At last, British Gas cuts its ‘rip-off’ bills by 5 per cent

MILLIONS of people will see a 5 per cent cut in gas prices after British Gas responded to complaints of rip- offs and profiteering.

The cut, which amounts to an average saving of £35 a year, will benefit some 6.9million customers on standard variable tariffs and fix and fall tariffs.

But there has been no reduction in electricity tariffs, so consumers will see a modest cut of less than three 3 per cent to the average annual dual fuel bill of around £1,200.

The move is expected to be followed by other major suppliers, and comes a week after Government watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) claimed the market had not been working properly.

They said millions of families on standard variable rate tariffs had been overcharged for years, by an average of £66 a year.

The wholesale price of gas and electricity has fallen by more than 20 per cent over the past 18 months, and is now running at the lowest level for five years. But this saving has not been passed on to customers.

This has meant the profit margins of British Gas and its main rivals – SSE, Npower, Eon,

‘Customers have been overpaying’

EDF and Scottish Power – have risen sharply, according to industry regulator, Ofgem.

But after the election, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd wrote to suppliers, urging them to cut tariffs. Yesterday she said: ‘British Gas has taken a step in the right direction and I urge others to follow their lead.’

And Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: ‘The CMA was clear that customers have been overpaying for too long so it’s right, if overdue, that British Gas is starting to cut prices. Other suppliers must now do more to give customers a fair deal.’

British Gas said the gas price cut, which comes into effect at the end of August, is their second in six months, which together will save customers £72 a year on average.

The average dual fuel bill has needlessly risen by £120 over the past five years thanks to ‘ill-thought-out’ green energy taxes and the Government’s failure to bring down costs, a think-tank has claimed.

Policy Exchange Analysts found household energy bills rose on average by £240 – and said £120 of this was avoidable. The Department for Energy and Climate Change said cutting energy bills was their ‘priority’.

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