British Gas 12.5% price hike – can YOU avoid the charge? How to lower your bill

• British Gas price hike will see bills rising by 12.5% from September
• The announcement was made on the British Gas website yesterday
• British Gas Chief Executive Mark Hodges spoke on Sky News this morning
• Other energy companies are only raising prices by 10%
• Martin Lewis advice on how to lower your energy bills explained in detail

British Gas will slap higher prices on six million British households, the accidentally published information reveals.

The statement, which was uploaded to British Gas’ website yesterday at midday, and has since been removed, read: “why we are having to raise electricity prices – our first increase since November 2013”, according to the Telegraph.

The paper also claims the words “blah blah” appeared below – as if the post had yet to be finished. 

Mr Hodges said, according to the Metro: “Since our last price rise in November 2013, some costs have risen steadily — among them Government policies to subsidise renewable energy, social levies, delivery to customers’ homes, and the nationwide smart metering programme. In that time, overall electricity costs have increased by 16 per cent.”

In February it was announced that British Gas were freezing their energy prices until August, and now it seems the firm is planning to act on that deadline.

British Gas made the revelation as there was news that the other big six firms would hike their tariffs by 10 per cent.

Now it seems British Gas will join the companies in raising its prices, after a brief period of six months.

The average bill is set to climb by £76 a year.

How to lower your gas and electricity bill 

Expert advice suggests some ways in which Britons can avoid paying more for their bills in general – although as of yet no expert is to speak out on how this specific fee can be avoided for British Gas customers.

Firstly, customers can ensure they are not on the most expensive standard variable tariffs (SVTs) – dubbed a ‘rip off’ tariff by consumers.

Currently, 17 million Britons are on these tariffs, which are the most expensive.

USwitch.com suggests that customers call their providers and ask if they are on one of these tariffs and whether they can move to a cheaper one. 

The comparison site also suggested customer ensure they are not on one of the deals ending this summer.

Households could be hit with the whopping sum of £399 if they don’t remember to switch to another deal this summer.

Fifty deals are set to end this summer compared to 33 in the same period last year.

Martin Lewis advice on challenging energy prices

Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis also recommended that customers haggle with their providers to avoid higher fees.

On ITV’s This Morning in January this year, Martin explained exactly how to do it.

Martin said: “You could save on the same gas, same electricity.

“Call up your energy company today and say ‘Am I on your cheapest deal and if I’m not can I move to it?’” 

He said: “Haggling is really important especially with companies with call centres. 

“Always be polite, always charm, they don’t have to have you as customer – this isn’t about aggression, you want them on your side.” 

He suggested saying: “I’m sorry that’s too expensive, I’ve checked elsewhere you’re more expensive than the competition.”