Energy suppliers cannot take more money out of people's benefit payments to pay for rising gas and electricity bills, under a little-known rule.
The Government has put a stop on companies increasing the amount that can be charged to families who receive state financial support. The rule is in place until April 2023 and means people on benefits are immune from the rises that came in after the previous energy cap increased and will also be protected from the effect of the energy cap going up again in October and January.
It comes as Ofgem found "weaknesses" in the way some providers are setting direct debits. The regulator discovered that average direct debit levels for Standard Variable Tariff (SVT) customers had increased by 62% in the two months ahead of the price cap increase on April 1, with 8% of those customers seeing their debits double.
