uSwitch: Millions of households cannot afford extra energy bills

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uSwitch: Millions of households cannot afford extra energy bills

Fri 15th Aug 2008

Ten million households cannot pay more for their energy, comparison and switching service uSwitch.com has found.

Half of all UK households, or 13 million, are going to cut their winter heating to save bills, while almost four million homes are giving up hot meals to save money.

Over 12.5 million customers were affected by EDF Energy's and British Gas' second price increase in six months, with others expected to follow the trend in the coming weeks.

With gas and electricity bills having risen by 23 per cent on average for those affected, ten million households (39 per cent) say they cannot afford extra payments.

Money website Fool.co.uk said that over half (54 per cent) of householders failed to cap their energy tariffs this month, leaving them unable to beat rate rises.

Laura Starkey of Fool.co.uk said consumers can now wait and see what happens, take a capped tariff now or get ready to switch.

"Finding a new tariff after each price hike may be the best way to keep on top of rising prices by applying a little regular legwork," she said.

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