Martin Lewis says people will be forced to buy £19.99 B&Q, Amazon, clothing as energy prices soar

Martin Lewis says people will be forced to buy £19.99 B&Q, Amazon, clothing as energy prices soar "I Don't Want to Say That": Money guru issues grim heating warning as energy bills set to surge Martin Lewis has given a chilling warning and said people might be forced to ‘wear USB gilets’ this winter as massive price rises bite. The personal finance expert said he didn’t want it to happen - but people need to consider how that are going to afford to pay to keep warm. The latest forecast from analysts Cornwall Insight on Wednesday warned annual household energy bills could soar by 16% in January – the largest rise for four years. And the personal finance expert said he 'doesn't want to say it' but people will be forced to buy the garments which can be bought for £19.99 from places like B&Q and Amazon to keep warm Experts at Cornwall Insight predicted the average dual fuel energy bill will rise by 16% to £1,999 a year on January 1, up by £276 on the level between October and December and the biggest rise since January 2023. Storage levels of EU gas are now at their lowest September level for 15 years, Cornwall Insight said. The stark warning comes ahead of the October 1 rise in Ofgem’s energy price cap, which will see bills jump 4%. Cornwall said the increase is driven by the escalating conflict in the Middle East, which has disrupted gas supplies to the UK and worldwide as the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route has been effectively closed since the Iran war began in February. Appearing on Good Morning Britain Mr Lewis said the news is so stark some people are likely to have to make hard decisions. Susanna Reid asked: “What should people do to keep their bills down?” Mr Lewis said: “Well, use less, which is not what the government wants me to tell you. Three years ago in the ukraine-crisis>Ukraine crisis, I published a guide called Heat the Human, Not the Home. It was the most uncomfortable guide we’ve ever had to publish. “It is not something I want people to do. But if you’re struggling, we may be getting back to that stage this winter. You know, USB Gilets, I don’t want to say that. I don’t turn the central heating off and wear a USB gilets, but when you’re getting at this type of level, we might be starting to move into that territory, which is why I think we might have some intervention needed coming in January. “You literally plug in. It’s a very low power usage. It keeps a general level of warmth or USB gloves or some people like socks and that type of stuff that you do instead of your central heating. I do not want that to be the situation we’re in. I’m saying we publish that guide as a desperation stakes. If you can’t do anything else, what do you do to keep yourself warm.” In terms of actions around power bills, Mr Lewis said it depends what tariff a person is on. He said: “What you should do if we actually talk about prices and tariffs. What you should do splits depending whether you are on the price cap or you’re not on the price cap. If you’re on the price cap with 60% of homes, no one ever understands when I say price cap. “I’ve learned that people don’t know that term. If you are on your firm’s standard variable tariff, you haven’t switched your default. You were on a fix. You’re fixed. You did nothing. It’s 60% of homes. Remember, this is only England, Scotland, Wales, not Northern Ireland. If you’re on that tariff, you’re on the price cap.” He explained that if someone doesn’t know what tariff they’re on - it means they’re on the price cap because they haven’t fixed it. He said: “That’s my most important message because you can today lock in at a fix. The cheapest fix on the market today is 2.2% more than today’s price cap, but that price cap is going up tomorrow. And fixes are going to get the benefit of electricity being cut, the VAT on electricity being cut. So if it’s 2.2% more today, it will be 4% cheaper tomorrow. So, if you do a comparison today, even if it’s 1 or 2% more than you’re paying right now, that will actually be a saving from tomorrow. And if the predictions are right, which they’re very strongly likely to be, a very substantial saving from January.”