Energy firms sit on £3bn customer credit

ENERGY suppliers are hoarding £3billion of customers’ money, a poll suggests.

Householders usually exit winter with little or no account credit, having used it up in colder months.

But research now shows 56% of households – over 16 million – will still have credit with suppliers this spring after a winter of high bills followed by recent price drop.

Will Owen of Uswitch.com, which shared the findings, said: “In recent years, when bills have been so high and unpredictable, it has been a good idea to retain a lot of credit.

“However, the fall in prices this spring means consumers may want to consider reclaiming some of it.”

Some 14% of customers have balances over £300 and 5% have more than £500 – but only 28% plan to ask for the credit to be refunded.

Of those with more supplier credit than this time last year, 44% say their balance built up because their direct debit has been set too high, and 40% say it is due to their efforts to reduce energy usage.

Nearly four million households are in debt to energy providers to a total of £771million, the study found.

Average debt per household is down to £194 from £234 last year, but the number of homes that have fallen behind with payments has risen by 167,000.