More than a million British Gas customers have had their rates reduced after a so-called 'prepayment penalty' was removed. The change means pre-payment meter customers will pay the same for gas as those who pay by direct debit - they had been paying more.
It will save those customers an average of around £59 on their energy bill a year after taking effect on April 1. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had already announced in his Spring Budget last month that the prepayment penalty will end from July - but British Gas brought the price cut forward by three months.
The move to bring gas prices for prepayment customers in line with direct debit rates will lower bills for around 4.5 million households across the UK. But the change won't affect electricity-only prepay customers as they are currently charged slightly less than those on direct debit on average, according to MoneySavingExpert.
