Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
A quarter of 18-24-year-olds (young consumers) struggle to understand their energy bills according to new research from Octopus Energy and the National Literacy Trust.
The research showed over 91% of the youngest bill payers couldn’t correctly identify all six key energy bill terms – including “dual fuel”, “kWh” and “tariff” – compared with just 21% of the over 65s.
Only 47% of all bill payers were able to correctly identify all six common terms. The reports says that this highlights widespread misunderstanding of what bill payers are paying for and how this is a real problem in the youngest generation.
The youngest age group are also the most likely to avoid reading their energy bills because of the language used. Seven times as many 18-to-24-year-olds compared to those aged 65 and over say that they sometimes don’t read their bills for this reason (22% vs. 3%).
What’s more, almost half (45%) of this age group had to ask for help to explain a word or term they did not understand in the last 12 months, in contrast with just 1 in 50 (2%) of over 65s.
Overall, one-fifth of the adults surveyed said they have sought help understanding their bill in the last year. This more than doubles to over half (51%) of respondents with the lowest levels of confidence in their reading skills.
Simplifying the language used in energy bills would appeal to the majority of bill payers, with almost two-thirds of bill payers agreeing that the language used in energy bills needed to be more accessible.
Jonathan Douglas CBE, Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust said “Literacy plays an essential role in all aspects of life and it is clear the energy sector must change to accommodate the widespread lack of understanding of energy bills. Simplifying the language will benefit everyone: almost two thirds of respondents told us they are looking for more accessible language. However, it will especially help the many adults who lack confidence in their reading ability – as half of these people have asked for support deciphering their energy bill in the last year alone. If the industry changes, there could be a hugely positive impact on the way people interact with energy: using less and better supporting the environment.”