Martin Lewis' MSE shares how to get cash from your energy firms after £1,000 payout

Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert (MSE) has shared how Britous could get a payout from their energy provider - and these could potentially be worth over £1,000.

In the recent , Martin Lewsis' team urged Brits to check whether they had credit on their energy account. The team explained that if you pay your by direct debit, your supplier will take your annual costs, based on your average use and divide it by 12 to work out your monthly payments.

This smooths out your bills so you are not facing sky-high bills in the winter when your energy use will likely be higher. In essence, the MSE teams says you build up energy credit in the summer and use it in the winter. However, if your usage is lower than anticipated, then you could build up a significant amount of energy credit in your account, and you can claim this back if it is too much.

The newsletter said if you have more than two months worth of bill payments sat in your energy account then you should ask for some money back. For example, if your energy bill sits at £100 a month and you have £250 worth of credit in your account, then you should ask for £50 back.

Have you managed to claim back hundreds in energy credit from your supplier? let us know by emailing - mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk

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The MSE newsletter said: "Are you in too much ENERGY CREDIT (more than 2mths' Direct Debits' worth at the moment)? Get some refunded. If you pay by monthly DD, you SHOULD usually be in energy credit at this time of year, as you've been storing it up over the summer months to use in the winter. Yet more than a couple of months' worth is too much."

The MSE team says it could "pay off" with some households potentially able to claim back a few hundred - or even up to £1,000 from their supplier. One fan wrote to MSE to tell them how she had followed this advice and received a payout of £1,000 from her energy supplier EDF. Dianne's email read: "Thanks to you I checked and discovered I was £1,000 in credit with EDF. I am now looking forward to a cheeky little holiday, which I wouldn't normally have been able to afford. Happy days, thank you again."

However, it's important to remember that if you have less than two months of energy credit in your account, then you shouldn't ask for a refund. Martin noted that you may actually want to increase your monthly payments to cover yourself over the winter months.

How you get the cash back will depend on who your supplier is. Only one UK supplier currently promises automatic refunds if your credit is too high on the anniversary of you joining - this is Scottish Power. The rest require you to check yourself. With British Gas, if you're in credit at the end of your "plan year" it will reduce your direct debit but it will not offer you a refund - you have to ask for one.

This is a similar approach to EDF, however, you will be automatically refunded £150 if you're energy credit is above this. With E.on Next, Ovo Energy, SSE and Octopus you have to request a refund. For all suppliers, you will need to follow certain steps - such as supplying a recent meter reading - to get your money back.

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