Time to save for kids’ uni? Time to refix your energy tariff? Plus more back-to-reality issues

In this week's The Martin Lewis Podcast, it's Back to Life, Back to Reality as Martin returns with a pot pourri of essential September savings and money tips. From a crucial warning for parents of senior school children about the true future cost of university, to how you could be entitled to hundreds of pounds in compensation for delayed or cancelled flights this summer, Martin tackles the money issues that could put cash back in your pocket. He also explains how workers who wear a uniform could be missing out on tax relief, plus plenty more practical ways to save. With the Energy Price Cap rising, Martin breaks down the urgent deals currently available that could help cut your bills. He explains whether now is the right time to fix your tariff and, importantly, what those already on a fixed deal should do next. Spoiler: don't rush into refixing without understanding the pitfalls. Energy is also the focus of this week's Mastermind. In the Tell Us feature, it's all about the "C" word... Christmas. Listeners reveal just how much festive preparation they've already done, with some starting as far back as last November. And finally, ever wondered what Martin sounds like played at double speed? There's only one way to find out...! If you want to ask Martin a question, you now can! His Question Time podcast lets you ask Martin absolutely anything and everything (within reason!). So, if you’ve always wanted to know his favourite paper size, what prescription he has in his glasses, or have a very complicated question about your finances, email it to [email protected] mailto:[email protected].

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:06Speaker 01

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• 1:46Speaker 02

  I was sick every day on the first day back at school. I always felt ill and panicky about it.

• 1:51Martin Lewis?

  I've got a reply from Susie Dent before we do anything else.

• 1:53Speaker 02

  I would suggest that you check now how much you will need to save. What counts is the final delay. Finding £7,000 a year after tax is very hard out of a salary.

• 2:06Martin Lewis?

  Hello, I'm Martin Lewis and this is the cunningly named The Martin Lewis Podcast. I do wonder what that's going to be about. And this is our big topic episode, where each week we lead on one main subject to help you save. Now, usually, most of it comes from my BBC Radio 5 live show with Adrian Charles, but there's also bonus money-saving tips, tricks and hacks for you lucky, lucky podcast listeners. In today's podcast, back to life, back to reality. A potpourri of important September savers. From a warning to all parents of senior school children about future university costs, to your entitlement to hundreds of pounds of compensation if your flight was delayed or cancelled this summer, as well as tax back if you wear a uniform to work, and far, far more.

• 2:49Martin Lewis?

  It's an important checklist. You do need to listen to that. Then we go on to energy, and with the price cap rising, there are urgent deals available that can cut your costs. And crucially, it's the biggest thing I've had questions on. What do you do if you're already on a fixed tariff? Should you refix now? Spoiler, be careful doing that, and we'll explain why. Energy is also the subject of this week's mastermind. Will Adrian get it right? Then the tellers, and please don't hate me, but it is about the C word. You tell us how much pre-Christmas preparation you've done, and some of you even started last November. Plus, what do I sound like? I'm double speed. Play the theme tune.

• 3:49Speaker 04

  Martin, I saw that the new Chancellor was lucky enough to get an audience with you yesterday.

• 3:56Martin Lewis?

  I think it is certainly the.

• 3:57Speaker 04

  Did he ask nicely for that?

• 3:59Martin Lewis?

  He did, actually. To be fair, he messaged me asking, could we meet? I think it was on his first day after he'd been appointed. He got my number and he sent me a message and I said, I'd love to. And we got round to getting a date that worked in both our diaries yesterday. Now, I need to be straight, these are closed meetings. There's nothing nefarious about that. It's just a private meeting. If not, when you go in a meeting and you're doing one of these things with a politician, they're scared that they can't say anything. I mean, the truth is, a Chancellor pre-budget tends not to say much anyway. They tell you it's a listening exercise and they want to know what your priorities are. And I am one of very many stakeholders, I'm sure, that will be going in with the Chancellor. What I did though, and what I agreed with the Treasury, because they like these meetings to be private.

• 4:42Martin Lewis?

  And I said, well, my mate Adrian will probably ask me, have you met the new Chancellor at some time? And I can't lie if he does. So I agreed with them that in advance, I could put out a note saying I was going to do it, and the things that were on my agenda that I would want to talk about, if you understand the formula there. So I shall read you that list. Student loans, especially the plan to repayment threshold freeze, which I've been very, very against. The cliff edge on care as allowance, the lifetime ISA penalties, which are penalising young people buying a house if they're being priced out of the market. The cash ISA changes. I'm pushing for a new starter investment ISA, where basically I think if you're going to try and encourage people to invest for the first time, I think there should be a boost on top for, say, the first £2,000 you put in.

• 5:27Martin Lewis?

  Obviously, everything that's going on with energy bills, we'll be talking about later in the pod. Council tax, how you challenge your council tax, the unfairness of the fact that the system is fundamentally broken, tackling scam adverts, mid-contract price hikes and more. That was the list I went in there with, and I tend to talk about what I want to talk about. Lots of people have said to me, did you ask him about defence spending? What about this? I'm a consumer finance specialist. I stick within my lane. I am not in there to give my general view on everything the government should do. I'm in there to talk about the stuff that I have a specialist knowledge in and research team in. So that's what I talked about. Or that's what I planned to talk about. Sorry, broke formula.

• 6:04Speaker 04

  Is there any other question I can ask you about it that you can answer?

• 6:08Martin Lewis?

  Not really. He was a very affable chap when we went in, and he was in listening mode. And that's what Chancellors do pre-budget. I'm lucky enough to have been in with quite a few of them now pre-budget, and they tend to sit there and listen, and nod, ask some questions. But you tend not to get much of a reading on anything else, I think, is the honest.

• 6:26Speaker 04

  Who's been your favourite one so far?

• 6:28Martin Lewis?

  Pardon?

• 6:28Speaker 04

  No. Who's been your favourite Chancellor? I'm only joking. I can't possibly answer that.

• 6:32Martin Lewis?

  I wish I had a knowledge of history and I could pick some 18th century Chancellor to give that a clever.

• 6:36Speaker 04

  Oh, they weren't lucky enough to meet you though, Martin.

• 6:38Martin Lewis?

  I have been in, with all the Chancellors I've met, all of them have listened. All of them, I've had a few small successes and many, many failures. And I suspect that's the way it will continue, and that's probably the right way. Because I go in on a single consumer basis, I do not represent the economy, I do not represent businesses, I don't represent consumers, but I talk about consumer issues. And I think they have to do a balance and I don't have to do a balance. So that's how it works and that's how it probably continues to work in future.

• 7:10Speaker 04

  Just going back to where we are now, start of September, back to school time. I still feel it viscerally, even though I'm 60 next year and, you know, I left school in 1985. I still get that back to school feeling at the start of.

• 7:25Martin Lewis?

  I was sick every day on the first day back at school. I always felt ill and panicky about it. And it's funny because your kids are no longer school age. My daughter was back to school today. And, you know, it's an interesting day the day before, because even though she likes school, you still, there's still that nervousness, there's that transition and that change, especially going into a new school year. So absolutely agree with you. And I'm going to make that worse for all the parents listening of senior school kids out there and what I'm about to talk about now, Adrian. You ready?

• 7:56Speaker 04

  Yep.

• 7:56Martin Lewis?

  So if you have a child in or starting senior school, I would suggest that you check now how much you will need to save in the event that they go on to university. Now, you will know your child, you will know their chances, you will know whether that's likely, whether you think it's a good thing, whether they think it's a good thing. That's not what we're talking about. What I want to explain to people is the hidden parental contribution when young people go to university that is not talked about enough. All of the focus is on tuition fees and the cost of going and the student loan. But the far more prosaic, practical problem that young people have when they go to university

• 8:41Martin Lewis?

  is affording to live while they're at university. And of course, different to when I went, when actually working to an extent was discouraged and you shouldn't work much. Now it is de rigueur that students will get jobs when they're at university, they'll get summer jobs, and they look at all that funding. But we want to look at the formal situation for people when they go to university. And the way it works is this, we'll start with the English system where it is most punitive and where you really need to understand it. When you go to university in England, if you are a young person who is not estranged from their parents, and that means properly estranged, and you are aged under 25, the amount that you get for your living loan, the money you are given to live off, is based on a means test of family income.

• 9:26Martin Lewis?

  And family income in most people's cases is a proxy for parental income, the total amount of income that parents have. And I have to tell you, the amount at which you start to lose, so the amount of loan you get is reduced, has not changed. It is an absolute disgrace. It has not changed since 2008. It should have increased by about 60 to 70% from what it currently is. It hasn't. At the moment, if your child goes to university and you have family income above £25,000, total family income, both parents' income if they're working, then you do not get the full maintenance loan. Your child will not get the full maintenance loan.

• 10:11Martin Lewis?

  To put that in perspective, £25,000 is only a fraction above minimum wage for someone working full-time. So a single parent who's earning just above minimum wage, their child would not get the full living loan. They would have to find some of the funding on it. And by the time you get to total family income up to around £60,000, £65,000, depending whether they're living at home or living away from home or living in London, you get the minimum loan, which is roughly half the full loan. Now, none of this is explicit. There is nowhere in the rules that says parents have to give their kids this money. And children cannot demand it of their parents.

• 10:52Martin Lewis?

  But ultimately, when you have a system that means tests parental income to dictate how much living loan their child gets, in my view, there is an implied parental contribution. And I campaigned for years to get a mention of this. I got it changed about five years ago. It subtly now does state that parents may need to find funds towards it. I would like it to be even more overt. So let's just put this into some real numbers.

• 11:21Martin Lewis?

  Someone with total family income of £40,000, if their child is going away from university, the child will get a loan of £8,500 a year. The full loan would have been £10,830. To work out the parental contribution, I subtract what they get from the full loan. So that's a parental contribution of £2,300 a year. If they had family income of £70,000, so that total income of £70,000, the loan that the child would receive would be £5,040, which means a parental contribution of £5,700 per year. On a three-year course, that's £18,000. If they were staying in London, the maximum on a three-year course would be £21,000 parental contribution.

• 12:04Martin Lewis?

  And this is the reason I'm talking about this now and saying when your kid's going to senior school. Because far too many parents realise this too late. Some don't even realise it when their kids are at uni and say, you should be able to live off that. No, even the full loan is really tough to live off. That's a problem in its own right, if you were trying to use that as its own funds. But there is this gap in the funding that parents don't know about. And the reason I talk about it now is if we say that maximum contribution for someone on £70,000 total income, finding £7,000 a year after tax is very hard out of a salary. You probably want to have the money being prepared in advance, which is why my view is the day they start senior school is the day that I want to get this message out. Did you know about that?

• 12:49Speaker 04

  I didn't. And so I suppose when you've got kids who are past that age, you start losing focus, don't you? But it's fascinating. I mean.

• 12:58Martin Lewis?

  I need to do the other, sorry, forgive me. I need to do very briefly the other UK nations. Because I did England. The parental contribution isn't as big in the other UK nations and doesn't exist in Wales. In Wales, the system is, there is still a family income assessment, but all young people get the same amount from the state. What the family income assessment does is decide how much of it is a repairable student loan and how much of it is a non-repairable grant. So in Wales, there is no parental contribution. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, I basically use the same system. What would you get on minimum income? And then what is the total amount that you get if your parents earn more? And there is a gap. Again, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the maintenance is a mix between a grant and a loan.

• 13:42Martin Lewis?

  And the exact grant and loan also depends on how much you earn. But the maximum gap in Scotland is £3,000. And the maximum gap in Northern Ireland, well, if they went in London, it'd be £4,600. Outside London, it'd be £3,700. And I can't tell you where, which might give you a clue. But there are, how much should I save for my child to go to university calculators? Where you can put your details in and it will tell you the exact amount for your situation. And I would suggest that you go and do that. Now, look, your kid might not go to university. They might get an apprenticeship. They might do all those other things, but they might go to university. And early preparation, like we're talking about Christmas later, is always a good way.

• 14:25Speaker 04

  You like me for asking this, but I can hear people thinking, well, if I do save that money, put that money away, where do I put it? Is there any particular advice on that?

• 14:33Martin Lewis?

  Well, I would keep it in your own funds for the moment. If you give it to your kids and you put it in their junior ISA, there is always a risk that they decide to spend it on something else. But you could put it in a cash ISA, that would be a tax-free way to save it. You could, if you've got long enough, you could decide to invest and hopefully invest so that you hope it grows. I mean, if your kids are starting senior school, you are at least in most cases, unless they're a prodigy, seven years away from them going to university. And that's in that time limit where you may want to invest. So I won't go into full details. I can't go through best products, but those are the type of things. And there are good information sites out there that will tell you the top savings and the easy way to start thinking about investing in, say, your own ISA.

• 15:10Speaker 04

  Schools, going back to school, puts you in mind, you sort of uniform. But I mean, there are, there are uniforms for other people in the workplace. I haven't got one, you haven't got one, but there are lines of work where you do have a uniform. Can you?

• 15:24Martin Lewis?

  I thought your uniform is you wear a jumper over your shirt, correct?

• 15:28Speaker 04

  Correct.

• 15:29Martin Lewis?

  And hot pants under the desk.

• 15:31Speaker 04

  Only, only on the Friday show when I'm with you, I don't wear the hot pants.

• 15:34Martin Lewis?

  Very, no, I'm not sure I could cope with it. I'd be too excited.

• 15:37Speaker 04

  Keep it more formal. But you can, there is.

• 15:41Martin Lewis?

  Uniform tax rebate, yeah, there is a uniform tax rebate. So yeah, if you wear a uniform to work, including just a branded t-shirt or overalls, and crucially, you wash and have to maintain them yourself and you don't use them elsewhere. Why are you going to want to wear your work t-shirt when you go out? Oh, I'm going out, I'm gonna go and wear my Five Live t-shirt. Then you are entitled to a very small tax rebate, which is backdateable up to four years. And to claim it, you do not need to pay anyone to do it. There are people who advertise, don't, it's dead easy. There is a form on gov.uk, it's called Tax Relief for Employees' Uniforms. Just search gov.uk tax relief for employees' uniforms. Or if you do the self-assessment form, you do it in your self-assessment tax return.

• 16:23Martin Lewis?

  The flat rate is you get £60 allowance. Now, the tax saving on £60 for a basic rate taxpayer is £12. If you pay tax at the 40% rate, it's 24 quid a year. But you can backdate it four years. So you know, it can be 60 quid, it can be 120 quid. Some people have more specific uniforms with higher allowances. So a dental nurse, for example, the allowance is 125 quid, which means it's worth £25 a year at the basic tax rate. Pilot's allowance is £1,000 a year, then most pilots will know about it, which means it's worth 200 quid. A mechanic's allowance is £120 a year. So the exact allowance depends on what your job is and, you know, how important the uniform is as part of that.

• 17:06Martin Lewis?

  But the minimum is the 60 pound allowance, which you would pay £12 tax on, but you get that as tax-free. The 60 pounds, so the saving is £12 and you can backdate it up to four years from the current year.

• 17:21Speaker 04

  Okay, shall we move on to some questions about summer flight delays?

• 17:25Martin Lewis?

  Sure.

• 17:25Speaker 04

  We've got a few. Wendy was delayed by EasyJet, what's the best way to claim?

• 17:30Martin Lewis?

  So let's just go through the details of what we're talking about here. There is a specific regulation, it used to be a European Union regulation. It's now been incorporated into UK law. So it's the incorporation of, the regulation is 261/2004. That's always etched in my memory. And this is a strict rules. That means if your flight's cancelled, you must always get a refund or offered an alternative flight. And if your flight is cancelled and delayed and it is the airline's fault, and we can discuss a little bit more about that. So that means pretty much most things barring the weather or an airport event. So if the airport, air traffic control is shut, that's not the airline's fault.

• 18:14Martin Lewis?

  But if the airline doesn't have staff, that is the airline's fault, then you are likely entitled to fixed compensation. I'm going to do the key criteria. And in fact, while we're talking about that for this summer, you can go back up to six years, five years in Scotland and still claim at this point. So here's the thing, Adrian, I'll give you a mini test at the end of each one. So I need you to listen, you ready?

• 18:36Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 18:38Martin Lewis?

  It applies to all flights leaving a UK or EU airport on any airline to anywhere. So does Manchester to New York count?

• 18:51Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 18:52Martin Lewis?

  Good. It also applies to any flight arriving at a UK or EU airport, as long as it is on a UK or EU airline. So New York to London on British Airways, does it count?

• 19:10Speaker 04

  It does.

• 19:11Martin Lewis?

  New York to London on American Airlines?

• 19:15Speaker 04

  No.

• 19:15Martin Lewis?

  There you go. And I'm just using it to try and drill into people. Of course, remember, if you're flying from Europe to the UK, then you're automatically counted because you're leaving a European Union airport anyway. So under those circumstances, very rough rule of thumb, what counts is the delay time is when they open the doors of the plane, not when you've landed, when they've opened the doors of the plane and how late that is.

• 19:42Speaker 04

  And you've been able to get off.

• 19:43Martin Lewis?

  And you've been able to get off, yes. Yeah, if they open the doors of the plane for air, but you're still on the plane, you're still on the plane. So the key rule is you must have arrived over three hours late. People get angry about this. They say, we took off three hours, 10 minutes late. And you're like, yeah, but you arrived two hours, 40 minutes late. It's not over three hours. It's a strict rule. If you arrive over three hours late and the flight's up to 1,500 kilometres, you do £220. If it's 1,500 kilometres to 3,500 kilometres, you do £350 per person, this is. And if it's over 3,500 kilometres, then you do £260 if the delay was up to four hours and £520 if it was over four hours. It always has to be over three. Cancellations, it's a little bit trickier.

• 20:26Martin Lewis?

  The rule on cancellations depend, the cancellation must have been no more than 14 days before you flew. So if they cancelled it a month before, you don't get this. And it's increased slightly if they cancel seven days before you flew. And then the exact calculation, so for example, if they cancelled it seven to 14 days before departure and it leaves two hours before the original flight, it's £125 compensation. If it leaves two hours earlier or lands more than two hours later, it's €250, I should say, euros compensation. On, this is all up to 1,500 kilometres. And there's a big table on that that I have and that is available on various websites. So basically, if it was the airline's fault.

• 21:11Martin Lewis?

  And you had a delay and it was over three hours, you're due.

• 21:15Speaker 04

  But that airline's fault thing, there's some wiggle room there.

• 21:18Martin Lewis?

  There is, and I suspect and I know you've got questions on that, so I haven't gone into the detail yet. But I'm prepared to, Adrian, I'm prepared to. Don't worry, I won't delay, I won't cancel, I'll do it.

• 21:29Speaker 04

  So, I mean, can I just ask you, if you do arrive late, do they tend to announce it? It says, don't forget, you can claim compensation for this, we're so late.

• 21:37Martin Lewis?

  No, they don't, they don't. I mean, they will always help you with the alternative flight and cancellation, but they do not tell you. And what I would always do, I would be careful, pilots tend to be more honest on this than airlines. So I would work out what that delay is. You know, if they say to you, it's because we had scheduling issues and a late pilot, write that down if you're going to be late. Because later on, you might find the reason, the official reason the airline gives is, so make a contemporaneous note of exactly what was said. Because I didn't say how you complain, first of all, you complain straight to the airline. And there are template letters and tools available on the internet that will do this for you. You're basically writing a complaint under UK Regulation 261/2004.

• 22:20Martin Lewis?

  And then if they reject it, they should all have an alternative dispute resolution process that you can escalate it to, who can make an independent adjudication. So keep your ticket stubs if you're late, keep your boarding passes if you were late, and keep a note of exactly what they said. Because the airline's fault is going to be the key nub on this.

• 22:37Speaker 04

  Nicola, delayed nine hours, Tuwe have said no to compensation. They're saying it was an extraordinary circumstance due to an airport strike. Is there anything I can do? So in other words, they're saying it's not the airline's fault.

• 22:48Martin Lewis?

  Well, if it was legitimately an airport strike, i.e. the planes could not take off on time because of industrial action at the airport, I think you mean that type of strike rather than the bird strike, then that is not the airline's fault. And they, under Regulation 261/2004, you are not entitled to compensation or not entitled to this, the fixed monetary compensation.

• 23:10Speaker 04

  What about adverse weather?

• 23:12Martin Lewis?

  Those were my big two exceptions, adverse weather and airport issues. Most delays that come in though, tend to be knock-on problems because of previous flights being delayed. So, you know, it's always the case, if you're getting a budget airline, you'll tend to find you'll arrive more on time if you get it in the morning than the evening because they tend to have knock-on problems, that's where they come. Now, there can be some subtle arguments on that, but I would always, if the reason that your flight is delayed is because the previous one is delayed, even if arguably the previous one was delayed because of an airport or weather issue, but your current one isn't delayed because of an airport or weather issue, it's delayed because of a scheduling issue that the airline did not have a plane in place, not your issue, what that plane was doing before it came to you, then I would try and push that as the airline's fault.

• 23:54Speaker 04

  What happens if you have a delayed flight which causes you to miss a connecting flight? Is it travel insurance or the airline company you claim from? And do they arrange a different onward flight? Also, can you claim for a day lost in the hotel stay if you booked seven days but can only stay six because your flight delay meant you arrived a day later than planned?

• 24:11Martin Lewis?

  I presume that's a person's, a specific question?

• 24:14Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 24:14Martin Lewis?

  Yeah. Okay, so let's do this one. The whole point of this regulation is as a fixed monetary compensation. If you have had knock-on costs, that's way more difficult, and that's generally what your travel insurance is for. But the issue of two flights in a row is very important. If you booked a flight with an airline and the flight you booked had two flights and they were connecting. So let's give this an example, you're flying from London to Dubai and you're connecting in Turkey, I've just made it up. Right, connecting in Istanbul. And you booked that with one airline as one flight, but it has a connection.

• 24:56Martin Lewis?

  Then what counts is the final delay at the destination. You know, it wasn't a stopover, it was a connecting flight, it was one contiguous trip that you did. Therefore, if you arrive at your final destination late, especially if you know you missed one plane and you arrive late, airline, it applies under this regulation. If you booked two separate flights and your first flight arrives two hours thirty late, which means you missed your second flight, but they were not from the same airline, the airline is not responsible, it is only responsible for the flight that you booked. That first flight was not over three hours late, it doesn't know that you've got a connecting flight, no.

• 25:37Martin Lewis?

  In that case, that's when you go to your travel insurance, your travel insurance is your mop up where you don't have rights elsewhere. Now, whether the travel insurance will cover you depends on your exact policy and you have the scheduled airlines type cover that you would need for that. So the regulation would cover you if it's one continuous flight. The travel insurance, that's who you go to in all of the circumstances, whether you've got the cover or not depends on the policy. Have I explained that? Does that make sense?

• 26:05Speaker 04

  Yes, it, yeah, it does. I was another one, if you buy a holiday with Tuwe but they use EasyJet, who do you claim from if there's a delay?

• 26:14Martin Lewis?

  Very simple, these regulations cover the carrier airline, the airline that you are with. Tuwe does have its own flights, but in this case it was operating as a tour operator, I would assume. This compensation, you are due from the airline. So this is an EasyJet issue in that case, because it was EasyJet that you had your delay with, and that's how 261/2004 works.

• 26:40Speaker 04

  We're heavily into Martin Lewis and we've gotten to one, yes, go on.

• 26:44Martin Lewis?

  Can I interrupt you to tell you a weird phenomenon I'm experiencing?

• 26:48Speaker 04

  Go on.

• 26:49Martin Lewis?

  So over the summer, they put out some special best of podcasts and I listen to them. And I listen to my podcast when I'm listening to it through, I listen to it on double speed. Right, when I listen to audiobooks and other things, I tend to be on about 1.6, 1.7 times speed. So my ears have got very used to listening at double speed. And now, when you're in a radio studio, you'll know this, I have earphones on and you get a little bit of reverberation, so you can sort of hear yourself talking through so that we can hear the conversation. And my brain is finding it very difficult because I sound like I'm on super slow mo. Because I've got so used to listening to myself in this format on double speed. It's really very strange, and I know lots of people will say you're already on double speed, you do not need to be, I'm hearing myself

• 27:33Martin Lewis?

  as if I'm talking in slow motion. I don't know whether there's any medical name for what I'm experiencing right now, I think it's a relatively new phenomenon, but it's really quite bizarre.

• 27:42Speaker 04

  Really? That is so interesting. I mean, this is a very sort of 2026 thing, isn't it? You won't be the only person experiencing this. I suppose I still, I must still sound, I must sound even more ponderous than I am at normal speed.

• 27:59Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, I'm finding it more the experience with me than the experience with you. When you listen, what do you listen at? Are you a fast listener or do you just?

• 28:06Speaker 04

  Yeah, well, I never listen to myself, I just can't bear it, but the, well, it depends, sometimes.

• 28:11Martin Lewis?

  But I feel it's important to know what, you know, if I've said the right thing, that's why I listen to that.

• 28:15Speaker 04

  No, no, of course, I understand that, but for research, if I've got to get through a book and go as high as double speed, but I have to build up to it, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3.

• 28:26Martin Lewis?

  So I'm standard 1.5 and I go up to two. If I could go faster than two when I, so when the producers send me the podcast through, when I listen to that, but I would do it at 2.2. But Laura, my wife, she listens to things at sort of 2.2 as standard. I mean, that's just her standard.

• 28:41Speaker 04

  She's used to listening to you.

• 28:43Martin Lewis?

  That's where you get, being married to me, she's used to the fast talking.

• 28:45Speaker 04

  Can I just, I just want to ask my producer something, can we just get a little bit of Martin talking? And then I want to play it back at, what do you say you listen to, 1.5?

• 28:53Martin Lewis?

  No, two, I listen at two.

• 28:55Speaker 04

  Okay, I want to listen to Martin, I want to hear what Martin Lewis sounds like at double speed.

• 28:59Martin Lewis?

  But remember, it needs to be done on the proper way where you don't, you know, it's not, bing, bing, bing, like that. It needs to be, so they could play an old podcast, they play thirty seconds from an old podcast, it'll only take fifteen seconds.

• 29:10Speaker 04

  All right, okay, well, our team are working on this. Where were we?

• 29:16Martin Lewis?

  And they should work at it at the double.

• 29:18Speaker 04

  Okay, tell us then, tell us about your tellers.

• 29:21Martin Lewis?

  Very simple tellers.

• 29:24Martin Lewis?

  No, stop, stop, stop the music. This is about early preparation, not early celebration of Christmas, there is no need for theme tunes. So the tellers is, how far along are you in your Christmas preparation? Have you already bought gifts, wrapping, trees, have you saved up, have you budgeted or more? Or are you a, what are you on about? It's September. And I did an exclusive poll just for the show on this, in other words, I put it on my social media, asking people just to help. And of people who celebrate Christmas, so for those who said they don't do Christmas, I've cut out, there were 24,000 votes. Seventy-five percent of people say not close to starting, so three quarters of people are not close to starting.

• 30:06Martin Lewis?

  Eighteen point seven percent of people, this is across a few different social media, I added them all up, have done a few little things, so we'll say that's just under a fifth have done a few little things. And 6.1%, so over one in 20, have done a decent chunk of it so far at the start of September. There you go. And then we've got some to read out, why don't you start?

• 30:27Speaker 04

  Okay, Amanda, bought some stuff in January, it's already wrapped, also been saving since December for the main gifts. So that's saving since before, the previous Christmas. That's extreme, Amanda. I aim to write cards and have bought everything by end of October, half term. As far as anything else, you might fall out with some of these people and not want to send them anything. But I suppose you can always, you can repurpose the presents. Love Christmas, hate crowds and cold weather, it all makes sense.

• 30:59Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, the only interesting thing about this, so look, I'm a great fan of a Christmas cupboard. So there are lots of people who have a Christmas cupboard, which is where you buy your present through a year when you see something at a good price and you wrap it and you put it in that Christmas cupboard waiting. The only two risks with that are, first of all, if the item is faulty, you only have an absolute right of return within 30 days. So there are some consumer rights issues with it. And second, generally, if they have a return right, that is not your statutory right, but it's just this shop says you can return within 30 days, you do sort of lose the opportunity to do that. But generally, I think the early preparation is good. Matty, no. Matty says Christmas shopping doesn't start until the 24th of December.

• 31:39Martin Lewis?

  It's been getting earlier and earlier each year commercially. I refuse to play ball, though you might pay more for doing that. You know, very lack of flexibility on the 24th of December, some things get discounted, but if there's something specific you want, it's generally cheaper to buy at least in the Black Friday sales when they come on, in the pre-Christmas time, or even better, buy in January sales for next Christmas.

• 32:00Speaker 04

  Joss, we save £100 every month, starting in November, so by October we have £1,200 for presents. Again, this goes back to the previous Christmas.

• 32:12Martin Lewis?

  Starting the previous year, yeah.

• 32:14Speaker 04

  A spreadsheet with names, allocated budget and websites to links where to buy presents, all shopping is done by early November. And wrapping done by early December.

• 32:25Martin Lewis?

  I love it.

• 32:25Speaker 04

  I mean, when do they, um, when do they cook the turkey, July or something like that?

• 32:31Martin Lewis?

  Samuel, mate, no, stop. Have you seen the price of a tub of celebrations? Tesco just yeeted them out and looking proud of themselves for a club card price of £5.75. My nieces and nephews are getting tangerines.

• 32:45Speaker 04

  What is this verb to yeet?

• 32:47Martin Lewis?

  I, I, I read what it said.

• 32:49Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 32:49Martin Lewis?

  I'm not getting involved in the grammar. I'm actually not sure I 100% know what it means. Do you?

• 32:53Speaker 04

  Um, well, I, I, no, I could have got vague ideas when they put stuff on display, but.

• 33:00Martin Lewis?

  Eight, five, O, five, eight. Do let us know.

• 33:01Speaker 04

  If you, if you can, oh, it means to chuck out.

• 33:05Martin Lewis?

  To chuck out. As in, I think you mean to put on the shelves, doesn't it?

• 33:09Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah. The, um, no, just throwing them out there is what to yeet means. That's one of our more millennial.

• 33:17Martin Lewis?

  What is it?

• 33:18Speaker 04

  I don't think we can, can't get into the etymology here. We'll.

• 33:22Martin Lewis?

  Can someone call Susie Dent?

• 33:23Speaker 04

  Yeah, exactly. My thoughts, it was chuck the words out of my mouth.

• 33:27Martin Lewis?

  I could try, should I try messaging her while we're on air?

• 33:29Speaker 04

  Okay, do that. Samuel, my nieces and nephews are getting tangerines. You can't buy those too early, at least. Go on, cat is the next one. Just while you're texting Susie, cat. Uh, Christmas prep goes like this. Christmas Eve, purchase the finest Indian takeaway from our local curry house. Refrigerate, Christmas Day, heat up curry, eat, nap. I, I can see the appeal in that, I must say. Uh, Laura, my mom's finished all her presents.

• 34:02Martin Lewis?

  On air, the word yeet just came up. Do you know where it came from? Hopeful's good for the BBC, Martin.

• 34:07Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 34:08Martin Lewis?

  There we go. That's to Susie. Let's see if we get something.

• 34:11Speaker 04

  We could double team her. I'll ask her the same question and see who she likes best.

• 34:16Martin Lewis?

  And Susie did manage to reply before I finished recording the podcast extra stuff. So if you hold on, I'll yeet out where yeet comes from.

• 34:25Speaker 04

  Laura, my mom's finished all her presents. She starts in the January sales.

• 34:29Martin Lewis?

  See, I like it. Maggie, the older I get, the more I dislike Christmas. With all the pressures to spend excessively and consequent waste. I bought a tree once in a pot, then planted it out. It was barely two foot tall then. It's now 50 foot tall. I've done enough. Job's done, Maggie. Well done. And of course, I will be talking at some point in the coming months about my no unnecessary Christmas present pact. Take the pressure off everybody else, relieve others from the obligation for having to buy to you. Keep it to the kids and to close family rather than spreading the net, which just leaves everybody under pressure and making it far more of a commercial celebration than it needs to be. But that isn't today. Now, that was just an idea to see how well people are getting on. And some of you'll be going, I can't believe it. And some of you have like done it all.

• 35:13Martin Lewis?

  Let's just do back to work. If you're going back to work and you need to pay for childcare or after school clubs, there are many people who are missing out on help that's available. It's called the tax free childcare scheme. I personally think it's misnamed because it's not tax free and it's not about tax. Uh, I would call it the working, working parents childcare top up. Because if you, you have to be a working parent, if both of you are in a couple, you both have to be working. Your child needs to be under the age of 12 or technically it's, uh, your child is eligible until the September after they turn 11 or the September after they turn 16, if they have a disability. You set up an account online and then for every 80p you pay in,

• 35:54Martin Lewis?

  and the account is on gov.uk, the state adds 20p up to a maximum of £500 free every three months. Uh, up to a thousand pounds free if your child has a disability. And then you can use it to pay for any Ofsted registered and regulated childcare or the equivalents to Ofsted in other UK nations. Now, the criteria, a working parent is basically someone who is earning at least minimum national wage for their age for 16 hours a week or roughly. So for somebody aged over 21, that's earning around £203 or more a week. And neither parent can earn over a hundred thousand pounds. If so, and you're paying for childcare, check that they would accept a payment from the tax free childcare company.

• 36:39Martin Lewis?

  Almost all Ofsted regulated places do. And this can include after school clubs and do your top ups and effectively get yourself a 25% discount on what you're paying for childcare. Cause the state will give you some money towards it. What you want to look up, horrible name, horrible name, doesn't work, doesn't make sense. Tax free childcare, tax free childcare. I'm now playing the mastermind.

• 36:59Speaker 04

  Oh, go on then.

• 37:08Martin Lewis?

  Welcome back to Money Mastermind, Adrian. So far you've got 21 right and 42 wrong in this three option multiple choice quiz, which means you're still sadly.

• 37:23Martin Lewis?

  No better than random chance, but if you get it right today, Adrian, you can be better than random chance. And we would all like that. Now I've been practising my accents to try and do this. I'm not sure it's going to go very well, but let's give it a go. Adrian was wistful this summer. I'm trapped in a miserable energy fix. I signed while Martin was away. The cooling off period's gone and now I'm trapped behind fiscal bars. My only hope is that Martin returns.

• 37:50Martin Lewis?

  The metal gates clanged shut, the lights dimmed. A deep soulful voice fills the room. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane. I did my Morgan Freeman so much better when I was practising. Adrian looks up, but some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. Adrian, get busy living or get busy paying. Now, Adrian, I'm back. Don't worry. I'm sure your sure thanks redemption will help you escape the cage. Once you answer this question.

• 38:28Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 38:29Martin Lewis?

  All that setup was to go for this, Adrian. Here we are.

• 38:31Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 38:32Martin Lewis?

  Legally, if you're on a fixed rate energy deal that has early exit penalties, when can the supplier no longer charge you those early exit penalties if you leave? A, never, you can be charged them until the final day of the fix. B, in the final five days, as that is the maximum time that switching should take. Or C, within the final 50 days. So can you be charged early exit penalties up until the day your fix ends? Up until five days before your fix ends, because that's the time it takes to switch a tariff to a different firm? Or up until 50 days before the end of a fix?

• 39:10Speaker 04

  Well, I mean, the truth is, I don't know. So what do I do? Say the answer, I think that what it should be or what I suspect.

• 39:17Martin Lewis?

  What would you think it would be? That's what you're trying to get the right answer. We're, we're not setting you up as a judge of how it should, does work, uh, should work. It's how it does work.

• 39:27Speaker 04

  Well, I'm just thinking, if you're in a car finance deal, you can come out within the last year, can't you? This is, that, that's sort of vaguely the same.

• 39:36Martin Lewis?

  That's a contractual deal. This is a legal arrangement. This is what did, this, what, by saying legal, it's actually licensing rules. So it's, it's off gem regulations. It's regulatory rather than legal. But, but yeah, what is the regulatory rule? Can they always, if you have an early exit penalty, can they always charge it until the day that your fix ends?

• 39:53Speaker 04

  I would hope not. And I think 50 days sounds a, a bit generous in the consumer's direction. So, I mean, I can't believe any energy company with a straight face, whether they were allowed to or not, was going to, would, would, would, you, you, you, you're cancelling something four days before the end of the contract and they charge you the exit penalty. So.

• 40:16Martin Lewis?

  So the logic there is it's five days to switch. Right. The switching rules say it must take a maximum five days. So you could apply for a switch safely. You wouldn't pay an exit penalty would be the logic of that particular one.

• 40:27Speaker 04

  Yes, I think that sounds more sensible.

• 40:30Martin Lewis?

  Are you locked in?

• 40:31Speaker 04

  I'm locked in.

• 40:33Martin Lewis?

  Okay, Adrian, you're locked in on B. You're, well, first of all, you're quite right. Never is wrong. They cannot charge you until the final day. B would make sense as I explained, because the regulations currently state if you're switching to a new company, you've got five days to switch. But I'm actually delighted to tell you, Adrian, you're wrong. The correct answer is C, within the final 50 days of a fix. From day 49 to go, unless on a fixed exit energy deal, exit fees cannot be charged. And if they are charged, then you need to get in touch with them and complain because that is a breach of regulations. Some firms also will not charge you early if you're fixing with the same company, but that's just how they operate. The actual rules state within the last 50 days.

• 41:14Martin Lewis?

  So day 49 to go, unless you cannot be charged an early exit penalty. And that's quite important for where we're going now, talking about the energy situation. Because there are many people who are on fixes. It's actually the biggest thing I'm being asked about is what they should do about it. I'm sorry you got it wrong, mate, but at least you got it wrong and the system was better than you thought.

• 41:34Speaker 04

  Absolutely restores my faith in the system. Now, just before we move on, let's have a quick blast of what Martin Lewis sounds like at the speed which he listens to stuff. And he says he's sounding slow even to himself because he's so used to listening to stuff on double speed, including himself when he listens on, listens back to podcasts. So here is what Martin Lewis sounds like at double speed.

• 42:03Speaker 04

  Okay, that, that'll do. That's enough.

• 42:05Martin Lewis?

  Actually, that sounds fine to me.

• 42:07Speaker 04

  This is going to be in my nightmares tonight.

• 42:09Martin Lewis?

  But can I just tell you, Adrian, what you haven't worked out is when I listen to this back, the podcast version, I'm going to be listening to my double speed at double speed.

• 42:18Speaker 04

  I don't understand.

• 42:19Martin Lewis?

  Well, I'm listening at double speed and you've just played it at double speed. So it'll be four times.

• 42:22Speaker 04

  Oh, I see. Yes, I see what you mean.

• 42:24Martin Lewis?

  So who knows how that's, maybe I like it. Maybe that's how I'll try and listen and get the tech to do that in the future.

• 42:28Speaker 04

  Maybe.

• 42:32Speaker 04

  So the energy price cap, 1st of October, was announced going to rise again 3.6%. So do you have anything to say on that?

• 42:40Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, so we got the announcement last week that the energy price cap that those who are on standard tariffs are on is going to rise 3.6%. Now, of course, that's on top of the 12.6% rise we had in July, which we hoped would only be for the short-term summer period. So it means totally prices from October until the end of December, if you're on the price cap, will be 17% higher in April, and it's not been higher in three years. And the current prediction for the January price cap is another 10% rise on top. And this is because the main change factor in the price cap is wholesale rates, and they're averaged over a three-month assessment period. We're already nearly three weeks through the assessment period for January, and the wholesale rates that are being assessed on are the highest they've been since the Ukraine crisis.

• 43:25Martin Lewis?

  It's spiking higher and higher as it looks less and less likely that what's going on in the Middle East will de-escalate soon.

• 43:31Speaker 04

  Sarah, I have a question. If I'm currently on Octopus Flexible Plan, should I change to a fixed tariff now?

• 43:37Martin Lewis?

  Okay, so let's just do the maths on this. Octopus Flexible Plan is Octopus's standard tariff. It's the default, I've done nothing, my fix ended and I didn't get out of it, or I've never fixed tariff with Octopus. Similar is true, it's no different from any of the other main providers. All of them tend to price at or near the cap. Octopus is a fraction less than the cap, but it's basically pricing at the price cap. So your price is going to go up by around 3.6%. Now, if I could do, I'm going to try and help with some graphics here that I can, the verbal graphics. Picture the current price cap, that's what we're going to look at, that's the price that you're paying. Now, put next to it, in a separate column, what the cheapest fix at the moment is.

• 44:21Martin Lewis?

  The cheapest fix at the moment, it's actually a two-year fix, whether you should fix for that long is another question, is around 7.5% less than the current cap. Now, that cheap fix, that's locked in. So you've got a difference, you've got a difference, it's 7% less than where you would currently pay. And that fix rate stays for the next two years. I should note, and this is quite important, depending on when you're listening, I'm hearing strong rumours that most of the cheapest fixes on the market will be gone by the end of this week. So that's by Friday, the 4th of September. They're going to be more expensive next week. So you really want, if you're going to be doing this, you want to be doing this quickly. So anyway, so currently you can save 7% with the cheapest fix over the current price cap.

• 45:02Martin Lewis?

  That price cap is rising 3.6% on the 1st of October. Now, remember, electricity VAT has gone, but that's gone from both the price cap and it's gone from your fix. So any fix would get cheaper on the 1st of October. So from the 1st of October, you've actually got the cheapest fix at the moment is 10.5% roughly cheaper than the October price cap. Then we get to January. Now, of course, that's much more crystal ball gazing, but we're already three weeks through the 13-week assessment period for January, and it's been the highest rates we've seen, which is why the prediction is another 10% rise. For the January price cap to drop below where it's not, where you wouldn't save on the

• 45:45Martin Lewis?

  current cheapest fix, we would need for the rest of the period it to be substantially cheaper than it was before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, and that conflict doesn't look like it's going away. So it is pretty unthinkable that January's price cap won't be more expensive than the cheapest fix. And far more likely, January's price cap will be significantly more expensive than the cheapest fix today. So I'm talking about today's cheap fixes, which means if you fix today on the cheapest fixes on the market, not on Octopus's fixes, because it isn't offering any particularly cheap fixes, I'm only talking about going and doing a comparison on a whole-of-market comparison site and finding yourself the cheapest fixed deal, then it is virtually unthinkable

• 46:27Martin Lewis?

  you won't be saving every month until the end of March, which is the high use period. After March, it is more difficult to know, which is why I'm slightly more worried about longer fixes than shorter fixes. But just make sure the early exit penalties aren't too big if you go for a longer fix. Then if things did radically change and get cheaper, you could always pay your 50 quid per fuel and get out of it. So the answer to your question is, should you stay on Octopus, was it Octopus's flexible?

• 46:51Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 46:52Martin Lewis?

  Did she say go to an Octopus fix or to fix?

• 46:54Speaker 04

  To a fixed tariff.

• 46:55Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, make sure it's the cheapest fix on the market. On the very, very strong balance of probabilities, you will save, I would estimate 10 to 15% on the way it's looking right now by going on to the cheapest fix on what you would pay until the end of March. If you've got a one-year fix, it wouldn't last that much longer than that anyway, and the use is lower at that point. I mean, I can't say, you might continue saving afterwards, but I can't say that. But we definitely know you'd save until the end of the year. I think it is very, very likely you'd be saving until the end of March.

• 47:25Speaker 04

  Joanne's question is very long. I don't think, it'd probably take me to the rest of the programme to read it. You might want to save that one for the podcast.

• 47:32Martin Lewis?

  Okay.

• 47:33Speaker 04

  Is that right?

• 47:34Martin Lewis?

  Yeah.

• 47:35Speaker 04

  And, so it's my simple one, my fix ends 30th of September, what's the best thing to do?

• 47:40Martin Lewis?

  Your fix ends 30th of September. So you are effectively in, you're a price cap. I mean, you're on the price cap, you may not feel it, but remember, it takes you five days to switch. Your issue is, you pretty much don't want to go to the price cap when that ends because that price cap is going to go up. The question for you is, because you have no early exit penalties, should you wait until the 30th of September or a few days before it to move off your cheaper fix, or should you go now? In your very specific case, the risk averse thing is to fix now, and I mean this week, because I'm worried with what's happening with wholesale rates, that the fix is available next week will be quite a lot more expensive than the cheapest ones available whole-of-market right now.

• 48:24Martin Lewis?

  And remember, most comparison sites aren't whole-of-market, they hide the cheapest tariffs. You can probably work out where one that doesn't is, but I can't say it. So if I were you, I would probably be fixing this week. I cannot guarantee that you might, if the Middle East conflict ended in a week's time, you would be better waiting to fix, but we don't know that's going to happen. So my phrase is quite deliberate, the risk averse thing to do with a fix ending 30th of September, in other words, it's almost over and you can't be charged early exit penalties, I think is to refix again this week.

• 48:54Speaker 04

  Okay, and Tanya, so if we fix the 10th of December, should we pay the exit fee?

• 49:00Martin Lewis?

  That, there, I think that's totally different logic. If you're having to pay the exit fee, you are almost certainly on a far, far cheaper fix than the fix is available right now, maybe even 10, 15% cheaper. We don't know where we'll be in December, you know, there is a much more realistic chance things might have sorted themselves out a bit and de-escalated by December. The fixes available right now are not that cheap. So I would probably bird in the hand, I'll do more of this in the podcast, I'd bird in the hand, stay on the fix that you're on until nearer December and keep the savings coming in until now, and cross your fingers that cheaper fixes are available, or at least cheap fixes are available then, but it is unknowable. So it's all about how risk averse you are.

• 49:37Speaker 04

  Thank you very much. I've enjoyed talking to you so much, I'm going to listen to it back on half-speed.

• 49:41Martin Lewis?

  You can do it, if they think I'm too fast, you can do it on half-speed.

• 49:45Speaker 04

  I'm sure it's fine.

• 49:48Martin Lewis?

  Hello, and welcome to the Pod Only Extras session. I've got a lot more of your energy questions that I want to continue to go through. I've also got a few more of my back-to-life, back-to-reality tips I want to give you. And I am joined by podcast producer Simon, hello, Si.

• 50:07Speaker 02

  Hi, yeah, delighted to be back.

• 50:09Martin Lewis?

  Now, I've got a reply from Susie Dent before we do anything else.

• 50:12Speaker 02

  Very exciting.

• 50:13Martin Lewis?

  Let me read it directly. I said, do you know where the word yeet came from? She says, as in to throw with force, or the exclamation of excitement. She's also in the studio, because I told her I was in the studio, but I think it's sound symbolism in both. Oxford says it's an early 21st century, origin uncertain, popularised by videos on the formal social media service Vine. So we're on Radio 5, but we can blame Radio 2 Vine anyway. Yes, I know, bracket, I know it's not the same Vine, it was just a gag. I'm not a particularly good one, but hey, I'm just riffing and reading and trying to do everything at the time. So help me, Simon, give me some energy questions.

• 50:52Speaker 02

  We have never let a bad joke get in the way of putting it on air.

• 50:55Martin Lewis?

  Correct.

• 50:56Speaker 02

  And we're not going to start that now. We've got a question, more questions on energy, the much-trailed long question from Joanne.

• 51:01Martin Lewis?

  Let's start with that one.

• 51:02Speaker 02

  Adrian didn't fancy, feel free to listen to this on Two Times.

• 51:05Martin Lewis?

  Was it really that long? I don't know.

• 51:07Speaker 02

  Well, I'll take your view on it in about 15 minutes' time when I'm finished.

• 51:10Martin Lewis?

  Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on, wait one second, stopwatch. Okay, I've got my stopwatch. Let's see how long the question takes to ask. Go.

• 51:18Speaker 02

  Joanne, I'm due to come off a fixed rate with EDF for gas and electric. I rang for advice and at the moment, they said it would be better to stick to the standard variable, as that was the best price and at the same as a fix I was coming off. All other fixes wanted a direct debit payment, £30 more a month than I'm paying, which I refused, as I am in credit with them and pay more in my standing charges than I do in my usage. They have agreed to keep my direct debit at the price I am paying now, but didn't acknowledge that they charge me more for standing charges than I pay for usage. Not the unit price, but the energy I actually use.

• 51:54Martin Lewis?

  So it's 41 seconds. It was long. I don't know it was that long. So there's two distinct things going on in here. First of all, you won't be able to get a fix with EDF that's cheaper than the price cap. Currently, it'll probably be cheaper than the October price cap. And you're coming off your fix, you're definitely going to pay more because everything is more expensive than it was if you fixed a year ago. So if you want a fix, I mean, I would be looking at going and doing a full market comparison, making sure you're going and looking at all the tariffs available on the market. As for the standing charge issue, I mean, ultimately, that's the way that it works. And it's Ofgem who set what the level of the standing charge is on the price cap. I think it should be lowered. I've talked about it, Adam Fennitem, that it should be lowered many times. There is one tariff you

• 52:35Martin Lewis?

  could look at, because what I'm getting from that, if you're saying that your unit rate total costs is less than the standing charge, I mean, that's very, very low. That means your total energy costs must be less than £600 a year, which is freakishly low. But I don't know, maybe you've got solar panels driving it or something else that's doing that. Then British Gas has a tariff that is effectively, it's a tracker tariff. So it tracks the price cap on unit rate, but it discounts your standing charges by £60 a year. It's only generally a saving for people who are very, very low users. But it sounds like you are a very, very low user, if I've understood it correctly, in which case you may want to have a look at that as well as look at the fixes that

• 53:17Martin Lewis?

  are available out there. And I am talking about fixes at the moment because that's the main decision. I mean, there are always EV tariffs and solar tariffs, and even sophisticated time of use tariffs like the ones Octopus offers. But those are more complicated decisions. And I'm going to focus, because there are so many people who are just not sure what to do at the moment, I'm going to focus on the big picture choice, which is variable versus fix, which is, and fix is the simple, easy way to save for most people who are currently on a price capped tariff.

• 53:46Speaker 02

  In terms of the thing Joanne says about ringing for advice, presumably she rang her provider for advice.

• 53:51Martin Lewis?

  Well, she rang her provider to ask. And what your provider will tell you is what is the situation available with our tariff choices?

• 53:57Speaker 02

  Yeah. So it's not, they're not going to give you sort of a sincere...

• 53:59Martin Lewis?

  They will not be comparing across the market. They'll be saying, our fix is compared to your variable.

• 54:03Speaker 02

  So that's something for everyone to bear in mind. Next up, at Skinny Man PFC, what does a price cap actually achieve? Surely every company will simply pitch their prices as close to the maximum as possible. If an energy company genuinely wants to attract customers, why wouldn't they undercut the cap by a significant margin?

• 54:21Martin Lewis?

  Well, that is virtually what does happen. And that's how the market works. Let's remember, the price cap only applies to standard variable tariffs. If a tariff is not a standard variable tariff, it can charge more or less than the price cap. And if it is a price cap tariff, the word is capped, they don't have to charge the cap. But before we had the price cap, what we used to have is, instead of having this singular announcement by the regulator Ofgem that would tell you what's going to happen to the price cap, every company would make an announcement over its tariff rates when, when prices were moving. And you'd get these, you know, British Gas says it's going to be putting them up 12%. And then they were always like sheep. That used to be my impression. Then a week later, you might have Eon or EDF saying the same thing. And gradually, they would all move in line with

• 55:06Martin Lewis?

  each other roughly. The exact changes wouldn't be the same, but there wasn't an exact price cap. So the differentials, it wasn't like, at the moment, they're all at a price cap. So when they move up, they're all moving the same. Now, you are quite right. All companies that I know of, bar one, on their standard variable tariff price at or very near the price cap. The exception is a company called Home Energy, a small provider. It only has a standard tariff, and its standard tariff is significantly cheaper than the price cap. So if you wanted to go on a variable deal, that would be a much cheaper variable deal. And arguably, its rates at the moment are slightly cheaper than the cheapest fixes. So it is the cheapest tariff available. The difficulty is, it's variable. So

• 55:49Martin Lewis?

  its rate moves, whereas with a fixed tariff, and we don't know how it will move, because it will move it based on its own competitive advantage. Whereas with a fixed tariff, you are locking in at a rate for a time period. And when I say locking in, that means your unit rates and standing charges are locked in. Obviously, you use more, you pay more. Now, the second part of the question is, why don't firms significantly undercut that? Well, they do. They do it with their fixes. And I've explained this here before, but it's important to just go through it again. The way, the structure of the market means there is a time lag issue. And you can sometimes arbitrage that, and sometimes it works against you. Arbitrage, you know, play the differences. So let's just remember this. We

• 56:28Martin Lewis?

  already know what the price cap in October will be. So the price cap in October is not based on October's wholesale rates. It's actually based, the underlying data, I mean, it has other policy costs and other things too, but the underlying changeable data was the price you'll pay in October is based on wholesale rates from the middle of May to the middle of August. The price you'll pay in January is based on wholesale rates from the middle of August to the middle of November. So the price cap is substantially time lag. On average, it's based on a price three and a half months old. You know, once you're in November, it's five and a half months old. So it isn't

• 57:08Martin Lewis?

  keeping up with the market. Now, when the market is escalating, that means your price is rising more slowly than the market. When the market is dropping, your price is dropping more slowly in the market, slow to rise, slow to fall. When you are getting a fixed rate tariff, and I can genuinely, the rate you can fix at, unless they're offering special deals, tends to change every day. They'll shave a couple of percentage points off, they'll add a couple of percentage points on, based on wholesale rates. The rate you can fix at is far more based on the wholesale rate of that day, the day, or at least, let's say, smooth it, that week that you're getting it. So right now, the reason

• 57:49Martin Lewis?

  I can say to you, I think fixes will likely be more expensive next week, is because wholesale rates have been ramping up this week, which means, a very simple look, well, they're probably not going to offer more expensive fixes next week because wholesale rates are higher at the end of the week than they were at the beginning of the week. So most of the cheap fixes will likely be pulled. I don't know that, but that's the pattern that it's based on. So what happens is, and this is this whole duality that I've got with whether you should fix, if you refix, if you're on another fix. Just to really explain this, I talked earlier, I went through in no uncertain terms, why in my view, if you are on the price cap, fixing now will save you money until at least next March and probably significantly beyond that. So that's the first logic point. And in a way,

• 58:34Martin Lewis?

  if I'm talking to people who never switch and don't want to switch, and probably talking outside the type of people who listen to this podcast, and certainly listen to this end bit, then that's the message and where I should probably stop. But there is a secondary message here. And the secondary message is, the rate you can fix at right now is very high. So just to put this in perspective, I've checked, fixes were about 7% cheaper than they are now about two months ago. And they were 15% cheaper than they are now before the latest part of the Iran-US conflict started. So if that Middle East conflict were to end, while there would still be supply issues, so I

• 59:15Martin Lewis?

  wouldn't expect prices to rocket down to where they used to be, they would certainly drop. And you would be able to get a cheaper fix. And the rate that you can get a new fix at is far more reactive to what's going on on those wholesale rates than the price cap, because the price cap is an average over a three month period and based on a time lag. So this is my problem. When people ask me, I'm on a fix, it ends next February, should I get off it now? Well, the data I have is, you will almost certainly be saving staying on your fix until February than you would getting a new fix, because new fixes are more expensive. The data I have on fixed rates after February does not exist. Many people mistakenly think that fixed rates moves with the price cap. They don't,

• 1:00:00Martin Lewis?

  they move with wholesale rates. And the price cap moves with past wholesale rates. So what will happen in next February will depend on the geopolitical situation next February. If the Middle East conflict has de-escalated, you will almost certainly be able to fix next February at a lower rate than you can fix at now. In other words, if you fix now, you would be throwing away all the savings you'd make until next February, and then it would be cheaper next February anyway otherwise. But if the Middle East were to continue to escalate, then you might make a saving after next February if you fix now, because fixes could be even more expensive then. So my whole big thing, and the reason I say bird in the hand, is it is so unknowable what the rate of

• 1:00:40Martin Lewis?

  future fixes will be in the hugely volatile world that we have right now. If I had a cheap fix until next February, I would not pay early exit penalties right now to get off that cheap fix in order to fix at a much more expensive cost. I would take the savings while I've got them. And I would cross my fingers, because it's based on a total unknowable, that things will at least be better or maybe no worse next February, and get a cheap fix then. But clearly, I can't guarantee it. Yet when I talk about the price cap, because the price cap is based on past prices, I can be much more robust in knowing what's going to happen. That wasn't what the question asked, but I hope it was an interesting explanation.

• 1:01:21Speaker 02

  Well, we actually have a question. Tanya's question kind of follows on from that.

• 1:01:23Martin Lewis?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:24Speaker 02

  So we're fixed till the 10th of December 2026. Should we pay the exit fee and lock in a new 18 months fix, which will cost an additional £252 a year compared to the current tariff and usage?

• 1:01:36Martin Lewis?

  I don't know. I may be wrong, but I wouldn't. And you can probably work that out from what I've just said, would be my answer. So I can't give you a firm because I don't know what fixes will be in December, but I would bag that saving while you've got it and cross your fingers. But I could be wrong. If you're really, really, really risk averse, if you're so, so, so scared that things could get even worse and you couldn't afford it, you might want to lock in at a fix now if you can afford it and then just close your eyes to if it would have been cheaper to wait. But my personal instinct would be I would hold on to my cheap deal as long as I've got it. So is that the last one on energy, Si?

• 1:02:12Speaker 02

  That is all we've got on energy. And that's where you wanted to get to on energy, isn't it?

• 1:02:15Martin Lewis?

  Yeah, I think we've got the most important key bits in. It is interesting how it's actually the people who are on fixes who are asking me the questions. And I suspect that's because they're the people who understand it. Whereas those who are on the standard tariff, even though that's where the urgency is, I'm not sure if you're on a standard tariff and you're on the price cap, you know, in a way, I'm not sure you're really working out what's going on. Because if you were, you probably wouldn't be on the standard tariff.

• 1:02:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's good how we got all the information we wanted to get in as if it was planned, not just yeeted together this podcast.

• 1:02:40Martin Lewis?

  We did not yeet everything together. That's right.

• 1:02:45Martin Lewis?

  I've got a few more quick back to life, back to reality tips that I'll finish with, if that's all right?

• 1:02:50Speaker 02

  Perfect.

• 1:02:50Martin Lewis?

  So first one, is your child aged 15 to 24? It's sort of school theme. Do check if they're one of 760,000 with a mature child trust fund worth an average £2,000. So all UK citizens who were born between the 1st of September 2002 up until the 2nd of January 2011 automatically got a child trust fund from the state and 250 quid was added to it. Now, how much it's worth now depends if parents added money to and whether it was an investment or savings. Investment performed better than savings, so they can be a lot bigger. Yet three quarters of a million of them are now dormant. In other words, people aren't activating them, which likely means they've lost touch with them. So if you are somebody of that age, or if your child is, it is worth doing a check.

• 1:03:35Martin Lewis?

  Parents can do it for under 18s, or the child can do it themselves if they're 16 or older. So if you're 16 to 18, the child can do it, or the parent can do it. You just go to gov.uk and use the Find My Child Trust Fund tool. It really is worth it because it's substantial money. Next tip, for people who've been abroad and they've got holiday currency left over, the buyback rates you get at Bureau de Change tend to be really, really poor, even worse than the rates when you got the money out in the first place. So just my quick tip on this, it's my finder friend solution. Find a family member or a colleague who's going to go where you went and cut out the middleman. You can even play them this for the dispute. Go online and check the spot FX rate. So you'll be able to get that from

• 1:04:20Martin Lewis?

  someone like xe.com. Whatever that spot FX rate is, that's the rate that you two exchange it at. That way, you'll get a far, far better rate than the buyback rate at Bureau de Change, and they will get a better rate than they could get from a Bureau de Change agency if they went there, because we have cut out the middleman. And I think, Simon, that's probably a good way to end. Let's cut out the middleman. I'm not quite sure whether that's me or you.

• 1:04:46Speaker 02

  I am the most, and the most expendable. Yeah, yeah.

• 1:04:49Martin Lewis?

  Sorry. Yeah.

• 1:04:49Speaker 02

  In the spirit of efficiencies, I'll get me coat.

• 1:04:52Martin Lewis?

  All right. Thanks for listening, everybody. Do get in touch at [email protected] if you've got any questions. And that's specifically because we have the Question Time podcast, where you can ask me questions on anything and everything. So even if it doesn't fit into one of these big topics podcasts, just send it to Question Time and then Simon's colleague, podcast producer, Matt, may well select it.

• 1:05:17Martin Lewis?

  That's it for this week. We tend to put out a new episode every Thursday and Monday. That's our Question Time podcast, where you can ask me absolutely anything and everything. If you enjoyed today's show, please tell your friends you've been listening to the Martin Lewis podcast. And why not subscribe and even leave us a review? Then your pockets will be pleased with you and we will be too. And if you haven't enjoyed it, and you've been listening this long, na, na, na, na, na, it was your own choice, you could have gone. It's not my problem.

• 1:06:00Speaker 05

  Martin Lewis is the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com. But of course, other consumer and price comparison websites are available. You can get in touch with Martin's podcast production team by emailing [email protected]. The offers and rates mentioned in the podcast are correct at the time of recording. However, if you are listening on demand, it's worth double checking as details can date. Remember to subscribe on BBC Sounds and leave us a review however you listen.

• 1:06:36Speaker 00

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• 1:07:46Speaker 05

  This week on The Interface, millions of kids have grown up on camera with their childhoods turned into content. There's a new law in California that gives influencers the right to be forgotten, and it could impact adults, too.

• 1:07:57Speaker 02

  And an attack on Russian data centres started a rumour that all the evil disinformation bots had been deleted from the internet. But the truth might actually be a lot scarier.

• 1:08:08Speaker 05

  For our take, join me, Jess Maddox.

• 1:08:11Speaker 02

  And me, Thomas Germain, for The Interface.

• 1:08:13Speaker 05

  Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.