Coronavirus: 13% of consumers struggle with energy bills

A total of 13 per cent of energy customers have fallen behind or expect to fall behind on their energy bill payments due to coronavirus, research from Citizens Advice has found.

The survey of 2,000 customers, conducted earlier this month, found 4 per cent in total had already fallen behind, while 9 per cent said they expected to fall behind.

Meanwhile 7 per cent of pre-payment meter (PPM) customers said they had fallen behind and 17 per cent expected to. Furthermore almost half (48 per cent) of PPM customers had struggled to top up their meter as a result of the crisis.

The lockdown also seems to have had an effect, with 19 per cent of PPM customers reporting they had struggled to top up their meter because of increased home energy use, while 23 per cent were unable to leave their home to top up at the shop. In addition, 8 per cent said they struggled with a loss of income.

The charity has further revealed that between its launch on 20 March to 9 April, a web page titled ‘If you can’t pay your bills because of coronavirus’ saw 318,000 visits, making it the second most visited page behind ‘Coronavirus: If your employer has told you not to work’.

Speaking during the latest Utility Week #AskUsAnything webinar, Gillian Cooper, the charity’s head of energy, also warned that existing protection gaps around self-disconnection must be strengthened in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Cooper said while it was too soon to know exactly what the recovery will look like, it is highly likely that the number of utilities customers in debt will increase in the short and medium terms.

“The energy sector is relatively unique when it comes to the essential services market because of the large number of PPM users. The risks are greater because people can’t afford to top up or can’t get to the shops to top up and they could lose access to an essential to life service,” she said.

One option, Cooper said, was to replace PPMs with smart meters, giving suppliers more flexibility to remotely top up a meter when the consumer is unable to do so.

She added: “It is really important that existing protection gaps close as quickly as possible and that means moving forward plans to strengthen the protections around self-disconnection and the ability to pay back principles.

“We would also like the industry to look at how it can quickly improve the security of customers that are in particularly vulnerable circumstances including replacing legacy PPM with smart meters that offer more options to keep people on supply.

“It also means continuing to deliver better value throughout the energy system through the price control process ensuring that bills can stay as low as possible.”

Issues surrounding PPMs have been a point of increasing concern for consumers, with Citizens Advice recently reporting a c.90-fold increase in traffic to a website page giving advice to PPM customers.

She did however praise the series of principles agreed between the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the industry last month which prioritised keeping the most vulnerable customers, including those on PPM, on supply.

“From a messaging point of view, it’s really helpful to be able to tell people there’s a consistent offer of support available, no matter who their energy company is. The whole process around Covid and the impact that it is having on most people have been really confusing. So being able to give a simple, clear message is really helpful,” Cooper added.

You can listen to the full recording of the webinar here.