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British TV. Stream with a free

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trial at britbox.com. Hello,

1:18

I'm Martin Lewis and this is the

1:20

cunningly named The Martin Lewis Podcast. I

1:22

do wonder what that's going to be

1:25

about. Hmm. Now, usually much of

1:27

it comes from my BBC Radio 5

1:29

live show with Nihal Arthur-Nyaka. But don't

1:31

worry, there's bonus money-saving tips just for

1:33

you lucky, lucky podcast listeners. In

1:36

today's pod, coming on

1:38

Friday, 7am, the new energy

1:40

price cap for April will

1:42

be announced. And it's predicted

1:44

it's going to drop. Hallelujah.

1:46

15% good. Not brilliant, but

1:48

good news at least. However, there are

1:50

ways you can pay even less for

1:53

your energy and I'll talk you through

1:55

how. Then, in a slight

1:57

change to our normal topics, we'll have

1:59

a... about British

2:01

Railways. Then

2:04

we've got a brief tell us on how do

2:06

you ask for a pay rise and

2:08

there's free money available up to 200 quid

2:10

is back for switching bank accounts and I've

2:13

got a whole host more for you. Now

2:15

I need to tell you the five live

2:17

show was repeatedly understandably interrupted by a parliamentary

2:20

debate on the situation in the Middle East.

2:23

So what we should all listen

2:25

for now and I'm intrigued is

2:27

to see how well podcast producer

2:29

Michael manages to stitch it all

2:31

together. Play the theme tune Michael.

2:36

Martin Lewis is

2:39

here. It's

2:41

Wednesday and

2:43

Martin firstly

2:46

a change

2:49

in diet. What are you

3:00

eating for lunch? Oh let's not do my

3:02

bad. No no no no no no no

3:04

because this looks totally different to

3:06

anything I've ever seen you eat before. It's

3:08

an it's an assayi bowl. It's an eye

3:11

beat absolutely running. I needed some sugar. It's

3:13

an assayi bowl. No carbs. Fine we'll move

3:15

on. Good. But I just wanted to know

3:17

because it looked it looked far more exotic

3:20

than what I usually see you with. Okay

3:22

first things first Martin you've been riding the

3:24

rails recently and I believe wasn't the smoothest

3:26

of journeys looking at your social media posts.

3:28

Tell me more. No and the post I

3:30

did about it has gone viral and been

3:32

covered in lots of newspapers. I mean it

3:34

was a pretty degrading journey. I had

3:37

a live special in

3:39

my TV show in Newcastle last night so

3:41

I went up on Monday. I had a

3:43

train booked. I had a ticket booked. ITV

3:45

I'd carry it very kindly put me in first class as

3:47

it happens not that that's particularly relevant to what happened. So

3:50

I Arrived at the station half an hour beforehand

3:52

to find that the train doesn't exist. So Let

3:54

me take you through step by step. What happened.

3:57

I arrived. There's no train listed. It's not been

3:59

cancelled. It's not. The on the board I'm thinking

4:01

i don't understand that got time ticket booked on

4:03

a train so I might take minds the booking

4:05

office to ask for information and they tell me

4:08

while there are so many people getting on the

4:10

train be just taken the informational which first what

4:12

is the most ridiculous solution to take the information?

4:14

say it's full, say it's cancel but don't not

4:16

list the trade said that you're in panic when

4:19

you arrive so then I work out the i'm

4:21

gonna go upstairs myself. I know what the platforms

4:23

are. I go in, there's an enormous kid I

4:25

managed to get on the train I was booked

4:27

on. I know other people didn't manage to go.

4:30

On the trains. I know this because I've got

4:32

to have caught a large crew who were all

4:34

traveling on different trains during the dice on some

4:36

people simply didn't gotten the trying cyber books on.

4:38

We go on to the train I'm I'm building

4:40

up to the real the new monster. This. I

4:44

managed to find a seat I was one

4:46

of he was I'm I'm I'm sorry

4:48

that declassified The trains know first has no

4:50

second plus there's no reservations. The train is

4:53

double booked. literally every standing spaces for

4:55

every space in mid card. Deceitful people. the

4:57

sitting on the floors people are moving

4:59

all over the place. all the seats a

5:01

full. It's absolutely rammed. I am in

5:03

coach A. it goes up to catch case

5:06

I ask the one time we saw some

5:08

I'm from the try not sure the

5:10

trying stuff we're fine and what it wasn't

5:12

that's I say. And. Ah

5:15

the the blue in my cards wasn't working.

5:17

I asked whether they restored it was. he

5:19

said i'm afraid there is only one working

5:21

toward it on the train and to with

5:23

Coach Jay So let's see pictures as we

5:26

have a train with five hundred people or

5:28

the corridors Europe's with each and the into

5:30

seating is absolutely jams and they only have

5:32

one working towards him for what I guess

5:35

would be five hundred people. Now thankfully I

5:37

do not have disabilities. If I did have

5:39

disabilities, it would have been functionally impossible for

5:41

me to get to the toilet. I then

5:43

had to walk down. the train carriage apologizing

5:46

to about two hundred people as i walk

5:48

through took about twenty minutes to get

5:50

to the lives of course because it's me

5:52

people are thanks hope you gotta do

5:54

something about this molson slope you gotta

5:56

tell them about this so i promise people

5:59

i would want for having this conversation.

6:01

One of the reasons I put it on social

6:03

media. I get to the loo and then I

6:05

come back. We have a train on a two

6:07

and a half hour journey with only one working

6:10

toilet for 500 people who

6:12

are jammed in like sardines. The only

6:14

ironic pick of all of this now,

6:17

I was sat in the first class carriage, not that it was a

6:19

first class carriage, and then the lady came

6:21

out who was serving on the train and obviously

6:23

there's no that the service you get in first

6:25

class isn't happening and she said well all I

6:27

can offer you is this. Guess what we were

6:29

given? Oh

6:32

I don't know go on. We're

6:34

on a large train with one working

6:36

toilet for 500 people and we're given

6:38

bottles of water. I'm thinking the one

6:40

thing I'm not going to do on

6:42

this journey is a bottle of water.

6:45

I mean it was absolutely frustrating, ludicrous

6:47

degrading. I posted at the time that

6:49

this was like something out of the

6:51

19th century. After some people got in

6:54

touch with me about 19th century train

6:56

system I then apologized to the 19th

6:58

century because that often was clean and

7:00

efficient and probably quicker. And what was

7:02

interesting is when I put this on social

7:04

media, this

7:08

wave of people just recounting similar

7:10

experiences across the network, there were

7:13

tourists on that train, the embarrassment

7:15

for our country. It's

7:18

absolutely ridiculous. Not an isolated case. And it's something

7:20

in too because of LNR, one of the other

7:22

rail networks trains were cancelled and so people were

7:25

meant to go on bus services but they went

7:27

on the train. So what that was known about

7:30

and what they have still not and they replied to me, you've

7:32

probably got the reply they did on Twitter because you'll need to

7:34

do a write-up reply when I do this on the East Midlands

7:36

train that I was on. In that

7:38

write-up response which I'm sure you're going to read

7:40

out, you tell me where there

7:43

is any mention of why in

7:45

that number of carriages only one

7:48

toilet worked. I suspect that breaches the Equality

7:50

Act for disabled people because it would be

7:52

functionally impossible for somebody in a wheelchair to

7:55

have gone to the toilet on a two

7:57

and a half hour journey. Well,

8:00

the East Midlands response to you was, Hi

8:02

Martin, we are really sorry about your experience

8:04

this afternoon. Vital infrastructure upgrades on the East

8:07

Coast main line have resulted in a very

8:09

large number of customers trying to travel with

8:11

us rather than using the available rail replacement

8:14

bus connections. We have strengthened services as much

8:16

as possible and increased the number of staff

8:18

to help manage this situation. But clearly it

8:20

has not worked as well as we would

8:23

have liked and we will work hard with

8:25

the wider industry to learn from this. Overcrowding

8:27

I get. Yeah, yeah. But why only one?

8:31

I mean, exactly that. What I then put on

8:33

Twitter, and I'll be careful how I phrase this,

8:35

because I mean, I think it was 4.2

8:37

million views. It was absolutely enormous

8:39

and thousands of responses and

8:42

20,000 likes and it was just swamping.

8:44

It was huge. And I'd done it because people

8:47

on the train had asked me to say something

8:49

about it. You know, I was fine. I had

8:51

a seat. I got to the loo. I got

8:53

back. But it was a dehumanizing experience. I'm stepping

8:55

over people, you know, and I'm feeling terrible. I'm

8:58

apologizing, trying to have a laugh and a joke

9:00

as I do it. It's not real. But the

9:03

wealth of responses that came back. So the point

9:05

I made, and I'm very

9:07

careful about politics, but

9:10

the point I have made is quite simple. If

9:13

you are affected by this, we

9:15

have an election coming. And when

9:17

a candidate knocks on your door, ask

9:20

them what they are going to do

9:22

about our infrastructure problems and

9:25

specifically our rail travel problems. That's

9:27

if everybody makes it a question

9:29

for whom it's a problem for,

9:32

then it becomes an electoral issue.

9:34

And maybe, you know,

9:37

not a very firm, but maybe there

9:39

will actually be something being done about it. Let's

9:43

hope so. You only have to,

9:45

as I travel regularly from London to

9:47

Manchester, Manchester to London, Martin, there only

9:49

has to be one or two trains

9:51

cancelled. And then what happened,

9:53

which is not an irregular experience, I think, for

9:55

a lot of people to do that regularly. And

9:58

then suddenly they are not. announced the platform

10:00

at Houston and it's like the last

10:03

helicopter out of Saigon trying to get

10:05

out of there and regularly people are

10:07

sitting everywhere and it's

10:09

not something that

10:12

people who travel regularly long

10:14

distances on the rail network will be

10:16

surprised by. I know that people aren't surprised about it and

10:19

I don't want to say oh it happened to me so

10:21

and I've been very careful in my phrasing of how I've

10:23

done this not to say oh it happened to me so

10:25

it's awful. I did

10:27

it because so many people on that train

10:29

just kept saying come on you know and

10:32

what they said was you're in a position

10:34

of power what you know do something no

10:36

pun intended but use your platform. Yeah

10:40

exactly so and that's what I've tried to do

10:42

and clearly it was I mean certainly on that

10:44

train it wasn't a nice laced incident it was

10:46

happening the day before when colleagues going for the

10:48

show happened the day before and you do feel

10:51

like this was

10:53

planned works so planned works

10:55

means previous awareness so but I

10:57

accept there's going to be overcrowding and business because

10:59

there's a line down I accept all of that

11:01

I just it was you know

11:03

and the staff were virtually bunkered in I spoke

11:06

to a couple of them you know they get

11:08

abuse of course they do and not from me

11:10

I know it's no the people

11:12

sitting in the little catering

11:14

selling the Chris and Chris and drinks it's

11:16

not their fault and it's not the conductor's

11:18

fault neither this is a systemic structural problem

11:21

of the infrastructure of our railways the

11:23

management level and the fact clearly

11:25

apparently some people have told me they're waiting for the

11:27

train stocks to be upgraded well fix the blooming toilets

11:29

while you do I mean there's

11:32

these necessities on a long long haul

11:34

trip it's just I'm sure

11:36

there are many people out there with very similar

11:38

experiences and we've had it

11:40

it's not good enough and actually we

11:43

do need to shout and rant about it it's

11:46

something out of the 19th century something out of

11:48

the developing world 100 years ago

11:50

and you go abroad and you tend

11:53

to get swift and more you know

11:55

efficient clean trains and then here

11:57

we are and we're basically going on a It's

12:00

interesting, I think it was 1956 they got

12:02

rid of the third class tickets, but

12:05

that's certainly what I was travelling on

12:07

and what 500 other people were travelling on the other

12:09

day was third class travels. Let's

12:13

get into energy Martin before I interrupt you again

12:15

and we've also got Tom in Brighton that we

12:17

want to speak to as well who's got in

12:19

contact with us on this. It's Ian energy, why

12:21

don't you do him first? Yeah, that's what I

12:23

thought would be a better idea. Let's speak to

12:25

Tom first. Tom, good afternoon. Good

12:28

afternoon guys. What would you like to ask Martin?

12:31

Hi there Martin. So

12:34

my supplier is offering me a fixed

12:36

rate now. They used my last bill

12:38

back in January to show the savings

12:41

that I could be making. Should

12:43

I go for it or am I better

12:45

off on the standard variable rate at the moment?

12:48

Who's your supplier? British guys.

12:52

Are they offering you their price promise

12:54

Tarrif? That is exactly what

12:56

they're offering me. Okay, that's

12:58

not a bad deal. But whether you should

13:00

go for it or not is

13:02

a more complicated question. Now Nihal,

13:04

what I would like to do is

13:07

try and paint a graph on the radio.

13:10

Do we know am I going to have time to do that

13:12

before I'm stopped or not because it needs to sort of be

13:15

done in one flow? Mate, this is how long is a piece

13:17

of wind? Alright, well let's go for it shall we? Okay, so

13:19

this is what I want everybody to understand. The

13:22

vast majority of people, including you, are

13:25

on the price capped Tarrif.

13:27

That is the energy company's standard tariff

13:29

that is capped by the regulator. Now

13:31

while it's called a cap, it's in

13:33

reality they're all at the maximum. So

13:36

you pay whatever the cap is. That

13:38

cap changes every three months. It applies

13:40

to over 80% of homes in England,

13:42

Scotland, Wales. Only those who

13:44

are on a fixed or maybe an

13:46

EV special tariff are not on a

13:48

price capped Tarrif. That

13:50

moves every three months. The next month

13:52

is on the 1st of April, but the assessment

13:54

period for the 1st of April Was

13:57

the middle of November to the middle of

13:59

February. The average of wholesale rights

14:01

as the primary functions that dictates

14:04

what the price cap will be

14:06

not the sole function the primary

14:08

function we've now pissy assessment period

14:10

would going to get The announcement

14:13

of the new price kept coming

14:15

at seven o'clock on Friday morning

14:17

now because it's based mainly on

14:19

a published algorithm on on known

14:22

underlying data. Analysts.

14:24

Can calculate to quite a degree of accuracy

14:26

what is going to be announced of them.

14:28

Just have some wriggle room round the edges

14:30

so it's never going to be totally accurate,

14:32

but I would think I'm gonna be within

14:34

a percent or two when I tell you

14:36

what's coming in April and the prediction is.

14:39

On. The first of April. The

14:42

energy price cap will drop. Sixteen.

14:45

Percent said you pay one hundred pounds

14:47

now and every hundred pounds of energy

14:50

use now it will cost you eighty

14:52

five pounds is that predicts nice right?

14:54

on the first of April the next

14:56

move and it's important today when you're

14:58

fixing what's coming is on the first

15:01

of July. The current predicts him for

15:03

that, which is far less certain because

15:05

it's further out on with in that

15:07

assessment period is a drop of ten

15:10

percent again. so we start for every

15:12

hundred pounds. Now you move to eighty

15:14

five pounds. And then on

15:16

the first of July you move

15:18

to seventy six pounds. On

15:21

the first of October and we're

15:23

getting into crystal ball territory. The

15:25

prediction is it's going up. For.

15:28

Percent. Now while it's going up, that's based

15:30

on the lower Sega said that would take

15:32

us to eighty pounds. Still, twenty pounds per

15:34

one hundred cheaper than we have now. There

15:37

is no predictions for the January period so

15:39

I will have to a seems what I'm

15:41

about to tell you that it will stay

15:43

the same as October. When you look at

15:45

all that over the next twelve months including

15:48

the next six or seven weeks it be

15:50

playing on the current price cap. On

15:53

average, you would pay nineteen percent

15:56

less than the current price cap.

15:58

Bought. It. factor in seasonal

16:01

usage patterns, i.e. we use more in

16:03

winter so the next six weeks I

16:05

actually have some stronger weighting than the

16:08

stronger weighting of the October period, then

16:11

if those predictions are correct and some of it's

16:13

crystal ball gazing, you will pay 17%

16:17

less than the current price cap

16:20

over the next 12 months. Did

16:22

you get that? Tom?

16:24

Yes I did. Okay Tom, so that's

16:27

the figure to have in your head

16:29

but remember crystal ball. Imagine everybody a

16:31

big crystal ball and in the middle

16:33

it's flashing 17% cheaper. So you are

16:35

talking to me about

16:40

the British Gas Price Promise. That is

16:42

a fix locked in until June next

16:44

year that is currently 12%

16:47

cheaper on average and new customers as

16:49

well as existing customers can get it

16:52

than current prices. Well compared to 17%

16:54

that isn't as good but the

16:57

price promise says that from the 1st

16:59

of April it will be one pound

17:01

cheaper than the April price cap. So

17:03

the same price as the April price

17:05

cap, the one pound, neither him nor

17:07

tiller. So effectively from

17:09

the 1st of April it looks like

17:11

if the predictions are right you'll be paying 15%

17:15

less than currently and you will pay that for over

17:17

a year. Now based

17:20

on absolute, you

17:22

know, the calculations right now you would be

17:25

better off to stick on the price cap

17:27

but we shouldn't discount the value of price

17:29

certainty that you could lock in and

17:31

based on you're not going to lose

17:34

that much if current predictions are right from locking in

17:36

and you get peace of mind in case things are

17:38

to move against and where the prices go up. The

17:41

only problem is if things got much cheaper and you did

17:43

want to leave it there are early exit penalties of 75

17:45

pounds of fuel. So you sort

17:47

of get that correlation, you've got the prediction

17:49

of 17% cheaper or the British

17:51

gas fix you're being told which is the cheapest

17:53

fix on the market if we get that April

17:56

price move is 15% cheaper

17:58

locked in. So let me ask you Tom,

18:01

which sounds better for you? Do you want to

18:03

ride the market which looks like it might be

18:05

cheaper or do you value the price certainty that

18:07

you're willing to pay a little bit, not too

18:09

much more, to go with the price certainty? It's

18:15

a tough question, isn't it? You're flirting with

18:17

site now at this point. You

18:20

are. And one of them is a risk

18:22

averse option. I mean, I don't believe there's

18:24

a right or wrong here. I think

18:26

if you're the type of person who's going, I just can't

18:28

afford to pay any more of my energy bills, it would

18:30

cripple me. I think it's quite sensible

18:33

to look at locking in on the British

18:35

Gas Price Promise. The one competitor

18:37

I'd mention out there, which is also for new

18:39

and existing customers, is Outfox the market's $6.24, $4.0.

18:45

That is a 14% cheaper fix. Remember,

18:47

British Gas is 12% but

18:49

will probably go to 15% cheaper in April.

18:51

The Outfox market is 14% cheaper,

18:53

but its advantage is it doesn't have early

18:55

exit penalties. So if the market were to

18:58

get much, much cheaper and you wanted to

19:00

ditch, you could ditch that quite easily. So

19:03

you can see the advantage of that, even though

19:05

it'll probably be a little bit more expensive. You

19:08

follow me so far, Tom? Because I've got

19:10

a wobbler I want to throw you now. Okay.

19:12

Go on. Here's your wobbler. There's

19:15

another tariff I'd like to mention and

19:17

there's some more complex tasks. It's

19:19

called the Eon Next Pledge. It

19:23

is also for new and existing

19:25

customers on direct debit. Now

19:28

what the Eon Next Pledge does, it pledges

19:30

over the next year to be roughly

19:32

3% cheaper than the price

19:34

cap. So when the price cap drops 15%, it

19:37

will drop 15%. If the price cap

19:39

drops 10% again, it'll drop another 10%. If it goes back

19:41

up 4%, it'll rise

19:45

4%. So it tracks the

19:47

price cap but 3% cheaper. So

19:49

for anyone who wants to stay on the price cap, as

19:51

long as you're happy with Eon and you've either got a

19:54

smart meter or you're happy to have one and you're on

19:56

direct debit, Well, that's a no-brainer because it's

19:58

the price cap minus 3%. So

20:01

arguably. You could

20:03

say if you're willing to move

20:05

from to from the real choice

20:07

is between the a on the

20:09

next pledge. Which. Is a

20:11

twenty percent cheaper based on current predictions

20:13

over the next year as it's seventeen

20:15

percent plus the three percent, or the

20:17

British Gas six which is probably sixteen

20:19

percent latino. The got outfox a market,

20:21

No exit penalty. Fix it fourteen percent

20:23

cheaper do you see why? And using

20:25

a on pledge because it spicy the

20:27

price cap, but super. Boss.

20:30

Said know: where are you If we say there's

20:32

a five percent gap between those two terrorists. British.

20:35

Gas price promise. And.

20:38

Which gives you the certainty or the a

20:41

on next pledge which is variable but cheap

20:43

of the price cap. Does that shift the

20:45

da little. Yeah. It does.

20:48

Not a lie, does. So.

20:50

You would get you get to the next pledged switch. It. Up.

20:53

Yeah it's a it's is tense and

20:55

is just know that that extra amount

20:57

of money a month why I could

20:59

potentially save and it's if is a

21:01

big difference. Month a month it is

21:04

a certainly know if you think about

21:06

it When we get to April. We

21:08

know that the British gas price promises gonna

21:10

be one pound cheaper than the April cap,

21:13

whereas a on Next pledges gonna be three

21:15

percent cheaper. Than. The April Cup. So.

21:19

You'd certainly there is a definite

21:21

saving from April. After

21:23

that is where it gets more difficult.

21:25

If the current predictions are right now,

21:27

we gotta remember the geopolitics. Ukraine.

21:30

The Middle East. All of these things

21:32

can have an impasse. All. of

21:35

these things could see thing switch the

21:37

other way equally we've seen radical fools

21:39

and wholesale prices of energy and things

21:41

could get even cheaper and the bearable

21:43

a laptop allows you to take hold

21:45

of that's a just but for everybody

21:47

listening i would be really interested in

21:49

your views do get in touch and

21:51

say which you'd put forward you plumped

21:53

for riding the market the cheapest variables

21:55

or his price certainty more important for

21:57

you said that you're willing to pay

22:00

what looks like it would be a few percentage

22:02

points more in order for you

22:05

to know I know exactly what I'm going to

22:07

pay, I have peace of mind, I have budgeting

22:09

certainty. I'd like to

22:11

know out there, you know, sort of a radio poll

22:13

if you like, get in touch with us and let

22:15

us know which works for you. I do want to

22:18

very much ask you about something that a number of

22:20

people I've seen on social media

22:22

discussing. And poll tax

22:24

is going up right now for those people

22:26

of a certain age they'll think of poll

22:28

tax as something that induced riots and potentially

22:31

brought down a conservative government, but you're not

22:33

talking about that are you? No, I call

22:35

the standing charges on energy bills a poll

22:37

tax. And the reason I do that

22:39

is everybody, if you've got a

22:41

gas and electricity meter, you're paying £300 a

22:44

year for the facility of having a meter even if

22:46

you use nothing. Now that disproportionately

22:48

hits those who are lower users. I

22:51

mean, there are there are many elderly people who

22:53

are only used gas for heating during the winter,

22:55

but they're paying constantly for just having that facility

22:57

in the summer. I believe it

23:00

is a moral hazard having standard charges that

23:02

are this high, because what it does is

23:04

it disincentivise is lower users from cutting their

23:06

bills because they just can't make the savings.

23:09

Now, regular listeners will know I've

23:11

lobbied hard on this. I've spoken to

23:14

two energy secretaries. I've spoken to the

23:17

chancellor. I've written submissions to off

23:19

gem on it. Off gem is

23:21

finally reviewing it. Now, just

23:24

to tell you that the Cornwall insight predictions are

23:26

that come the 1st of April, while

23:29

the unit rates will go down, the standing charge

23:32

will go up again. That is

23:34

if things follow the pattern that they have always followed

23:36

in the past. Whether off gem

23:38

will make an announcement on standing charges on Friday

23:40

after its consultation, I would hope to see, but

23:42

I don't think it is likely. So

23:45

I think we probably will see

23:47

staggeringly, even though prices are coming

23:49

down 15%, standing charges

23:51

going up, not very, very much, you

23:53

know, a few

23:56

percent, but still not coming down.

23:58

Now, the problem with the. standing

24:00

charge from a moral

24:02

perspective, and I absolutely accept this, is

24:05

when I speak to people at Citizens Advice, an

24:07

organisation I'm very close with and we do a

24:10

lot of work together, they worry

24:12

about bringing the standing charge down. Because what

24:14

we have to remember is ultimately that price

24:16

has to go somewhere. So if you take

24:18

it off the standing charge, you take it

24:20

off the daily charge, then you put it

24:22

on the unit cost, the cost per kilowatt

24:24

hour, the cost per unit of energy you

24:26

use, and you would put that up. And

24:28

there and concern is for some vulnerable, higher

24:30

users who may have medical reasons that

24:32

they need to use more energy than

24:34

average, putting the price on the unit

24:37

cost would disproportionately hit them. And

24:39

the run of this is a

24:41

classic example of disjoint government and

24:43

disjoint policymaking, because the

24:45

price cap is dictated

24:48

by the regulator off-gen. And

24:50

I know it is concerned about lowering

24:53

the standing charges too, because

24:56

of the impact on a few vulnerable,

24:58

higher users. The obvious solution is you

25:00

lower the standing charge, get rid of

25:02

the moral hazard, and then you provide

25:04

a special specific hope for

25:06

those vulnerable, high users. But that is not

25:09

something in the regulator's purview, that is in

25:11

the government's purview. So you would have to

25:13

have a joined up decision. Now those people

25:15

who've been studying government for the last 20

25:17

or 30 years know that joined

25:19

up decisions happen very rarely. So we

25:21

have to ask, the regulator has to

25:23

look at this in isolation of a

25:25

separate policy that says we protect vulnerable users.

25:28

So people want to know why nothing happens.

25:30

It's because we simply don't have a joined

25:32

up scenario for doing the right thing and

25:34

being able to look after the few who

25:37

would be badly hurt from standing charges going

25:39

up to help the many who would gain,

25:41

because it comes in an entirely different regulatory

25:43

purview. And we simply don't look at it.

25:46

And you know, I've talked about this so

25:48

much, I know it drives so many people

25:51

mad, but I do have some

25:53

sympathy with the reason it hasn't gone

25:55

down. And we just need to

25:57

have joined up energy policy to make it work

25:59

the entire system. system is clearly broken. There's very

26:01

little competition in the

26:04

market. We don't benefit from it. We have

26:06

high standing charges. We have 40% of smart

26:08

meters not working. And yet we're still encouraging

26:10

a rollout for more even though most people

26:12

don't want them because they hear so many

26:14

bad stories. I mean, energy policy is

26:17

just, well, it's broken. It's

26:23

broken. If only

26:25

any of us could say that that's

26:27

an outlier in terms of systems that

26:29

are broken in this country, considering we

26:31

had just had a conversation about the

26:33

train system, Martin. Actually, somebody came

26:36

into my social media straight away to

26:38

say, Martin Lewis sits at a train

26:40

service and sticks up for commuters. Yes,

26:42

well done, Martin. That's Kevin in Hereford

26:44

that messaged in just about that. We've

26:46

got a text, Martin. I know you

26:48

still have a few things you want

26:50

to mention, but this one from Nim.

26:52

So I'm getting an EV car in

26:54

March electric vehicle. Do I wait until

26:56

April to get a fixed rate

26:58

tariff to benefit from the approximate

27:00

15% price hike? I'm

27:02

with Eon. So

27:05

just to say, there's two separate issues there.

27:07

The first thing to say is people always

27:09

say, should I wait to fix because the

27:11

price cap moves. The price cap only affects

27:13

standard variable tariffs. It does not affect fixed

27:16

tariffs. Now, of course, the price

27:18

cap moving affects the comparison between the rate you're

27:20

going to fix that and

27:22

the variable rate. But whether you

27:24

should fix or not, the fixing

27:26

does not change when the price cap changes.

27:29

Fixing changes when the rate that

27:31

they're offering fixes that changes. And we don't know

27:33

that, but whether they'll get cheaper than they

27:35

are right now, we simply don't know. Having

27:37

said all that, you're not on an EV. What I

27:40

would do in your case, I'd wait for the price

27:42

cap to drop. Then once you get your EV and

27:44

you see the usage of your EV and how much

27:46

you're charging, you may want to move to a specific

27:48

EV tariff. And there are a number of those out

27:50

there and there are guides online which will tell you

27:52

which the cheapest are. Where they tend to

27:55

have two rates. You have a daytime rate and

27:57

you have an overnight rate, which is far, far

27:59

cheaper. And that is when you charge

28:01

your car at the overnight rate and

28:04

that's when you fill your car up. So

28:06

whether that works or not will all depend on how

28:08

much of your energy usage, what proportion is coming on

28:10

the EV. While I'm

28:12

doing sort of slightly off kilter tariffs,

28:16

existing Octopus customers or anyone who switches to Octopus

28:18

and then switches again within it can

28:21

get the agile or trekker tariffs.

28:23

Those are tariffs that one of them moves

28:26

prices every day, one moves prices every half

28:28

hour depending on wholesale rates. For the last

28:30

few months they have been very substantially cheaper

28:32

than the price cap and people have made

28:34

huge savings on them. Of course if the

28:37

wholesale rate goes up you could end up

28:39

paying far, far more. But for sophisticated users

28:41

they're very interesting tariffs too and if you

28:43

have the ability to charge your EV when

28:46

the price is really cheap on the half

28:48

hour moving tariff, well that could be very,

28:50

very valuable for you too. So

28:52

if you're getting an EV I would wait until

28:54

you understand how much charging you're going to be

28:56

doing on your EV before you decide, especially because

28:58

we think, as I mentioned earlier, the prediction is

29:00

the price cap will be coming down 15% on

29:02

the 1st of April. So

29:04

there's not that much harm in waiting until you know. I've

29:07

got an anonymous text for you here

29:09

Martin. I've just fixed for two years

29:12

on British gas, two years the

29:14

fixed one, a bit more but

29:16

means I can properly budget for the next

29:18

two years. Well that goes into the argument

29:20

I said before. If you go back to

29:22

my summary earlier, the cheapest variable tariff is

29:24

3% under the price cap with

29:26

EON Next Pledge. Likely the

29:28

cheapest fix will be after the 1st of

29:30

April, the British gas price promise because it

29:32

promises to fix at one quid less than

29:34

whatever the 1st of April price cap price

29:36

is, which is currently predicted to be 15%

29:39

cheaper but that gives you peace of

29:41

mind. I have no issue with people

29:43

who say I'm willing to pay a

29:46

little bit more to give

29:48

me peace of mind that I know exactly what

29:50

I'll pay for the next year or year until

29:52

June or two years if you're getting a fix

29:54

elsewhere compared to going on

29:56

the variable even though that looks like it's going

29:59

to be cheaper. Big warning here

30:01

though, is people always ask me

30:03

should I fix. I

30:05

can't answer that. Fixing

30:08

just says you're going to lock in your price. The real

30:10

point is at what rate are you

30:12

going to lock in your price? So what

30:15

are you going to fix that? Now you've told me you

30:17

fixed for two years at British Gas, so it won't be

30:19

the price I was talking about before, so it'll be a

30:21

more expensive tariff. I go back

30:23

to what I'm saying. The prediction is with seasonal

30:25

use the price cap will be 17% cheaper

30:28

than the current price. So

30:30

when you're being offered a fix look at how much

30:32

cheaper it is than the current price and

30:34

remember the prediction is if you stick on variable

30:36

that'll be 17% cheaper. So

30:39

I absolutely would not lock in a fix

30:41

that's 5% cheaper than the current price, but

30:43

when you start looking at a fix that's 15% cheaper than

30:45

the current price that would be locking in. If

30:48

you're going to lock in on a fix you want to lock in on

30:50

the cheapest fix possible. It's not just a question

30:52

of fixing, it's what rate you will

30:54

fix that that really matters. I'm

30:57

over emphasising but this is complicated.

30:59

Someone said, thank you for

31:01

your very competent explanation, I just read it on

31:03

Twitter, but this is a lottery. It is a

31:05

lottery. We don't have a crystal ball, we can't

31:07

predict the future. It sets the question of balancing

31:10

how much you value certainty versus whether

31:12

you want to ride the wave of potentially the

31:15

cheapest business of all uses. Martin,

31:19

we've got a minute do you think for a couple

31:21

of tell us's? Yeah, there's so many good ones. Maybe

31:23

we'll hold them till next week I think. We'll do

31:25

a couple now and we'll do some more next week.

31:27

This is all about pay rises and your tips for

31:30

pay rises. I'll do some rows from Facebook. In

31:32

my first ever job I gradually figured out I earned

31:34

less than everyone else in my team. I was on

31:36

30,000 at the time. I

31:38

asked my boss if we could have a quick chat. We sat down

31:41

and I said I'd like a 20% rise. He

31:43

was taken aback and said he had talked to HR. I

31:45

got the rise. Ooh, so rich. I

31:48

was by the way. Yeah, go on. I

31:50

was a team leader of a firm I worked for

31:52

before I became a journalist and they brought someone new

31:54

older on the team who was reporting to me on

31:56

this team. And I was on 26 grand

31:58

and I found out they mentioned they were on 50

32:00

grand and I went and I asked for a pay

32:02

rise on the back of that and they said that

32:04

he's got more experience than you and I said well

32:06

let him run the team then I'm running

32:08

the team I do you think I'm worth running the

32:10

team or you don't and I want to pay rise

32:12

it's outrageous that someone junior to me is being paid

32:14

so much more I got a pay rise not enough

32:16

I didn't still have that much longer there. Yeah,

32:19

wow. Rick Pickford Martin says as a business

32:21

owner and this is not a one fit

32:23

for all industries I'm sure make sure you

32:25

make sure that your request is difficult for

32:27

your boss to justify with the answer no

32:29

or better still be that worker who gets

32:31

the rise without asking we tend to reward

32:33

those who I would not want to lose

32:35

as they are valuable to the business and

32:37

would leave a hole if they left everyone

32:39

can be this but not everyone wants to

32:42

some prefer to do as little as I

32:44

can work ethic and this is often noted

32:46

by a boss I think just in a

32:48

repost to that I think I could probably

32:50

mention lots of people who felt that they've worked

32:52

and have worked really hard and seen people just

32:54

because perhaps they go out for a drink with

32:56

a boss or whatever not

32:59

get the kind of promotions they need. Well I think

33:01

I would also say that look I mean the idea

33:03

that everybody gets a pay rise when they deserve it

33:07

it doesn't work that well one of the

33:09

reasons I suspect we have a gender pay gap and I

33:11

hope no one reads this the wrong way in

33:13

my experience having been an employer for 20

33:15

odd years I can count

33:17

on the fingers of one hand the number

33:20

of female members of staff who have ever

33:22

asked me for a pay rise and it

33:24

is ten times that the number of male

33:26

members of staff and I recently had somebody

33:29

who's a friend and who I know in

33:31

the workplace doesn't work for me who

33:34

at their place of work had

33:36

been given a very substantial promotion

33:39

had a lot more responsibility than before

33:42

and then I asked them I presume you got a pay

33:45

rise oh no they said you know we want to see

33:47

how it works out and I was like this is ridiculous

33:50

and she said I don't want to rock

33:52

the boat I said you've been given a

33:54

promotion the company's got money the company's going

33:56

places and you haven't asked for more money

33:59

they've doubled your responsibility, your stress and your

34:01

work hours and she was like, and I said,

34:03

I said looking you should be asking for a

34:05

30, 40 percent rise with this and

34:08

she went in she told me I asked for a pay rise but she only asked

34:10

for 5% and they gave a 5% and

34:13

I don't know why it works that way

34:15

and that is a very, I am a

34:17

very small sample of experience. I've heard that

34:20

many times. But I think the idea that

34:22

don't ask, that if you don't

34:24

ask as a problem as an employer when

34:27

someone comes and asked for a pay rise, I

34:29

look at, you tend to look at well, what would

34:32

it cost me if you left and I had to

34:34

recruit somebody else, recruiting is expensive and it

34:36

does I mean you have to be aware of this, bring on as you

34:38

think, do I really want

34:40

to keep you? Are you the right person? It

34:42

crystallizes that thought process, let's be honest about it

34:45

and if you're good and you know you're worth

34:47

it then politely and calmly and

34:49

justify and present the job description of what

34:51

you're actually doing and why you feel it's

34:53

important that you get a pay rise. But

34:56

if you feel you need it, don't, you know,

34:58

you've got to read the room, you've got to

35:00

if the company is struggling it's different. But if

35:02

you feel you need it, I do feel that

35:04

in my personal experience only, because I can't

35:06

draw by the conclusions, far fewer

35:08

female members of staff have ever asked for raises

35:10

than men and it, you know,

35:13

and it can cause a gender pay gap. Martin,

35:15

are you trying to run down the clock so I

35:17

don't win potentially mastermind twice in a week? You

35:19

did very, very well and it's wonderful to hear that

35:21

you managed to succeed in the actual mastermind because when

35:23

we competed against each other in the mastermind, I

35:25

think you got less than half my score. Oh god,

35:28

yeah, yeah. Let's play that theme tune, I'm not sure

35:30

I've even got it, someone play it for me. We've

35:40

not got long, I'll go straight in, the current

35:42

score in Money Mastermind, Nahal has got 33 right

35:44

and 65 wrong in this three option

35:47

multiple choice. Sadly, ladies and gentlemen, it

35:49

has been a bad week for

35:52

Ah Nihal, with his continuing inability

35:54

to grasp basic finances causing him

35:56

disquiet. Last Thursday,

35:59

he was angers- to discover there is only

36:01

one firm that makes monopoly. On

36:04

Friday, Nihal's son

36:07

rolled his eyes at his father. After

36:09

having asked him to explain cosigns,

36:11

Nihal said that's what happens when

36:13

he joined Mrs. Arthur Nieker on

36:16

the mortgage. Then,

36:18

at the weekend, having had enough, and I

36:20

know most of you have almost had enough, having

36:23

booked a break to get away from the

36:25

pressure of credit cards, Nihal was

36:28

let down by the reality in

36:30

the Czech Republic. No

36:33

more, I promise. It's just a bad segue

36:35

in today's credit question on credit. Here

36:38

you are Nihal, does the amount of times

36:40

you check your credit file and or credit

36:42

score – both work the

36:44

same way – impact your credit worthiness

36:46

in future? Or in common parlours,

36:48

does checking your credit file or

36:50

credit score affect your credit score?

36:53

A – yes, positively B

36:55

– yes, negatively Or

36:58

C – no, it has

37:00

no impact whatsoever C –

37:02

100%? I'm gonna

37:04

go with C What?

37:11

Cos I have a regular credit score,

37:13

like it gives me updates, like I

37:15

pay a little thing for it. I

37:17

will explain a little bit more in the podcast Nihal, well done,

37:19

play hallelujah! Let

37:24

me explain quickly, we've only got three minutes and 20

37:26

seconds. When you check your credit file while you sit

37:29

on your credit file, it's called a soft search. Lenders

37:31

can see them but they cannot factor them into an

37:33

assessment of your credit ability. That is a credit file

37:35

check, it's on your file but it's a soft search,

37:37

it does not matter, you can check your file as

37:39

often as you like, it won't impact your future

37:41

credit worthiness. Oh Martin, that's three

37:44

out of two this year. No, it's three

37:46

out of five, three out of six. Now

37:50

I said I'd give you a little

37:52

bit more about Mastermind. As I've said

37:54

many times before, in the UK you

37:56

do not have a single credit score, a

37:58

single credit rating. Each lender will

38:00

score you based on its own internal

38:02

wish list of what it sees a

38:05

profitable customer. The credit scores

38:07

that you see when you check your

38:09

credit score are just a credit reference

38:11

agency's idea of how a typical lender

38:13

would view you. Although it's missing the

38:15

most important piece of data, it doesn't

38:17

know how much you earn and

38:20

affordability checks are one

38:22

of the key crucial

38:24

parts in deciding acceptance.

38:27

Now many people get in touch with me worried that when

38:29

they check their credit file and that's the one

38:31

you really do need to check your credit score

38:33

is not important. You're going to file checking it

38:36

by errors which you have available at TransUnion, Experian

38:38

and Equifax and if you can at least once

38:40

a year I would like all three. You have

38:42

a statutory right to check them for free although

38:44

you can do it quicker by some online sources.

38:47

When you check your credit file people get shocked

38:49

because they see the fact that they've checked their

38:51

credit file before is listed

38:54

within their credit file itself and that they've checked their

38:56

credit score. But what I really want

38:58

you to do when you check your files is to

39:00

differentiate between the hard searches which

39:02

is the searches for applications for

39:05

products that you'll see on there

39:07

and the section called soft searches.

39:09

Those are indicative searches and if

39:11

it is in the soft search

39:13

section while lenders

39:15

may be able to see it sometimes

39:17

they can sometimes they can't it doesn't

39:19

matter they are not able to use

39:21

that in factoring into whether they're going

39:23

to give you credit or not. So

39:25

you can have as many soft searches

39:27

on your file at no problem. Hard

39:30

searches the more hard searches you have

39:32

especially in the short space of time

39:34

and they do wipe after a year

39:37

that can have a negative impact on

39:39

your ability to gain credit in future

39:41

which is why I wanted to ask

39:43

the question to enable you to differentiate

39:45

between the soft search no problem and

39:48

the hard search am I had? Take care

39:50

I'm coming for you. Was that

39:52

supposed to be a skill search? Don't mind. I

39:55

don't know if I was channeling you Michael

39:57

that's producer Michael everybody. a

40:00

generic me being hard which is not something

40:02

I'm very good at accent. Keep it in,

40:04

keep it in.

40:10

Okay you lucky lucky podcast listeners it's that time

40:12

of the show where you get tips just for

40:14

you that we didn't do in main 5 live.

40:16

I've got

40:18

two for you this week. Firstly, bank

40:20

switching bribes are back in the building

40:23

they're wearing their glittery razzle dazzle suits

40:25

to give you a bit of free

40:27

cash. Yes a few weeks ago for

40:29

the first time since the pandemic there

40:32

were no bank switches available at all.

40:34

Now bing bing there are two. Always

40:36

check eligibility I'm just going to run

40:39

through this broad brush. NatWest and its

40:41

sister bank RBS is offering a free

40:43

200 pounds to switchers plus on its

40:45

reward account you get £3 a month

40:49

cash back. Actually you get £5 a month cash back

40:51

but you pay £2 a month so that's a net

40:53

£3 a month so you get £200

40:55

up front plus £36 over the

40:58

year as long as you fulfil its

41:00

qualifying criteria which aren't that harsh. There's

41:02

also Club Lloyds which gives a free

41:06

£175 although this is a

41:08

Mickey Mouse account because

41:10

you also get perks like one year free Disney

41:13

plus. Mickey Mouse okay. Worth

41:15

about £50 Disney plus or there's also

41:17

six cinema tickets available and various other perks that

41:20

you can choose to opt for for the year.

41:23

In all cases switching is usually pretty

41:25

easy when you switch bank you've

41:27

got to use their seven working day switch

41:29

service that takes about 10 days in practice.

41:31

What that means they close your old account

41:34

any payments to that old account are auto

41:36

forwarded for you. They move across

41:38

any direct debits they move across any

41:40

standing Orders: If you have any recurring payments

41:42

which is where you give the long number

41:44

in your card and they can take money

41:47

from you regularly, you'd have to move those

41:49

yourselves. That's for things like subscriptions like Netflix

41:51

or Amazon Prime or maybe Buy Now Pay

41:53

Later or also what's often common with adult

41:55

entertainment sites, they're called recurring payments. Those You

41:57

would have to move, but generally most people

41:59

find banks. Getting pretty easy. I

42:02

my second sit there are ten thousand

42:04

megabase a two pound single cuts tickets

42:06

available or they do pay one time

42:08

book they purple Kings of Three tickets

42:10

would be six quit plus one pounds

42:12

at the tickets are available for the

42:14

fifteenth of March to the fifteenth of

42:17

April. There's no easy way to find

42:19

them of than just check prices on

42:21

Uk bag of us.com It is for

42:23

most journeys excluding Northern Ireland and travel

42:25

within Scotland. So Sheffield to Edinburgh is

42:27

fine. Glasgow to London. His final. London's

42:29

Glasgow. But Glasgow to Edinburgh doesn't count.

42:32

And those are examples or the bugs in those

42:34

cases of some of the tickets are available. If

42:36

you like traveling by coach and you want to

42:38

get a really really cheap fast, they are really

42:40

really cheap to pump across country. Travel is and.

42:43

Seventy. Now

42:47

as we are runs short of time in the main

42:49

so I've got to produce a Chloe with me. Now

42:51

we're going to to just a couple more of the

42:53

tell us about pay rises but I also want to

42:56

focus a little bit more detail on this next week.

42:58

Said we will bring back seats we will give you

43:00

a taste stay suit sort of pay rises don't negotiate

43:02

with makes I'm not going to give in to not

43:04

gonna get any more club is what he got. This

43:07

one from the brilliantly named grumpy designer on

43:09

social media. They say I wrote a new

43:11

job description outlining what I actually did that

43:13

face to face, compared it with the one

43:15

they gave me and when I asked them

43:17

what they didn't want me to date or

43:19

literally pay a lower price for, they agreed

43:21

I actually had value and said exactly what

43:23

I wanted. So. Many calls themselves

43:25

the right honorable Lord Bolton I suspect

43:27

that's a nickname. Usually.

43:30

Getting another job offer them biggest will

43:32

you state if we pay you more.

43:34

Sometimes agreeing moving jobs is generally the

43:36

way to progress up the money level.

43:40

Crystallization crystallizes in the thumbs mind. Whether

43:42

it wants to keep you will not.

43:44

They have to factor in recruitment, an

43:46

onboard and costs and then to when

43:49

they're comparing the new employee that they

43:51

may get to. this is the existing

43:53

employees and sometimes it's simply cheaper for

43:55

them to give you more money. They.

43:57

Spend Trevor services at Us.

43:59

for pay twice. The first time I

44:01

had been promised in inverted commas my

44:03

pay would increase to 30k after my

44:05

probation. I was severely underpaid for that

44:07

18k. After my probation I

44:10

had to ask for a pay rise they

44:12

only offered half so that was a midpoint

44:14

of 25k and they set some impossible targets

44:16

for me to reach that 30k so I

44:18

promptly left. Quite right and ultimately

44:20

as long as you think it's a viable job

44:22

market for you to get elsewhere you don't owe

44:24

an employer any more loyalty than your contracted do

44:26

although always make sure you continue to work hard

44:29

until the very day that you leave. My reps

44:31

can follow you like a spink. And

44:33

Charlotte says yes I asked for a pay

44:35

rise for four years and each year I

44:38

wasn't selected for a pay rise despite being

44:40

told I was the highest performer. You can

44:42

always read the venom in this. I

44:44

handed my notice in four months after the

44:46

last rejection only to then be asked

44:49

how much would I accept to stay. I

44:52

left. They split my role and

44:54

hired two people to replace me. One

44:56

more from Kirsty here she says yes I have asked

44:58

for a pay rise. I told my bosses at the

45:00

time that I just needed one. I told them if

45:02

I didn't get the rise I'd have to leave because

45:04

childcare was cripplingly me. They asked me how much it

45:06

would take for me to stay and we agreed on

45:09

the amount I asked for which was £8,000 a year

45:11

more. Aileen says I

45:13

took a 15% pay cut to help

45:15

my employer because business was bad. It put

45:17

me on to minimum wage. I stayed at

45:19

that wage for around three years and got

45:21

into debt the most stress I've ever had.

45:23

Eventually I went to my boss and after

45:25

a raise he was great and immediately put

45:27

me up to a living wage which made

45:29

all the difference. I paid off my debt

45:31

and have never used a credit card since.

45:36

That's it for this week. If you enjoyed

45:38

it please tell your friends you've been listening

45:40

to the Martin Lewis podcast and why don't

45:42

you and they come back another week and

45:44

have another listen and your pockets will be

45:46

pleased for you. If you haven't

45:48

enjoyed it I know it was a short one this

45:50

week but I still think I have

45:52

to ask you why are you still listening?

45:55

I'd be embarrassed if I were you. You've spent all

45:57

this time listening to a podcast that you didn't enjoy.

46:00

on. Martin

46:19

Lewis is the founder of moneysavingexpert.com.

46:21

But of course, other consumer and

46:23

price comparison websites are available. You

46:25

can get in touch with Martin's

46:27

podcast production team by emailing Martin

46:29

Lewis podcast at bbc.co.uk. The

46:33

offers and rates mentioned in the podcast are

46:35

correct at the time of recording. However, if

46:37

you are listening on demand, it's worth double

46:39

checking as details and dates. Remember

46:41

to subscribe and leave a review.

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