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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
James Andrews

Martin Lewis offers to take control of your bills so you never have to switch again

After more than a decade of telling people to compare their energy bills and switch to the best value provider for them, Martin Lewis has decided to launch a service that does it for you.

The new MSE Autoswitch product means that you might never need to check again to make sure you're saving money or worry about making the wrong choice.

"As I've learnt at my TV roadshows, when helping those who say 'comparing is difficult', the real sticking point usually turns out to be picking a winner - leaving many frozen in indecision, or worried as they've been burnt before by switching to tiddler firms with dire service," Martin told readers of the weekly MoneySavingExpert.com newsletter.

"They often say: 'Can't you do it for me?' MSE Autoswitch does that."

But getting it ready to use hasn't been a quick process.

"I first came up with what we call the auto-compare-and-switch concept over five years ago," Martin said.

"And after an 18 month build, by a big and brilliant team, that concept's come to fruition."

He added: "I hope we've cracked it (fingers crossed)."

The system means you tell MSE Autoswitch your details and priorities - such as price, service, name you know, green, fixed, exit penalties - once, then it compares the whole market and picks the top deals for you.

If you're not sure of what's important, there's a "Martin's pick" option you can select to start you off.

Once a year after that it moves you to your new top deal, based your preferences -with a one-click confirmation from you.

One click a year is all you need to do (PA)

There's also an "override" button that Martin can use before that if something goes wrong - for example a provider goes bust or has an IT meltdown.

And while it's not the first auto-switching service, Martin thinks it is the best.

"Many existing autoswitch tools simply switch everyone to the same tariff, or just a select few, from a limited panel of firms they've a relationship with," Martin explained.

"I wasn't willing to put MSE's name on something that blunt."

Oh, and on top of costing you nothing to join, it gives you £25 dual-fuel cashback or £12.50 on single-fuel as well.

Cheaper energy, forever (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Martin added that it won't quite be suitable for everyone.

People doing complex switches, with EV tariffs or multiple home meters, people who like to switch more than once a year and "energy nerds...who know what they're doing and want to interrogate all tariffs themselves" advised to still do their own research.

To join MSE Autoswitch, currently you need to be switching tariff.

The system works across the Britain, but not Northern Ireland.

It also isn't available to people on pre-pay tariffs - because Martin doesn't want to move people to a provider where there isn't anywhere nearby they can top up their credit.

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