Customers face fuel poverty "timebomb"

20/02/2009

A financial website warned today of the dire threat faced by householders struggling to pay their gas and electricity bills.

uSwitch.com said that fuel poverty - defined as a household having to spend over ten per cent of their income on energy costs - shot up from four million to 5.4 million homes in the UK.

This means that one in five households are now affected by the problem.

Analysis from the site shows that energy bills rose in cost by 42 per cent over 2008, before falling by just 4.5 per cent so far this year.

Kevin Still, EuroDebt director, commented: "We have taken the decision to become an energy switching provider for not only our existing clients, but all UK consumers who haven’t taken advantage of the free comparison tools for gas, electricity and dual fuel.

"With water prices rising by over four per cent and utilities consuming such a high proportion of income for households in financial difficulty it is important that we can release as much disposable income as possible in very tough market conditions, especially with wage freezes also affecting many of these households."

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch, added: "Fuel poverty is a ticking time bomb that energy price cuts alone will not be able to defuse."

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills, Young Family Finances, Retirement Money Problems, Credit Card Lifestyle,

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