Martin Lewis is calling on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to scrap the new £200 energy rebate after claiming over half of Brits don’t want to take part in the scheme.
Households in England, Scotland and Wales will get a £200 upfront discount on their energy bills from this October - but it will need to be paid back.
Families will start repaying at a rate of £40 per year over five years from 2023 to 2027. This is because energy suppliers will be loaned the money to do this by the government.
The rebate was confirmed last week after the regulator Ofgem confirmed it is hiking its energy price cap by almost £700.
But households don’t get a say in whether they accept the £200 discount or not - it will be applied automatically to bills.
Martin has claimed that the majority of Brits would opt out of the scheme if given a choice, according to new MoneySavingExpert research.
A staggering 57% of those responsible for energy bills said they would decline the cash, when asked to take part in a new YouGov poll.
Just a quarter (26%) said they would actively opt into the scheme if they had the choice and the rest of the participants weren’t sure.
Researchers spoke to 1,665 adults in Great Britain for the MSE website.
Martin said: “I would ask the Chancellor to urgently rethink his energy bills £200 discount and clawback scheme.”
“The Chancellor is effectively taking a worrying gamble with people’s finances,” he continued.
“He is following the market’s view that rates will finally start falling later this year, meaning the price cap will fall in April 2023.
Are you worried about affording your energy bill? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
"Therefore, he hopes the impact of this scheme will mean lower bills now and in the future as the extra costs then will be covered by the drop in bills.
“That is far from certain, especially with the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“And crucially, if rates don’t drop – or don’t drop a lot – people will be left in a lose-lose situation, with far higher bills than now and an additional levy on top.
"Our poll plainly shows most people aren’t willing to take this gamble. They don’t want to be a part of it – yet it is unavoidable.”
The hike in the Ofgem energy price cap means those on default tariffs will see an increase of £693 from £1,277 to £1,971 from April - an eye-watering rise of around 54%.
Prepayment customers will be worse hit, with an increase of £708 from £1,309 to £2,017.
The £200 rebate - which Martin describes as a "loan-not-a-loan" - is applied directly to your bill, or you’ll be given a credit note, if you’re on direct debit payments.
If you're on prepay, the government will pay the cash through your smart meter or they'll give you a voucher or a cheque.
