It’s almost crunch time for our energy bills, with the new price cap that will kick in from 1 April due to be announced in just over a week.

At that point those on variable rate price cap-linked tariffs will know how much their bills will rise by – a figure that’s widely expected to be 50%.

But the worst of the bill shock pain will be felt by others, those with fixed rate deals cheaper than the current price cap but that are soon due to end.

So, can people on either variable or fixed deals do anything to stop their bills soaring? Is there any merit in trying to fix? 

And what should we do to help the households for whom this will be not just another blow from the cost of living crunch, but a shove into fuel poverty?

On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert talk through the options for Britons facing soaring energy bills and the government and industry in trying to deal with them.

Plus, with Simon one of those people whose fix is imminently ending – in the middle of March – what are the options that his energy supplier Octopus has presented him with, and which one is he going to take? He talks us through that.

Also on this week’s podcast, the team talk through the stock market wobble, the US growth vs rising rates conundrum, and the suggestions that it might be UK shares time to shine.

And finally, Nationwide has at last raised savings rates – only a week before the Bank of England is forecast to deliver another rate rise – but will savers be cheered or disappointed?