Cheapest Brit Gas fix since 2021 – can you save £300?, Keep potatoes in the fridge?! , 6 Child Benefit need-knows, 35mth 0% debt shift

I've waited a long time to write this... welcome to our 1st Collective Switch since the energy crisis. We've managed to get, by far, the cheapest fix available, with a serious saving and it's from a big energy beast.

A Collective Switch is a regulated process which allows 'member groups' to invite energy firms to bid to offer special deals that undercut what they offer elsewhere. We did. They did. This is the result.

I picked three fixes - meaning you lock in a rate so it's guaranteed not to rise for a set time, giving you peace of mind of price certainty. That's unlike the Price Cap tariffs most homes are on right now, which rise 2% tomorrow (and are strongly predicted to stay high across winter and beyond). These fixes are all very substantially cheaper than the Cap, meaning savings of £100s for many.

The three MSE Big Switch winners
All have agreed to MSE enhanced service

Ends: When limit is hit or 13 Oct. For: Eng, Scot, Wales (see N. Ireland help).

Are you 'eligible' to get one of these? Almost certainly, YES! While rules say it must be 'members only', we define our members as all who were signed up to get the MSE weekly (ie, this) email by last Friday, plus those signed up to our Cheap Energy Club by then.

When you click a link below, it'll take you to our full comparison (as your exact prices & winner depends on usage and location). If you're not already signed up to Cheap Energy Club, ensure you use the email address you get this email sent to, in order to get these tariffs.

None of these tariffs require you to have a smart meter.

WINNER 1: Cheaper-than-the-market's cheapest.
British Gas 14mth fix for both new & crucially existing customers. This is the cheapest BG fix since Sept 2021 and is an average 15.2% less than the new 1 Oct Price Cap.

Existing BG customers can get it too, so it's a no-brainer for them... and if you're on a BG fix already, it won't charge you early exit fees to switch to this.

Early exit penalties: £50/fuel.
Limited to 40,000 switches: so 1st come, 1st served.
WINNER 2: Cheapest from the top service firm.
Octopus Energy 10mth fix for new & existing customers. I picked Octopus as frankly it's a really popular firm, primarily due to its customer service, which is top rated. This is cheaper than any fix Octopus has available direct and is an average 10.3% less than the Oct Cap.

Existing Octopus customers can get it, and if you're already fixed with it, it won't charge you early exit fees to switch to this.

Early exit penalties: £25/fuel.
Limited to 50,000 switches: so 1st come, 1st served.
WINNER 3: Cheap smart prepay & pay in receipt of bills.
EDF 13mth fix for new & existing customers. I went for this bid, as while the other two only allow monthly Direct Debit payments for newbies, this allows those plus a wider range of payment methods too.

At an average 11.3% less than the Oct Cap, it's the cheapest smart prepay & payment in receipt of bills fix. It's also cheaper than any EDF fix available direct. Existing EDF customers can switch to it, but those who are already fixed would need to pay early exit fees to switch, so factor those in. But it can't charge you exit penalties within the last 49 days of the fix (nor can any firm).

Early exit penalties: £75/fuel.
Unlimited switches allowed: Until 13 Oct.

PS: The saving is slightly more for pay in receipt of bills and slightly less for prepay as the Price Cap varies depending on payment method.

All three have agreed to 'MSE Enhanced Service'. That means if there's an issue, go to the energy firm first, but if it doesn't sort things, contact our Cheap Energy Club and we can and will escalate it and try to help.

All three include MSE £20 dual-fuel cashback. Unlike other sites, we don't default to hiding tariffs that don't pay us to facilitate a switch. Instead, we show the whole market, but when we get paid to switch you, we give you a chunk of it as cashback and factor it in, meaning those that pay us are relatively cheaper, so you're more likely to switch to them. Win-win.

PS: This could help start a price war. There is an outside chance one or two (likely smaller) firms may cut their prices to regain their position at the top of our comparison (we will, of course, include them). So, when I write 'cheaper than the market's cheapest', that may change.

What happens if you're in credit when you switch? Your old energy provider should pay you all the credit you are owed within eight weeks of you no longer being its customer. You will need to give a final meter reading to ensure everything is as it should be.

If you're in debt, then it's usually fine to switch, as long as it's not huge, but there are no hard rules except for prepay, when it's a £500 debt per fuel maximum. Of course, you will still have to pay back the money you owe (you may be able to sort out a repayment plan if needed, ask it).

The Price Cap rate moves every three months, due to moves in wholesale costs (see how to check if I'm on the Price Cap?). It's about to rise 2% tomorrow (Wed 1 Oct). The Cap limits the max Standing Charges and unit rates firms can levy - see the new Price Cap rates.

The following Cap starts on 1 Jan, but as it's all time-lagged, the price you'll pay then is based on average wholesale costs from mid-Aug to mid-Nov prices.

The current prediction is Jan's Cap will be roughly the same as Oct's, and as we're already halfway through the assessment period, the current predictions will very likely be in the right ballpark - it'd take huge swings for it not to be. That means all these fixes should be considerably cheaper than the Cap across the high-use winter months.

After that, predictions are more crystal ball-gazing, but currently the analysts predict the Cap will rise substantially in April. All this means is that it would take an off-the-charts fall in worldwide energy prices for you not to be better off fixing, and in the very unlikely event that did happen, and you wanted to take advantage of far lower prices, you could just pay the early exit penalties and leave.

Fixes are the easy peace-of-mind option. Yet there are alternative models, though some of them are tough to display via a traditional comparison site, so here's a quick checklist to see...

Low user? EDF's tracker has lower Standing Charges. It's essentially a price cap, but with £50/yr lower Standing Charges, it's good, but ONLY for very low users (eg, under roughly £80/mth use).
Got an electric car? Consider a special electric vehicle (EV) tariff. There are fixes which give cheaper rates for charging your car.
Sophisticated user? Rapid price-change tariffs can lead to big savings. Tariffs such as Octopus's Agile or Tracker see price changes either daily or hourly. For those comfortable with this, especially if you can shift usage patterns or have storage batteries, these can mean big savings.
Got solar panels? Is an all-in-one deal cheaper? Some firms give you better solar panel rates if you get your energy supply from them too. Our guide takes you through who it's worth it for (and who it isn't).

Of course, cutting the cost of the energy you use isn't the entire answer. Using less is the other way to cut your bills. We've lots of detailed guides to help...

Can you cut bills by cutting your use?
- 70+ ways to save energy includes a mix of tips.
- Energy mythbusting covers less clear-cut issues.
- Heat the human, not the home for those really struggling.
What to do if you're struggling to pay. It's always worth first talking to your energy firm. There can be hardship & debt grants from suppliers. For far more guidance, see our full What to do if you're struggling to pay energy bills guide.

DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads
Lots of scam ads litter social media and even newspaper websites - some of these lie that we or Martin promote Bitcoin, binary trading etc. See Fake ads warning.

Car insurance prices DOWN 10%! Don't just accept your insurer's price. If it stays the same, you're likely overpaying

Use the Compare+ Car Insurance tool

New. Now with added Price Impact Indicators. Helps you save £100s

We pay 40% more for car insurance than we did in 2021, yet things have turned the corner, with prices down 10.5% over the last 12 months (source: insurance analysis firm Consumer Intelligence). But that means you must be alert, don't just accept your renewal. Even if it's 5% cheaper, you can probably still do better. To help you save, we've added new 'Price Impact Indicators' (explained below) to our Compare+ Car Insurance tool.

100,000s people have saved millions with it, such as Colleen, who emailed: "My car renewal had increased by £150, so I used your Compare+ tool and found the same level of cover £350 cheaper. I am now going to use Compare+ Home Insurance to review that too. Big, big thank you." The best thing to do is just to try it (any feedback & suggestions are always welcome), but as some people like to know what they're getting, here's a quick briefing on how it works...

You speedily fill in one questionnaire. Answer our Compare+ Car Insurance question set (we borrow MoneySupermarket's - we're part of the same group. If you've used that before, your answers are auto-filled).
New. As you go through the questions, you get the unique Price Impact Indicator... It all started when Martin interrogated the team (not unusual) during the build of Compare+ Home Insurance to ensure it was following the same pattern as his original design for the car insurance tool.

For every question in the questionnaire, he'd ask 'is it needed?' and 'does it impact the price?', so we delved into the data to find out. The results were surprising, often showing things you'd assume matter actually had little price impact. Martin got so excited (also not unusual) that he said we needed to put this info in the tool. We did. You loved it. Now we've added it to the car insurance tool too. So, every question has a 'low', 'mid' or 'high' pricing rating, with it telling you how the answer impacts the price - where you can click and read about it exactly.
You then get your benchmark quote to start the saving. This is your cheapest quote from the MoneySupermarket comparison, so you can see a price straightaway, but of course we want you to beat it...
We show you which other comparisons to add in, and in what order. We've always told you to use as many comparisons as you've time for, and the fact we've a new tool doesn't change that. Different comparison sites include different insurers, and even where the same firms are listed, they can have different prices for them.
Timing it right can save you - we'll tell you if you're too early, too late, or pure Goldilocks. How early before renewal you get a quote can impact how much insurers charge you. We've analysed millions of quotes to find the exact sweet spot when premiums will be at their cheapest. Timing it right cuts costs. If you're too early, we'll tell you when to come back. If you're too late, we'll be adding calendar and email reminders, so we can alert you at the right time next year.
You get even more personalised tips on how you can cut costs. After analysing your data, the Compare+ tool shows you other ways to try to cut your costs further (all are trial and error though), such as...

- Will upping the voluntary excess (the amount you pay towards a claim) save you money?
- Can you pay annually rather than monthly?
- Could you legitimately tweak your job title to save?
- Is there a responsible driver you can add to your policy?
- Can you save by combining your home and car insurance?

Tonight (Tue) 8pm ITV... A Martin Lewis Money Show LIVE 'Young People & Students' Special.

If you're in your teens or twenties (or a parent of someone who is) this is a must-watch (better still, parents and kids watch together). From car insurance for young people to student finance, best bank accounts to starting investing.

Stop press. New '£210' FREE CASH bank switch bribe. Just as we were getting the email out the door, TSB launched its FREE '£210' cash* deal. You get £150 upfront, then for the next 3mths you get £10 each month you make 20 payments on its debit card (split your shopping to help) - taking you to £180. But alongside that, TSB newbies also get £5/mth for up to 6mths for 20+ debit card payments - max that and you could earn £210 in total. Full eligibility info and more options in Best bank accounts.

'How disappointing!' Martin rips into plans to lower Energy Standing Charges. He says new proposals, due next Jan, have been "smothered in a pillow of bureaucracy". See Standing Charge letdown.

Keep potatoes in the fridge? Yesterday was the UN's Food Loss & Waste Reduction Day, so see our updated 15 ways to stop wasting food & drink.

Ever signed up to cashback-with-a-catch sites that pop up everywhere? 'I got a £1,500 Complete Savings refund after seeing your story.' Success of the week. Craig emailed: "I discovered I had an £18 payment going out each month, which turned out to be to a website called Complete Savings. I put my email into password recovery and found I had an unknown account and had been paying since 2017, totalling £1,500. I saw your story on people who had success asking for their money back so I emailed the firm. Initially they offered three months, but I declined and eventually they offered me a full refund. Turns out I'd unknowingly signed up after ordering a Papa Johns. Thanks very much!" If we've helped you reclaim or save (on this or owt else), please tell us about it.

Amazon's 'Prime Big Deal Days' including Ninja, Samsung & Lego - sort deals from duds. See what's likely in next Tue & Wed's sale. Big Deal Days

Shift credit card debt to 0% for a whopping 35mths - longest deal since 2022. A balance transfer's where you get a new card that pays off old cards for you, so you owe it instead, but at 0% for a set period. The longest is now Barclaycard's 35mth 0% (3.45% fee), which gives ALL accepted the full time at 0%, and there are five 34mth 0% cards too. More options mean more chance of acceptance. Golden rules: Repay at least the monthly minimum & clear the card before the 0% ends, or it jumps to 24.9% rep APR interest. Full help in Top balance transfers.

The biggest misunderstandings about student loans... (must-listen for parents & students). Martin's main podcast this week is crucial for anyone going to or starting university (& their parents) or likely to go in the next few years. He takes you through whether you should get a loan, how much it'll really cost, why the interest rate might be a red herring, and more. Also watch his new 'the biggest misunderstanding quick video' snippet. Listen on BBC Sounds | Apple | Spotify & more.

Question Time Pod: Is having a pension worth it? Why's my home insurance doubled? And Martin's Mick Jagger history! In Martin's Question Time podcast, you can ask whatever you like (within reason). Again, listen on BBC Sounds | Apple | Spotify etc.

DID YOU MISS?

- 30+ birthday FREEBIES, eg, Krispy Kreme, Asos and more
- Free flu jabs available now - if not eligible, the cheapest's £10
- Car insurers pay £200m after short-changing 270,000 drivers
- Tesco Mobile PAYG customer? It may push you to buy a bundle

Child Benefit: 6 things all parents need to know

Up to 750,000 households are missing out, not just on the money, but also a boost to their State Pension (including grandparents). A must-read on whether you should claim or not...

Child Benefit is a universal payment for parents of all children under 16 (under 20 if in full-time education). It's up to £26.05/week (£1,355/yr) for your first child and £17.25/wk (£897/yr) for each additional child. This is meant to ensure every child has at least some funds allocated to help them. Here are six key need-to-knows...

1. Always register for Child Benefit (even if you earn too much). When you register, it doesn't just trigger the payment, it's a gateway to other things. Some higher earners don't register (as if you earn over £80,000, the money is clawed back through the tax system), yet that can be a mistake...

- Registering is what triggers your eligibility for National Insurance credits towards the State Pension. The amount of State Pension you will receive is dictated by the number of national insurance (NI) years you've built up. You get NI years by working, or you get NI credits if you're not working and caring for a child under 12 (or older if they have a disability). And it's the act of claiming Child Benefit that triggers this payment. So it's worth registering but then opting out of receiving the benefit, as opposed to just not registering.

- Registering usually means your child will automatically get an NI number before they hit 16 years old. If you don't claim Child Benefit, they'll need to apply for one manually when they turn 16.

2. Are you one of perhaps 200,000 families losing out due to the wrong partner claiming Child Benefit? The person who puts in the Child Benefit application is deemed as the primary applicant, and they are the one that gets the NI years (which you need to qualify for the full State Pension). So if one of you doesn't work or earns under £125/wk, that person should be the applicant to ensure you get the NI credit you wouldn't have otherwise, potentially boosting your future State Pension, which can add up to £10,000s over the years.

If you did it the other way round, you can fill in a form to transfer the credits over to the lower earner. It's also sometimes backdate-able. Jacquie emailed us last year: "Due to my earnings, we received no Child Benefit when the children were little, and my husband was at home looking after them. We were looking at over £6,000 to top up my husband's NI for those missing employment years. We followed your suggestion to transfer them from me to him. A very welcome letter arrived confirming that the years my husband was at home looking after the kids now count towards his NI record, and he now has a full State Pension entitlement. So grateful to you."

3. You still gain from Child Benefit with income up to £80,000. Child Benefit is means-tested, meaning once one parent or guardian earns over £60,000, some of it is clawed back via tax as the High Income Child Benefit Charge, until you hit £80,000 earnings when it is all paid back. So that means at £70,000, you'd still be due over £1,126/yr if you've two children. The lower threshold was increased from £50,000 to £60,000 in 2024, and some parents still don't claim, thinking it isn't worth it. Almost 750,000 families are missing out on some money so, being plain, as long as no parent in the household earns over £80,000, it is worth getting it.

It's worth noting the £60,000 to £80,000 threshold is based on your 'adjusted net income' after pension contributions, charitable donations under Gift Aid and, for the self-employed, trading losses. So it's worth noting that increasing the highest earning parent's pension or charitable contributions can increase the Child Benefit you can keep. See more in minimising the Child Benefit charge.

4. New. There's now an easier way to pay back Child Benefit if you need to. Those who earn over £60,000 and therefore need to repay their Child Benefit have, until now, had to do a self-assessment tax return, which is painful if you're employed and paid via PAYE, as you wouldn't need do it otherwise. Now some in those circumstances can stop doing self-assessment and pay via your tax code.

5. In work? If grandparents look after the kids, they could benefit. If you're registered for Child Benefit, but don't need the NI credit because you (or, if a couple, both of you) earn £125+/wk, so get it anyway, you can transfer the unused Child Benefit NI credits to a relative if they're caring for your under-12-year-old child (eg, after school). While technically it's called the Specified Adult Childcare Credit, for ease, Martin calls it the Grandparents' Childcare Credit (though they must be under 66). The link has more info.

You may also be able to back-claim this, as Andy did: "Following your advice, I claimed NI credits as a grandparent for looking after our grandchildren after I'd retired from work. The application was easy and although it took around 25 weeks to process, I was given four years' worth of NI credits, and my new State Pension will rise from around £173/wk to £221/wk, giving an additional £2,496 per year. I wouldn't have known about this without you and the team."

6. There is no two-child benefit cap. To finish, there's much talk about the 'two-child benefit cap' in the news, and it's causing confusion. Just to be clear, this isn't to do with Child Benefit, it's about Universal Credit and it's actually a limit, not a cap. There is a benefits cap, which is a maximum amount you can receive in benefits, and Child Benefit is part of that. Confused? Watch Martin's 2024 video explainer (some numbers have changed, but the principle remains).

Martin: 'I'm over the moon. Hideous Council Tax debt collection is changing in Wales.' People will have two months, rather than three weeks, to make up missed Council Tax payments before action is taken. It's a big campaign win - see 'where Wales leads others should follow' Council Tax reform.

Book by Thu. £2 Northern train tickets. For travel, eg, Manchester to Liverpool, during most of Oct. Northern Rail sale

Free first-aid training from British Heart Foundation & Red Cross. Free apps/tools guide you through CPR and how to deal with a range of emergencies - they literally could be a lifesaver. Free first aid

Are you one of 8 million missing out on £25bn in benefits? Don't think 'benefits aren't for me' or 'I won't qualify' - here's a reminder of our benefits check-up from last week.

300,000 fewer households are paying for a TV licence - do you need one? It's possible to watch without one (legally). See TV licence tips.

Disney+ hikes prices again - can you cut costs with our tricks? All tiers are rising, by up to £24/yr. Disney+ tricks

Newly self-employed or had extra income last year? Check NOW whether you need to file a tax return. If you haven't done one before, you'll need to register with HM Revenue & Customs by this Sun (5 Oct). See who needs to file and how to get started in Self-assessment for beginners.

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS

Longest 0%: Barclaycard (check eligibility) DEFINITE 35mths 0%, 3.45% fee, 24.9% rep APR interest
No-fee 0%: Barclaycard (check eligibility) up to 14mths 0%, 24.9% rep APR interest

New. Free '£210': TSB Spend & Save
Free £175 + top service: First Direct 1st Account

Fast fibre (100Mb+): Vodafone '£20.75/mth'
Superfast fibre (500Mb+): Vodafone '£25.80/mth'

On Universal Credit or similar? Check all discounted social tariffs

Car: Use our Compare+ Car Insurance tool
Home: Try our Compare+ Home Insurance tool

£5,000 to £7,499: Santander (check eligibility), 6.9% rep APR interest
£7,500 to £15,000: Tesco Bank (check eligibility), 5.8% rep APR interest (must have a Clubcard)

Top easy-access savings: Chase 4.5%, min £1 (newbies only)
Top easy-access ISA: Trading 212 4.51%, min £1 (newbies only)
Top one-year fix: OakNorth Bank 4.45%, min £1

Use our whole-of-market Cheap Energy Club

Up to 3GB data: Sky, '£1/mth' for 1GB
4GB to 9GB data: Lebara, '£3.45/mth' for 5GB
10GB to 30GB data: Lebara, '£3.62/mth' for 10GB
31GB+ data: iD Mobile, '£5.63/mth' for 120GB

THIS WEEK'S POLL

How much mobile data do you use in a month? Mobile phones are an essential part of everyday life for many, with streaming, gaming, social networking and more all increasingly done on data-hungry mobiles. When we last did this poll in 2024, three-quarters of respondents used less than 5GB a month. We want to see if this has changed since then. Please vote in this week's poll.

MSE NEWS

- Top story: Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland announce more bank branch closures

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA

Should my partner pay more towards bills to cover his children in our new home? My partner and I are looking to move in together. He has three children from a previous relationship who will live with us part of the time. We both have the same deposit to put towards our new home, but he's suggested he pays more of the mortgage and owns a larger percentage of the property to compensate for us needing a home with more bedrooms for his children. I don't agree and can afford to go 50-50 on the property. Instead, I think he should pay more towards bills to cover the cost of his children. Who's right? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should my partner pay more of the bills to cover his kids? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (TUE 30 SEPT ONWARDS)

Tue 30 Sept - The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, ITV1, 8pm
Wed 1 Oct - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live
Tue 7 Oct - Good Morning Britain, ITV1, 8.30am
Tue 7 Oct - This Morning, extended phone-in, ITV1, 10am

MSE TEAM APPEARANCES

Thu 2 Oct - BBC Radio Lincolnshire, MSE's Olivia on Sim-only deals, from 10.35am

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What you need to know

This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances - and remember we focus on rates not service.

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Who is Martin Lewis?
Martin Lewis CBE is the founder and executive chair of MSE, as well as the founder of the MMHPI charity. He's an ultra-focused MoneySaving journalist and consumer campaigner with his own prime-time ITV programme The Martin Lewis Money Show, Radio 5 Live Wednesday show Ask Martin Lewis and weekly slot on This Morning, among others. More info: See Martin Lewis' biography.

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