The percentage of UK households who do n’t pay their energy bills increases by 39 %.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics ( ONS ) released on Thursday, the number of British homes that failed to pay their energy bills increased by almost 40 % over the previous year.

According to the information made public on Thursday, households are still experiencing the effects of the cost of living crisis because the total Direct Debit failure rate in December 2023 increased by 15 % over the previous year.

According to the ONS, this was primarily caused by increases of 39 % in the category of “electricity and gas spending category” and 20 % in that category for “mortgages.”

Over the past few years, rising energy costs and mortgage rates have been a problem for Britons. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, wholesale power prices increased tremendously.

After the Bank of England raised interest rates to 5.25 percent in an effort to control prices, which is also having a negative effect on British money as the price of food has increased, mortgage rates skyrocketed.

The cost that Britons are paying is still considerably higher than it was prior to the price spike, despite the fact that energy retail costs have decreased since their peak next winter.

For a typical dual fuel household, Ofgem increased the energy price cap at the start of the year by 5 % from the previous £1, 834 to £, 928. In contrast, the annual electricity cover in October 2021 was £1, 277.

According to Ofgem, the increase was caused by rising costs in the global wholesale power market brought on by marketplace instability and current affairs, especially the conflict in Ukraine.

Jonathan Brearley, the CEO of Ofgem, acknowledged that many people are now going through a “difficult day” and that “any increase in payments will be worrying.”

However, he claimed that the increase was brought on by the rising retail price of gas and electricity, which must be taken into account when calculating the value that we all pay.

People who use more may pay more because the headline rate cap number is an ordinary across households rather than an overall cap on bills.

Hopes for relief from the cost-of-living problems are dashed by the increase, which also comes after president Jeremy Hunt made no mention of any additional government assistance to cover household energy costs.

Households received a one-time settlement of £400 to help with energy prices during the electricity price spike of winter 2022–2023.

The End Energy Poverty Coalition’s Simon Francis stated to The Independent that “energy debt is already at record levels with about £3bn owed by clients.”

” This is not their fault, but the debt is driven by energy prices, which are still more than twice what they were in winter 2020/21 and increased by an additional 5 % on January 1st, 2024.”

Ministers are sitting on their arms as homeowners struggle to pay their bills in chilly, wet, moldy houses.

They “refused to set up an industry-wide scheme to help people recover their energy debts and refused to create an Emergency Energy Price for vulnerable households.”

Citizens Advice reported that it was assisting in tracking the number of homes with electricity bill and identifying more individuals than ever who could not afford to increase their payment sensor.

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