special.
46:10The practical change is coming in the budget
46:12and Rachel Reeves is coming on the show.
46:14Get in touch with your questions for me or for her about the budget.
46:16We'll be watching it tomorrow. It's a big day.
46:18Thank you to everyone here. Thank you to Greg.
46:20It's 7.30, not 8, Thursday night.
46:22Bye-bye. Thanks, Jeanette. Bye-bye.
46:31Well, stay with us here on ITV1.
46:33I'm a celebrity, get me out of here, is on the way next.
46:51Bye-bye.
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