National Energy Action responds to energy debt reaching new record level

National Energy Action Policy Analyst James Mabey says, ‘It is deeply worrying that Ofgem’s latest figures show energy debt has risen again to a new record high. For the households National Energy Action supports, the consequences of energy debt include cold homes, rising anxiety and impossible choices about essentials.’

‘This debt has built up because bills have gone beyond what many low-income households can afford, and its effects are not limited to those already in arrears. Allowing debt to persist builds additional costs into future price caps, while also increasing the risk of more harmful responses such as households having prepayment meters forcibly installed. It also risks excluding low-income households from the benefits of wider market reform, including the opportunities linked to smarter tariffs and home upgrades.’

‘The right response is to scale debt relief. As our new paper, Clearing the Decks, sets out, that means enabling and expanding Ofgem’s Debt Relief Scheme with additional funding so more of this debt can be cleared, reducing harm and lowering costs across bills.’

Read our new paper, Clearing the Decks: Tackling Energy Debt to Lower Bills, here: https://www.nea.org.uk/publications/clearing-the-decks/

See Ofgem’s statistics here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/data/debt-and-arrears-indicators in ‘More information’ tab of Total financial value of domestic customer debt and arrears (existing for more than 91 days) graph