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Eight million UK households will fall behind on energy bills this winter

Eight million households will fall behind on energy bills this winter
The Daily Telegraph, 21 October 2022

Millions of families will suffer financial difficulty this winter as utility bills soar, the City watchdog has warned.

The Financial Conduct Authority said 7.8 million households faced a “heavy burden” to keep up with their bills. This is 2.5 million more than in 2020, when the research was previously carried out.

It estimated that four million people had missed bills or loan payments in the last six months, while 12.9 million would find themselves in financial difficulty if they suffered any kind of financial shock.

The survey of 19,000 people in Britain found 60pc of those surveyed already found it hard to keep up with their bills.

Average household energy bills soared by 64pc this month, following the introduction of outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss’s energy price guarantee, which capped the average household bill at £2,500 a year.

The spike in bills means households are paying more than double for their gas usage than they were last year, although Rishi Sunak’s £400 energy rebate, announced while he was still chancellor, has helped cushion the blow.

However the energy price guarantee, which was previously slated to last for two years, will now only apply until April.

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