The watchdog raised its price cap this week, but that doesn’t mean you have to pay more

Millions of people who were already having to contend with higher gas and electricity bills as a result of working from home will see their charges rise by a further £96 a year from this week, adding a total of about £1bn to bills. But by switching, you can easily save £250 a year or more.

On Thursday, households signed up to their suppliers’ standard tariff had their energy bills increase by more than 9% after the energy regulator, Ofgem, increased its cap – the highest price that suppliers can charge.