Thousands of families in arrears face having their gas and electricity cut off, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service has warned.
MABS has revealed that last month alone their helpline received calls from more than 1,900 people, a significant portion of whom had built up utility and rent arrears.
Of those, the numbers who reached out to the State’s debt advisory service in the last week of January is up 10% from the same period last year.
However, advisers with MABS believe there are thousands more cash-strapped householders out there who have run into severe financial difficulties since the start of the year, but who have yet to seek out help.
Experts with the service point to a combination of factors that have exacerbated the apparent surge in household debt, including the lifting of moratoriums on electricity and gas disconnections that had been in place for the bulk of the period since the pandemic first took hold in March 2020.
Increases in energy costs, refuse collections and the price of groceries, along with spiralling fuel bills for those returning to work, have also taken their toll on many households, according to MABS.
Michael Laffey, spokesman for the service, said: “We’ve noted a trend of more people falling into utility and rent arrears. Moratoriums had been in place for much of the pandemic, and that meant that the threat of disconnection was not there, and so many householders didn’t fear a consequence of not paying.
“Under normal circumstances they’d have been disconnected, but there was a safety net in place. But that’s no longer there after the most recent moratorium was lifted last month.
“There’s other factors at play, too, including the increased energy costs that people have faced from spending more time at home during the pandemic, plus the rise in cost of electricity.
“Also PUP payments are coming to a close, and the cost of living has gone up, whilst salaries and social welfare payments have not increased. Anyone who’s physically returning to work now, having worked remotely at home up to recently, is going to find themselves with increased fuel costs, too.”
Laffey urged anyone who has been threatened with disconnection by their supplier to get in touch with MABS as soon as possible to work out a solution.
He added: “Our advice to people who have been threatened with disconnection is to get in touch with us as soon as possible. If you get disconnected, it’s an awful situation, being in a freezing home and unable to cook a meal.
“For many people, this post-pandemic period is far more challenging financially, and we’d be concerned that there’s many more people out there with debt problems. If so, we want to hear from them.”
For more information, check out www.mabs.ie. The MABS helpline is 0818-072000, and runs from 9am to 8pm, Mondays to Fridays.
