This is the third price hike Igloo customers have had in the past year. Bills rose by £86 last October.

Igloo blamed depleting energy stocks, coronavirus and Brexit for the price rises. It said uncertainty caused by the pandemic and Brexit pushed up energy prices, while colder weather increased worldwide demand resulting in less gas landing in the UK, depleting our gas reserves.

Matt Clemow, Igloo Energy CEO and founder, said: “Since the beginning of the year wholesale prices have increased by almost 100%. We recognise that it’s been a tough year and we’ve done all we can to absorb this impact for as long as possible, but costs have continued to rise and we reluctantly need to increase our energy prices. From 2nd August 2021, we will be increasing prices by 12.1% for a typical Igloo dual fuel home.”

Wholesale electricity prices are now at their highest since 2008, and have risen by 50% since the start of the year. The wholesale cost of gas is at its highest in three years and has more than doubled since the start of this year.

Igloo only has one tariff – a variable tariff called ‘Pioneer’ for dual-fuel and electricity-only households paying by direct debit. Customers typically pay £967 a year for the tariff – this will rise to £1,078 from 2 August. The new average price is only £60 a year less than Ofgem’s current energy price cap of £1,138 a year.

However, despite the price rise, Igloo still offers one of the cheapest variable tariffs on the market. Almost all the big energy companies have already raised prices on their variable tariffs to close to the energy price cap. Households may be able to save money by switching to a fixed energy tariff.