Consumer champion Sonali Shah issues energy bills advice and mortgage warning on Steph's Packed Lunch

Escape to the Countryside presenter Sonali Shah has appeared on Channel 4 daytime show Steph’s Packed Lunch to offer some money saving advice and a give warning to those with a mortgage.

She joined Steph McGovern to talk about energy bills, identity fraud, and the housing market. Steph joked with Sonali that every time she appears on the show, they discuss energy bills. Sonali responded, “But we need to. We were expecting them to go up, but some suppliers have really come through on that.”

She explains that energy regulator Ofgem has told suppliers that they need to justify their price hikes, otherwise they could face a substantial fine. She continued: “If you have been looking at your direct debit payment and thinking, ‘Does it really need to be so high?’, you are not alone.

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“Loads of concerns have been raised that some companies might have been raising those direct debits more than is necessary. So much so, that yesterday we learnt that Ofgem, the regulator, has contacted suppliers saying ‘You have got three weeks to reply and justify those numbers’.

“If they think those payments are unfair, there are going to be some substantial fines.”

She suggests that those who think their direct debit is too high need to get in contact with the supplier to challenge them. They should ask the supplier to go through the calculations on what they are charging, and then make sure that the figures are in line with the metre reading.

“Hopefully you took pictures,” she added, “And then if you think you are in credit to them, you can either leave it with them and then make your direct debit payments a little bit smaller going forward.

“It depends on your