Finance on The Web

Soaring Bills leaves 5.4M Homes in Fuel Poverty

As the price of oil, gas and electricity keep on soaring it is estimated that household energy bills have risen by £4.3bn this year. This takes the average annual household energy bill to a staggering £1,292 per year. According to the comparison and switching site uSwitch.com there are now 5.4 million households – defined as spending 10% or more of net income – in fuel poverty. This is after the highly publiced latest rounds of price increases. uSwitch.com said that nearly 30% of pensioner households are now in fuel poverty as are 20% of families with only one income and 17% or working single parents.

Depressingly this is not the end of future price rises, uSwitch.com have warned that there will probably be another round of price rises that may be as high as 14%. This will drive more and more people into fuel poverty and the danger is that, especially in the case of pensioners, people will have to turn their heating off. Again it is the vunerable that will be affected the most. If you have elderly neighbours please keep an eye on them especially when the weather turns colder.

I would advise everybody to look at their energy bills and check if you can save money or lock in a better fixed rate on your supply. You can save money by switching it easy to do and will save you money.