Price hikes leave three million households in debt over energy bills

HOUSEHOLD ENERGY debt has soared by 24 per cent compared with this time last year while consumers owe £100m more to their supplier than they did in 2016, a survey suggests.

Some three million UK household bill payers currently owe an average of £134 or a collective £400m to their energy supplier at a time when – just as winter begins – they would expect to be in credit, according to the survey for uSwitch.

The collective debt is up by £75m on last year, while the number of households owing money has increased by more than 300,000 since autumn last year, uSwitch said.

Looking further back, consumers owe their suppliers 36 per cent more than they did in 2016.

However, more than a third of bill payers think they used less energy this summer than in 2017 and 41 per cent are already worrying about their energy bills ahead of winter, the poll suggests.

The higher levels of debt this year follow an unprecedented number of price hikes from large and small suppliers due to rising wholesale costs.

Since January, a total of 32 energy providers have announced 55 price rises, adding nearly £900m a year to domestic energy bills.

USwitch energy spokesman Rik Smith said: “The soaring number of households in debt to their energy supplier is a clear indication of pressure people are under just to make ends meet.

“After so many price rises this year, a lot have received a price rise notification over the summer but not switched to a cheaper deal. Now is the time for consumers to take action, by making their homes more energy efficient or ensuring they don’t pay more than they need for energy.”