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Sam Barker & Aaron Morris

Martin Lewis gives his verdict on Liz Truss' leaked energy price freeze plan

Martin Lewis this week said that he 'would welcome' Government plans to freeze energy bills to prevent them rising further - but urged officials for more help for those on fixed-rate tariffs.

New Prime Minister Liz Truss is said to be considering a freeze on energy bill prices to deal with the cost of living and although nothing has been set in stone, Truss could freeze bills at around £2,500 per household, according to The Times.

It is estimated that the big freeze will in-turn cost somewhere in the region of £90billion and £130billion according to experts.

Read more: Martin Lewis grills OVO energy boss live on TV over 'fat cat making profit'

The Mirror reports that financial guru Martin said that although any freezing of energy prices will be a big help going forward, he admitted more targeted and catered help may be required.

Martin took to Twitter to give what he called 'my rough provisional analysis of what may be coming. "Freezing the price cap now would help substantially," he said.

He added that freezing the price cap at its current level would also come as a 'sigh of relief for many' but revealed that the cost of the scheme would need to be paid back, and might not give enough help to those struggling the most.

He added: "The big benefit, and problem, of this is (almost) everyone gets it. And those who gain the most from it in cash terms will be those with the highest bills (many, though not all, will be at higher income levels), so clearly it isn't targeted at helping those who need it most."

Martin also pointed out that many energy users may have locked in to fixed rate deals - and may not benefit from the price cap freezing. This price cap is due to rise to £3,549 in October.

Because of this, up to 15 per cent of households have taken out fixed rate deals higher than the current price cap, thinking it would save them money in the long run. Martin continued: "So what happens? Will they automatically be put on the price freeze? If they are not automatically moved, will they be allowed to switch to the price freeze?"

He later added on Twitter: "Have you applied to fix your energy bills in the last 14 days? If so you're within the cooling off period. As there are rumoured big changes coming [on Thursday], be prepared to cancel if you still can."

The MoneySavingExpert boss also noted that even freezing at the current price cap still means really high bills.

He said: "We're freezing at the current level, but that is already high. If we freeze now, we have already seen the price cap rise 50 per cent, so we're freezing at a high level (and higher than some other countries have)."

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