Martin Lewis urges British Gas, OVO, EON, Octopus customers to make one phone call for money back

Martin Lewis has urged people paying energy bills by Direct Debit to check for a cash refund this month. British Gas, OVO, EDF, EON, Octopus customers are at a “crucial point in the Direct Debit cycle” this month and could be due refunds worth ‘hundreds of pounds’.

November is the month where you should have the most credit, before you start to use it up again in winter. Speaking on ITV, Martin said: “You pay the same amount each month, even more in the winter, and we use less in the summer but it smooths out that usage, so whether you're in debt or you’re in credit it depends on where in the cycle you are.”

He said it’s important to know where you are in the debt cycle before asking for a refund, but if you’re in credit - and he said some people could have built up as much as five months’ worth - then it’s time to call and ask for the cash back in your pocket to stop firms “earning the interest as they have billions of pounds of our cash they earn interest on”.

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Martin said: “This is the time of the year where you should be most in credit, which means it’s quite a good time to look at how much credit you are in. I would say two months, if you have no more than two months’ worth of credit right now, that’s probably about right, you want to be in credit right now, don’t speak to them.

“But if you’ve got three, four, five, six months’ worth of credit with your energy provider, get up on the phone and say ‘I think I’ve got too much credit and I would like the money in my bank account and not yours, please. Be very polite, but over two months’ worth of credit right now, I’d be getting in touch with them and see if you can do it online and get your credit back.

“I’ve got loads of successes of people getting hundreds of pounds back on this.”