Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Household energy debt has hit a five-year high of £216 ahead of the winter, with the number of homes already owing money to their provider up 11% on last year new research from Uswitch.com, has revealed. The average household debt is up 13% on the £190 figure seen at this time last year, and the number…
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Fourteen energy retail companies have announced their collective commitment to go above and beyond current licensing conditions to help households struggling with energy bill debt this winter. The Winter 2023 Voluntary Debt Commitment, developed with Energy UK, Ofgem and Citizens Advice, means that energy suppliers are going further than existing regulatory obligations to provide better support…
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Energy regulator, Ofgem has announced the launch of a consultation to assesss options to protect the energy market and consumers from the risk of spiralling debt. Figures obtained by the regulator this summer show that energy debt reached £2.6 billion, its highest ever level, due to a combination of the rise in wholesale energy prices,…
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EDF Energy has reported that the number of homes falling into debt on their energy bills has increased by 36% since the beginning of the year. The company also said standing charges on energy bills have increased by 55% since April 2021. The energy company has announced that it is boosting support for vulnerable customers…
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New research by National Energy Action has found that the number of households in fuel poverty is approximately 6.6 million. Energy bills are still approximately almost double the level of October 2021. Just 21 months ago, the typical household paid £1,271 a year, and even with the new price, 2 million extra UK households are in…
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New research from Citizens Advice found that 3.2 million people across Great Britain ran out of credit on their prepayment meter last year because they couldn’t afford to top up. That’s one person every 10 seconds – cut off from their energy supply as the cost-of-living crisis left people struggling to keep the lights on.…
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The number of families with children at home who believe they won’t be able to afford their energy bills is set to rise by an additional 27% over the next three months, pushing an additional one in four families into financial struggle, according to Comparethemarket’s latest Household Financial Confidence Tracker. Over a third (36%) of households…
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A new report from Cornwall Insight and Complete Strategy has shown domestic energy suppliers could be exposed to approximately £1.9bn of debt1, of which a significant portion could be unrecoverable. The amount of unrecoverable debt, known as bad debt, facing suppliers is increasing with the cost-of-living crisis leaving more households unable to pay their bills.…
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At some point in 2022, 74% of households have avoided turning on the heating despite wanting to. In addition, 55% have turned down the temperature in their home, 50% have reduced the use of their oven and 31% are only heating part of their homes according to new research by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust. The…
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Latest StepChange debt charity client data from October 2022 shows the cost of living is still the number one driver of debt among new clients, although the proportion of new clients with gas and electricity arrears fell compared to September. Since the start of October, when the government’s energy price guarantee was announced, the proportion of…
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Older people will spend a higher share of their income on energy bills this winter than other age groups – with the over-75s expected to spend 8 per cent of their total household income on bills, even with significant government support – but younger households are most at risk of being unable to pay bills…
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Uswitch is calling on the Government to ensure that prepayment meter customers at risk of self-disconnection are considered the highest priority for additional support beyond April 2023. Uswitch says that the energy crisis has reversed a long-term trend for falling numbers of prepayment meters, putting thousands more households at risk of self-disconnection. From the middle of…
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Energy regulator Ofgem has published its Market Compliance Review of how energy suppliers help customers in payment difficulties and has found issues ranging from minor through to severe weaknesses, or failings. The research found that, although good practice exists across the industry, with one supplier having no issues, most need to make improvements in processes…
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