When will energy bills fall, and could the fixed tariff finally be making a return?

This is Money Podcast

This is Money

Business News, Business, Investing, News

4.1 • 650 Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We had some good news this week about our energy bills - or did we?

Ofgem's price cap is coming down - saving households around £400 a year on average.

The last 18 months have been horrendous for households, so bad the Government had to step in in October and introduce a price freeze - but that was still double what the typical bill payer would have had to fork out a year previously.

And although the cap is coming down, the removal of Government grants means most people will actually only be saving about £19 per month, or £225 per year.

So what will we have to pay when the new cap starts in July, will bills keep going down, and when will energy companies start under-cutting the price cap with fixed tariffs again?

On this podcast, Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert discuss when energy bills might go back to 'normal', and whether we should jump on fixed deals when they return, or treat them with caution.

We also got the latest UK inflation figures this week. Despite a not insignificant drop from 10.1 per cent to 8.7 per cent in April, experts are pricing in another interest rate rise - and that is down to a surprise jump in something called core inflation.

We explain what that is, and discuss just how high the base rate might go.

Mortgage rates have also been on the rise, with major lender Nationwide hiking its fixed and tracker mortgage rates by up to 0.45 per cent among others.

We look at why that is happening, and take in some advice from brokers on what those with a remortgage deadline coming up should do.

But with bad news for mortgage holders comes good news for savers, with easy-access rates edging ever closer to 4 per cent. We list the best buys.

The US debt ceiling has also been in the news this week, with the two main parties engaged in a stand-off about whether it should be raised. If it isn't, the world's biggest economy could default on its debts - but what exactly would that mean, and how big is the risk?

Finally, with warmer weather on the way we discuss the new phenomenon of 'campervanflation', and why the younger generation can't seem to get enough of the classic VW Camper.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to This Is Money Podcast. I'm Georgie Frost and joining me and Simon Lambert today,
0:07.6	it's Helen Crane. And coming up, finally some better news about our energy bills. The price gap is
0:12.9	dropping from July, so does that mean a return of competition to the market? Inflation is down.
0:18.8	That's good news, right? Mortgage rates are rising, though. Act now,
0:23.7	if your fix is coming to an end, warns experts. Also today, could we be on the verge of a financial
0:29.9	Armageddon across the world? Simon explains what exactly the US debt ceiling is and why it matters.
0:36.4	Plus, camper vanflation.
0:38.4	It's a thing, well it is now, and it's rampant.
0:41.7	Don't forget to stay up to date with all the latest breaking money news.
0:44.4	Just go to this ismoney.co.uk or download the app.
0:48.5	Don't forget, you can stay on top of what's going on in the markets by tuning in to the Digest and Invest podcast by Eatoro. Go to your regular podcast platform and listen on the go. Digest and invest by Itoro,
0:58.6	the podcast for those interested in trading and investing. But first, we had some better news this
1:04.0	week about our energy bills. The price gap is coming down, saving us around 400 quid a year on a
1:10.3	typical bill. The last 18 months have
1:12.6	been, let's be honest, pretty horrendous for households. So bad, the government had to step in
1:17.8	in October and introduce a price freeze. But that was still double what the typical bill
1:22.9	payer would have had to fork out a year previous. So what will we have to pay in July? When will
1:29.2	prices return to pre-COVID levels? And does that mean a return of competitive fixed deals
1:34.1	to the market? Welcome, Simon. Welcome Helen. First, see, Helen. A brief recap, if you would.
1:39.2	Just remind us, what is the price cap? What is the energy price guarantee?
1:46.6	Sure. So the price cap is the maximum amount that people can pay for energy per kilowatt hour. That's set by the regulator off-gem.
1:53.0	Price cap didn't really use to matter much to most people because most people were on cheaper,
	...

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