More than two million households in debt on their electricity bills

Data from the energy regulator Ofgem, according to reports in The Guardian, show that - from the end of June - 2.3 million households were behind on their electricity bills and 1.8 million on their gas bills. Additionally, both totals rose by about a quarter over the three months and by almost two-thirds since the end of 2020. 

It comes as debt advice charity Citizens Advice reported it had seen a record number of people who could not afford to top up their prepayment meter, the eighth time this record has been broken in the last nine months. 

Speaking to The Guardian, its head of policy Morgan Wild said: “Even with the temporary bill freeze in place, the cost of energy will still be at a record high.

“This crisis isn’t going away. By the end of September, we’d already helped more people with energy issues than we did for the whole of last year with an unprecedented amount who just can’t afford to top up their prepayment meter.” 

The organisation has also seen a sharp rise in people being forced onto prepayment meters.

In response, a spokesperson for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy told the outlet: “The government’s energy price guarantee will save the typical household about £700 this winter, based on what energy prices would have been under the current price cap – reducing bills by roughly a third. 

“This comes in addition to £1,200 direct payments to vulnerable households. Anyone struggling to pay their energy bills should contact their supplier as soon as possible to work out an affordable payment plan, which suppliers must agree to do under Ofgem rules.”