The goings-on in Hatvani’s group are a sober reminder of the toll this is going to take on the personal finances of millions of people.ĭonate to the Financial Literacy & Inclusion Campaign here Keith Anderson, chief executive of Scottish Power, said the crisis was moving “beyond what I think this industry can deal with”, adding the firm had been contacted by thousands of customers unable to pay their bills since April’s increases, even as consumption falls during the summer months.Ĭhris O’Shea, boss of British Gas owner Centrica, said the number of customers late with payments had risen by 125,000 to 716,000 over the past year. This week, the bosses of the UK’s biggest energy firms told MPs of the “totally horrific” consequences if the price cap rises from £1,971 to the expected level of £2,600 in October.īy then, Eon expects up to 40 per cent of its customers to be in fuel poverty - spending more than 10 per cent of their income on energy bills - the House of Commons business, energy and industrial strategy committee heard on Tuesday. He has been warning for some time that lower income households will either “freeze or starve” this winter unless more government help is forthcoming. Numbers in the Facebook group have surged since April’s bill hikes, and are set to increase further now that Martin Lewis, founder of Money Saving Expert, has become a member. “It’s like Bear Grylls out there - we’re talking about survival.” “I keep having to remind myself it’s 2022,” she says. Hatvani is aware of the increasingly desperate lengths people go to, including going to bed fully dressed, using candles placed on a gas hob to heat food, storing leftover boiled water from the kettle in a Thermos or building a homemade hay box (a thermal cooking technique from the postwar era). “Leave a bowl of water in the sun with a black bin liner on top and it will be warm enough to wash up in later,” was one tip widely shared on Twitter, highlighting the miserable reality of life for those who cannot afford to top up expensive prepayment meters. The group’s 15 full-time volunteers include energy experts and heating engineers advising on how to get bills down - plus what to do if you can’t afford to pay. “I wanted to give something back, and use my knowledge to help people - and it’s grown and grown,” she says. ![]() ![]() Made redundant after working as a business analyst in the energy industry for 16 years, she set up a Facebook group - Energy Support and Advice UK - to help people struggling to pay their bills. Others are dealing with the “price shock” of soaring bills by cancelling Netflix subscriptions AJ Bell has warned people are investing less retail sales are plummeting and consumer confidence has plunged to a near-record low.īut what if you have no slack in your budget? I’ve challenged the 112 per cent increase, although I could afford to pay it. My supplier claims this is based on my current usage and will prevent my account from being in the red by the time autumn arrives - at which point, energy prices are forecast to soar further.
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