Call for low cost energy tariffs to be made more accessible
If you spend more than 10% of your annual income on fuel you are considered to be one of the million people in the UK who struggle to pay their energy bills through fuel poverty.
With the increase in the latest unemployment figures and the economy still in recession, paying for fuel has become a major concern for Consumer Focus who are again calling for the six big energy giants to offer their low cost social tariffs to more people. Zoe McLeod, an energy expert at Consumer Focus, said:
“Social tariffs remain pitifully inadequate to tackle fuel poverty, with energy firms spending just half a percent of their turnover on them. Only a minority of the over five million fuel-poor households in the UK receive help through these discounted rates.”
The days of having breathing space during the summer, when less fuel is used, appears to be a distant memory for many households, as the only way they are able to pay for winter fuel is to spread the cost throughout the year. This may enable people to hold their heads above water during the winter, however, whilst those over sixty years old are almost all legible to apply for the low cost energy tariffs there are many more households who are struggling to pay their fuel bills irrespective of what time of year or season it is. This has been exacerbated further due to the fact that gas and electricity prices are still at record highs.
The necessity for help during the winter months continues to cause misery for thousands of households and this year the problem is expected to increase further still as redundancies and unemployment figures continue to rise and the downturn in the economy, which is already making life difficult for thousands of people, is expected to remain throughout the year and into 2010.
Ofgem, the energy regulators, are pleased to see an increase in the number of people who are being offered low cost energy. Maxine Frerk, director of governance, consumer and social affairs at Ofgem, has said “We are particularly pleased to see the increase in the number of customers benefitting and encourage suppliers to continue to focus on how best to help their vulnerable customers who are struggling to pay their bills”
The gas and electricity suppliers are saying that they provide help to vulnerable people more than any other industry, and yet consumer groups and charities have hit back saying that more is needed to eliminate fuel poverty as many people currently do not meet the tight criteria which means many households are not able to take advantage of low cost energy or social tariffs.
