Martin Lewis urges people to check for energy bill cash refunds this month (2025)

Energy firms are reportedly sitting on £3 billion of customer cash from Direct Debits.

Martin Lewis is urging everyone paying their energy bills by monthly Direct Debit to check whether they have built up too much credit with their provider and could be due refunds worth “hundreds of pounds”.

Despite Ofgem increasing the price cap by £111 a year at the start of April, energy bills are typically lower for most households between now and Autumn due to the milder weather, which means winter Direct Debit payments - which are based on higher usage over the colder months - may result in credit building up on someone’s energy account.

Martin Lewis has taken to social media to warn people “energy firms are said to be sitting on £3 billion of our cash in Direct Debit credit”.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter the founder of MoneySavingExpert (MSE.com), added: “CHECK YOUR ENERGY CREDIT TODAY! It's the perfect time as you should have min credit at this point in the cycle. Some'll be due £100s back.”

The financial guru recently covered energy credit refunds in the MSE.com newsletter, and it’s something he has shared on his Podcast and TV show, to help people put more money back in their pockets.

Martin has previously explained taking regular meter readings is key to ensuring energy bill estimates are accurate and people pay close to what their energy usage expectations are predicted to be by their provider.

He said this is the “perfect time to stop the rip-off and get that money back” as this is when people are likely to be sitting with the most amount of debt on their energy account - due to the winter months and higher usage at the start of the year - but highlighted how this evens itself out as Direct Debit payments are spread out across 12 months.

Martin’s rough rule of thumb means if you are sitting with a month and a half’s worth of credit on your energy credit - although some people could have built up much more - now is the time to contact your supplier and politely ask for the money to be refunded.

However, Martin said how much debt or credit you have built up on your energy account depends on where you are in the cycle. MSE.com has a handy graph to help illustrate this which you can see here.

Martin shared a couple of checks to do before contacting your energy supplier. The first is to make sure you're up to date with meter readings as most people receive a refund at the end of the year if they’ve built up too much credit.

The second is to check how much credit you’ve built up and if it’s around a month and half’s worth of Direct Debits, then contact your supplier and ask for some, or all of it back - depending on how much money is there.

Martin also suggests making a formal complaint to the Energy Ombudsman if your supplier refuses to refund your money.

There is a bit more to this, such as how much your typical bills cost and whether your Direct Debits and energy account are up to date, but it’s definitely something to look into, especially over the Easter holidays when most people have a bit more time on their hands.

You can read Martin’s full guide to getting energy bill refunds on MSE.com here.