Energy cap and cost of living updates

Price Cap

• The domestic price cap will increase by £693 or 54% in April with another potential rise in October.
• The average household bill is now £1971 per annum.
• Prepayment customers see increases of £708 taking their annual bill to £2017.
• VAT on energy is NOT scrapped.
• OFGEM describe the current market as “a once in 30 year event”.
• Currently 18m households are on price cap tariffs.

Energy Fund

• Rishi Sunak has announced every domestic electricity customer on supply with a domestic energy provider will receive a £200 discount from October.
• The exact method of this discount is not yet known.
• This is a loan and will be repaid in 5 instalments of £40 over the next 5 years.

Not Covered by the Price Cap

• No announcement has been made to include domestic users on commercial contracts in either the Price Cap or Energy Fund.
• We expect announcements and updates from BEIS, ADE, Heat Trust and other industry bodies.

Council Tax

• Households in England with a council tax band of A – D will receive a £150 discount on their Council Tax bill from April.
• The equivalent sums are being provided to devolved Governments.
• To identify the council tax band of any property you can use.
• Check your Council Tax band – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Interest Rates

• The Bank of England has increased interest rates for the second time in three months.
• The increase is from 0.25% to 0.5%.
• Interest rates are increased to make borrowing more expensive and saving more attractive.
• This is designed to reduce inflation as there is less demand for products.
• Inflation is forecast to be 6% for 2022 with wages not expected to match.