Number of people seeking help with energy bills up by 20% last year
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Citizens Advice says it assisted 60,000 households in England and Wales with cost of gas and electricity in 2024. The number of people in England and Wales who sought help with energy bills jumped by 20% last year, according to Citizens Advice, which assisted 60,000 households struggling with the soaring cost of gas and electricity.
That number was double the figure for 2020, the national consumer advice charity said, with problems with billing being the single most common type of issue raised with its service providers. Such problems are not new but their consequences have become more serious with energy prices shooting up in recent years. A quarter of billing issues last year involved catchup bills, which were £2,500 on average.
The energy regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, sets a limit every quarter on the amount suppliers can charge for a unit of gas and electricity. On New Year’s Day, that price cap rose by 1.2%, increasing the average energy bill for millions of households to £1,738 a year. A further 3% increase is forecast for April.
The current cap is almost £600 a year more than the figure at the start of 2022, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 sent energy prices soaring. It comes as cold weather warnings have been issued across the UK, with the lowest January temperatures being recorded in 15 years, adding to demand for heating and pressure on the government over its controversial decision to axe winter fuel payments for all but the poorest pensioners.
