Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Between April and June 2022, the number of households falling behind on their utility bills grew by 14% (295,000), to hit 2.7 million, or one in 10 UK households, according to new figures released by credit reference agency Equifax. On 1st April 2022, Ofgem increased the energy price cap from £1,277 to £1,971. In the…
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Over 12 million households (42%) across the UK face fuel poverty this winter, according to a forecast by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition. The estimates take into account support announced by the Government so far and are historically reflective of the definitions of fuel poverty used in official statistics. From the price cap rise on 1st…
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A new report from the Resolution Foundation has examined the impact of rising energy bills on low, middle and high-income households this winter, with the price cap forecast to hit £3,600 in October and top £4,500 in January. The report notes typical energy bills will cost around £2,000 more this year than last year –…
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New analysis by consultants LCP of detailed data on household spending patterns suggests that many elderly widows and those on pension credit were already at high risk of living in fuel poverty even before the surge in energy bills in recent years. Even if the government comes up with additional help to cover increased bills,…
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Ahead of the autumn bill hikes, household energy debt is already standing at an all-time high of £1.3 billion – nearly three times higher than it was in September last year according to new research from Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service. Six million homes – almost a quarter of households (23%) – owe an average of…
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The UK’s three largest debt charities have called on the energy regulator Ofgem to urgently increase protections for people with energy arrears, as rising costs continue to impact households. Citizens Advice, the Money Advice Trust and StepChange Debt Charity are warning that with a further substantial rise in the energy price cap coming in October,…
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The Government should immediately update its package of support to help households with soaring energy bills before the cost-of-living crisis grips even harder following October’s energy price cap increase, according to a new report by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee (BEIS). The report comes as people are feeling the squeeze of 40-year high…
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8.2 million households, one in three in the UK, are expected to be in fuel poverty following October’s price cap increase, National Energy Action has warned. Today fuel poverty charity National Energy Action (NEA) releases worrying new figures amid the cost-of-living crisis. Energy experts Cornwall Insight has predicted that when the price cap rises in…
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Ofgem boss Jonathan Brearley has told MPs the regulator expects the price cap to increase by more than £800 this October as the war in Ukraine continues to exacerbate the energy crisis. Appearing before the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee both Brearley and former Ofgem Chief Executive Dermot Nolan apologised for not intervening…
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The amount of money that households collectively owe to their energy suppliers has doubled in the past year to reach £1 billion, with a quarter (23%) of consumers now in energy debt, according to new research from Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service. The number of households in debt to their supplier has risen by…
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The number of English households in ‘fuel stress’ will double from 2.5 to 5 million as a result of the price cap rising from today (Friday), with another 2.5 million households at risk in October if the price cap rises again to £2,500, according to new Resolution Foundation research. The research shows that low-income households…
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New research published by Citizens Advice has predicted that £145-a-month hikes to energy costs in October could mean one in four adults, equivalent to 14.5 million people, will be unable to afford their bills. The figure is up from around five million saying they already can’t afford April’s price increase of £60-a-month. The charity included…
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Charity, Age UK has joined the call for the Chancellor to do more to help older people through the energy price crisis. The charity says that nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of older households in England will be in fuel stress when energy prices go up from 1st April, this is up from just…
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