Martin Lewis sends message to Octopus Energy customers and says 'these are good'

Advice issued to households after energy bills went up from the start of October

Martin Lewis has told Octopus Energy customers about ways they may be able to save money following increases to energy bills. Typical households will now pay £149 more a year for gas and electricity following an increase to the Energy Price Cap.

Experts are now telling households how they could save money by switching tariffs. Mr Lewis has highlighted a couple of Octopus tariffs which could leave customers better off.

But he said it was important they check full details and consider what is right for them as prices can be "volatile". He added people on the tariffs have generally been better off.

READ MORE: British Gas, Octopus, Eon, EDF and OVO customers to get money in bank accounts for keeping heating off

Get our best money saving tips and hacks by signing up to our newsletter

He said in his latest newsletter: "Octopus rapid price-change tariffs. Highly volatile but with potentially the biggest savings, these are good for sophisticated energy users.

"Octopus has two innovative tariffs where rates change rapidly. Many on them can save substantially, but as they move with wholesale rates, you need to understand they can work substantially against you too.

"These tariffs are only available to existing Octopus customers, but you could always switch to the Octopus standard tariff then once on it, opt for one of these (providing it hasn't changed things then). Tracker tariff: Price changes daily.

"Its Tracker tariff is available for gas and elec and has been 31% cheaper than the Price Cap on average over the last year. Though in recent weeks, it's been hovering around the Price Cap (ie, higher than cheap fixes), so you have to be able to cope with the volatility."

Turning to another option, he continued: "Agile tariff: Elec-only price changes every 30mins. Its Agile tariff's rates change half-hourly, based on wholesale prices - good for those who can shift their usage nimbly to take advantage of super-cheap times.

"For example, if you've got storage heaters you can put on overnight, or other heavy use (electric vehicle charging) that you can shift to cheaper times. With this tariff, occasionally some half hours go so cheap you get paid to use it! Though, equally, in peak times it can be costly."