Rising energy costs have reached a crisis point and more help is needed for struggling households, Martin Lewis told the BBC.
Analysts have forecast bills to rise even further to nearly £4,000 a year for a typical home.
It comes as energy companies Shell and British Gas owner Centrica reported big profit increases following price hikes.
Finance expert Lewis said people were panicking and warned “it’s going to get desperate” as bills soar this winter.
“It’s going to put a lot of households in an awfully difficult financial situation,” he told BBC Today.
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In recent months, Russia has cut back supplies to Europe and there are growing fears it could shut off taps altogether.
In the face of potential gas supply problems, the wholesale price has skyrocketed, leading energy companies to pass these costs on to customers – adding to households’ energy bills by an unprecedented amount.
Mr Lewis said he had “never seen anything like it” and that people were being pushed to make “some terrible decisions”.
“From last October to October of this year, a typical home is paying £2,300 more a year on its energy bill alone, year over year. Forget increases in cellphone and broadband and taxes and everything else and gas and groceries,” he said.
“People will panic, it will be desperate.”
The Government has announced that every UK household will receive a £400 rebate on their energy bill this autumn as part of a package of new measures to tackle soaring prices.
But Mr Lewis said more needs to be done now to help the poorest households.
“Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, if you’re listening, please go and sit in a room together, make a joint decision now about what help you can provide, and make an announcement now to help the one to come prevent mental harm across the country,” he said.
“We must act now”
UK energy bills rose by an unprecedented £700 in April and are likely to continue to rise.
A consultancy, BFY, warned that a typical energy bill could reach £3,850 a year by January, much higher than forecast earlier this month.
BFY said its forecast reflected the rise in wholesale prices in recent weeks, with ongoing tensions with Russia raising concerns about winter deliveries.
Faye Dearnaley, a student living in Fife with her three-year-old daughter, is one of many fearful of rising bills and said she was “always checking the meters”.
“It becomes more and more stressful when prices go up.
“I mean, the only thing I have on all the time is my fridge freezer, but I’ll be working more than eight hours a day without having anything else around the house.
Ms Dearnaley, who studies to become a teacher, said she shut down her laptop until it was about to fail and turned off her internet at times “just to try and save a bit of electricity”.
“It’s getting ridiculous,” she said. “My base price for gas has doubled. My basic price for my electricity has tripled.
“You’re really watching every penny go by on your smart meter.
“Food banks are a regular occurrence anyway, so it’s a daunting thought to visit them more often than I already am.”
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