Member Article

Survey reveals residents struggling with fuel bills and unprepared for winter

With the latest figures* showing that fuel poverty affects 2.3 million households in England, one of the biggest issues for tenants is the cost of energy bills according to a survey** by prepayment energy supplier Utilita Energy.

The survey found that many households are struggling to pay their energy bills and are failing to plan ahead for colder, winter months.

According to the findings, one third of people (33%), have had to make cutbacks in order to afford their utility bills with some having to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table. Despite the recent economic upturn, more than half of people, (55%) said they had cut back on essential groceries to pay their energy bills.

Utilita Managing Director, Bill Bullen, said:

“These results demonstrate the continuing hardship being faced by many families across the country and really underline why it’s important to plan ahead to avoid difficulties in the colder months, when energy costs are likely to be higher. Installing smart meter technology has helped thousands of households to save money and achieve a much greater degree of control over their energy use so there are no nasty surprises.”

Utilita has worked with a number of social housing landlords across the country to install smart meters as part of a range of measures to tackle fuel poverty.

*Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics Report 2014 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/319280/Fuel_Poverty_Report_Final.pdf

**Survey of 1,000 residents (mixed tenure) conducted by Atomik Research as instructed by Utilita Energy

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rebecca Jackson .