Energy

Many of the UK's four million households which prepay for their energy will see prices drop on 1 April when a new price cap comes into force, but savings will vary hugely and at least 200,000 customers will see an increase, new figures obtained by MoneySavingExpert.com reveal.

More than 200,000 Northern Ireland households will see their gas bills jump in the next month, with supplier Firmus Energy today announcing a price hike and SSE Airtricity having done so last week.

E.on has become the latest energy firm to announce a major price hike, with bills for a typical dual-fuel household on its standard tariff set to jump by 8.8% from 26 April.

The regulator Ofgem is urgently contacting a number of major energy suppliers about their exit fee policies, after a MoneySavingExpert.com investigation revealed many customers with fixes ending have been wrongly told they'll have to pay to switch.

Prepay supplier Utilita is the latest energy firm to decide to hike prices, MoneySavingExpert.com can reveal – with almost half a million customers set to pay more from 1 April. If you're affected, check NOW if you can save by switching to a cheap fix or even a credit meter.

Energy customers switched suppliers at the highest rate in six years in 2016, regulator Ofgem has confirmed, with 7.7 million such moves taking place.

More than 100,000 First Utility customers on the firm's standard variable tariff will face an average 9.7% hike in their energy bills from 1 April. If you're affected, check now if you can beat the hike and slash your bills by switching to a cheap fixed deal.

Co-op Energy has become the latest supplier to announce an energy price rise with its standard variable rates to increase by an average of 5% on 1 April. If you're one of the 10,000s affected, check NOW if you can lock in a cheap fixed deal.

British Gas is to launch a customer rewards scheme from April that will include Sky TV deals and energy discounts for its longest-standing customers. However, it's not yet clear what the savings will be, so you should continue to keep an eye out for cheap deals available elsewhere.

Energy price hikes are coming thick and fast, so we wanted to update you with the situation right now. Remember - this is the time your usage is at its highest, so check now to see if you can save £100s.