HOUSEHOLDS will "burn through" the government’s emergency package to help with rising heating bills in days, an energy firm boss has predicted. 

The warning came as the government revealed more detail about how the £400 grant will be paid out. 

The money, which was one of a series of measures announced in May by the then Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, will come in the form of a monthly deduction from bills over six months. 

Customers will see £66 taken off their energy bills in October and November, and £67 each month from December to March, the Government said. While those on pre-paid meters will receive vouchers. 

Mr Sunak’s announcement this year came after energy bills were predicted to hit £2,800 for the average household in October.

However, a more recent forecast by BFY said the increase in the wholesale gas price sparked by Russia reducing the flow through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20% on Wednesday, meant that October’s price cap – set by the energy regulator, Ofgem – could hit £3,420 for the average dual-fuel tariff, before jumping again in January to £3,850. 

That is a 77 per cent rise, roughly £2,300 a year more on energy bills for an average home.

On Friday, Richard Neudegg, director of regulation at Uswitch, called for the £400 to be increased to at least £600, and for payments to vulnerable households to rise from £650 to £950.

“The Government did the right thing by stepping in with wide-reaching support to try to help ease the blow. However, this support now looks like a severe under-estimation of what consumers need,” he said.

“Households need clarity to help them plan for the most expensive winter in living memory.”

The chairman of energy company Utilita said the worst is “potentially yet to come”.

Derek Lickorish told BBC Radio 4’s Today that in 2020 £50 of energy would have lasted 12 days, he said. Now customers could burn through that amount in three-and-a-half days.

He called for the introduction of a social tariff which discounts bills for those worst off.

Maureen Fildes of the fuel poverty charity National Energy Action said she worried that those on pre-payment meters may not get their vouchers.

“There is a lot of fear about how people are going to survive the winter,” she said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I don’t think that is going to be sufficient to help people cope with the cost of living this winter.

“A lot of people on pre-payment meters don’t have a lot of interaction with the energy supplier; they just top up as and when they need to. If it’s a paper voucher, we’d like to ensure that people don’t ignore post from their supplier.

"It’s not going to be another bill; it is going to be some level of support.”

Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “People across the country are understandably worried about the global rise in energy costs and the pressure this is placing on everyday bills.

“While no government can control global gas prices, we have a responsibility to step in where we can and this significant £400 discount on energy bills we’re providing will go some way to help millions of families over the colder months.”

Yesterday, the Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis said the energy price increases would throw families into a "terribly difficult financial situation".

But he added: “The problem is we have this zombie government at the moment that can’t make any big decisions."

Mr Lewis said the Tory leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss should meet with Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “make a collective decision now of what help you can give and make an announcement to forestall the mental health damage that is coming across the country.”

He said: “there needs to be action now, you are all in the same party, you should be able to work out some unifying policy, something for heaven’s sake”.

"Sit in a room, decide what you are going to do together, take a little bit of collective action and give the panicking people across the country a little bit of respite from this,” he added.