Martin Lewis issues energy warning over 'outrageous' early exit fees

Energy firms are charging customers hundreds of pounds in exit fees - and in some cases the amount has more than doubled since last year, research by Martin Lewis and his team has found.

The money saving expert has slammed the move, after discovering some of the country’s largest energy suppliers have increased their early exit fees on their lowest priced deals. He is now advising households to check about cost penalties with their energy supplier.

The average exit fee this time last year was £60 on a dual-fuel home, the research found. But a few suppliers such as Octopus Energy and E.on do not charge their customers exit fees and Bulb and Shell Energy do not currently have fixed rates, so are not featured in the analysis.

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Meanwhile some firms charge different fees depending on the length of the fix, with one-year fixes tending to have lower exit fees. Martin then compared the cost to fees from 2021.

The dual-fuel exit penalty for leaving a British Gas one-year fixed deal in June 2022 is £200 - whereas this time last year, it would either be no charge or £80. The exit fee for leaving a two-year fixed rate deal with EDF Energy is £300 whereas in 2021 it was £70 and nothing for a one-year fixed deal, reports the Express.

Mr Lewis said: “These massive, outrageous early exit fees are the final nail in the coffin of dying energy competition. Many people are trying to decide whether to fix or not at the moment. That no longer means going cheaper, it’s about whether you should pay more now, to forestall the huge rise likely coming in October.”

However, the financial expert noted how the collapse