Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Citizens Advice has announced that, for the third month in a row, it has broken record for providing crisis support as the cost of living impact takes hold.
In March 2022, the charity referred 24,752 people to food banks or to other charitable support, up by 44% compared to the same time last year.
Research from the charity has revealed that around five million people will be unable to pay their energy bills from April even accounting for the support the government has already announced. This number will almost triple, to 1 in 4 people in the UK – over 14 million – when the price cap rises again in October based on current predictions.
With the cost-of-living crisis ramping up, Citizens Advice frontline advisers from opposite ends of the country have shared their perspective on the problems rising costs are causing.
Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said “The energy price cap rise will be potentially ruinous for millions of people across the country. It comes just as another new, bleak record is set for people needing crisis support from Citizens Advice.”
“The support announced so far from the government simply isn’t enough for those who’ll be hit hardest. With the long-anticipated price rises now hitting, many more people will face the kind of heart-rending choices that our frontline advisors already see all too often.”
