Electricity

Renewable gas and electricity supplier Green Energy is hiking electricity prices by around 9% on average, while gas prices will fall by 5% – meaning dual fuel customers face an increase of about 1.5%.

Energy cold-calling is being sparked back into life by smaller providers that increasingly send staff to knock on doors in a bid to persuade customers to switch suppliers. But don't be pressured into switching if an energy salesperson turns up at your home – do a full market comparison in your own time.

The Prime Minister has indicated the Government is set to crack down on sky-high energy prices, and warned that relying on customers to switch energy suppliers to save money "is clearly not working".

Millions of SSE customers on its standard tariff will see their energy bills jump from 28 April – the firm's hiking electricity prices by 14.9% and keeping gas prices steady, meaning those on a dual fuel tariff face an average 6.9% rise.

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.

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.