Almost one in 10 households are now experiencing “fuel stress” amid surging gas and electricity prices – a figure expected to treble overnight after the new energy price cap comes in on 1 April.
The Resolution Foundation forecasts that energy bills will become unaffordable for 27% of households when the price cap rises to about £2,000 a year. The poorest households may have to spend half their income on energy.
Six people speak about how rising fuel costs are affecting them.
‘I struggle to feed myself and have lost two stone’
Thirty-nine-year-old Sarah Moorby in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria has been “absolutely terrified” about providing a meter reading to her new energy supply company since being switched over from People Energy, which went bust in September. “I was paying £105.78 a month before but my duel fuel bill for electric and gas which covered October to mid-January with British Gas was £627.”
Moorby, who works as a welfare assistant and has three children aged 15, 18 and 19, has applied for a warm home discount after she started receiving universal credit in March 2021. She said if her energy bills remain at the same rate for the rest of the year she is looking at an increase of about £2,500 for the year but is still waiting to hear if the discount will be applied to her bill. “I’ve got used to shaving off money here and there to make the pennies go further, but an extra £115 a month is going to have to come out of my food bill, or clothing for the kids,” she said.
“Everything’s so expensive now – even if it’s just 10p or 20p more. I used to spend around £60 a week on food but now it’s more like £75 still buying the same items. I’ve already lost two stone because I struggle to feed myself and choose to feed the kids. I just don’t think I’m going to be able to afford it. The fear I have is if I don’t pay it or can’t pay it they’ll put me on a prepayment meter which will cost me more and some days I just won’t have the money to be able to put the electricity on.”
‘I can’t see how we can go on, unless we sell and move’
Pensioner Steven Tuszynski says he was “absolutely shocked” to learn that his energy provider was doubling his bills from next month. “Why is no one up in arms about this?” the 72-year-old asks. Tuszynski, who lives in Flintshire, north Wales, is on a fixed dual fuel contract with Octopus, and will see his monthly bills rise from £120 to £238 from mid-February.
Tuszynski looked at several price comparison sites, but has decided to stay with his current provider, as he worries about smaller companies going bust. The jump in costs means Tuszynski and his wife, who live in a house dating back to 1745, will look at cutting back on how many months they heat their home for. “We live in an old stone house – it takes a lot to heat it. Normally, come the end of April we switch off the central heating for good. It’ll probably go off earlier this year, in mid-March,” he says, adding that energy costs aren’t “the only thing that’s going up”, as he’s noticed a spike in food prices and is expecting council bills to rise too.
The 72-year-old, who has lived in his home for 25 years, says: “I can’t see how we can go on, unless we sell and move – only we love our house so much, and we don’t really want to.”
‘I only partially heat three rooms to 15C max’
In North Essex, retiree Lyn said it was “disturbing” to find the £140 warm home discount she receives on her bill has effectively been cancelled out because of the rise in energy costs. “I’ve never had the discount before but because of the media and the possibility of increased bills I thought I’d apply for it [last year] along with pension credit,” said the 69-year-old.
Lyn was moved to EDF Energy on a dual fuel tariff expiring in 2024 after Green Network Energy ceased trading in January 2021. Her monthly direct debit has increased from £66 to £79. She said she asked for it to be reduced but was refused. “It seems a little inflexible given the situation we’re all in,” she said.
“My house is well insulated and only partially heated in three rooms to 15C max for part of the day. My income is low as my private pension collapsed and was replaced by the Financial Assistance Service, so I’ll have to pull back on food costs.
“I don’t know what the government can do to help our energy bills, but it’s not totally down to energy as inflation generally is becoming evident.”
‘My account fell into a black hole after my provider went bust’
Andrew Davies, a self-employed gardener in his 50s, hasn’t been billed for gas since 27 September, when his gas provider Green Supplier Limited (Green) collapsed. He was moved over to Shell Energy but an account has not yet been set up in his name, meaning his bill is building up.
Davies, who lives in Llandrindod Wells, mid Wales, paid his final bill from Green in October and says his customer account “fell into a black hole” when Shell Energy took over. “They have not yet set me up with an account. I have contacted customer service many times by email and or phone,” he says, explaining that customer service is unable to find his meter point reference number in their system. “They can’t help me as they have not created an account for me … I can’t get anywhere.”
He says that while he is able to budget, he worries that some people may struggle. As he lives in a small property, he doesn’t think his bill will have grown too large, but acknowledges that there could be “other people with [unpaid bills of] £500 or £600 or even more that is just sat there getting bigger.” He adds: “I know mine’s not unmanageable, but I can’t speak for other people.”
‘Thousands of people could be thrown into poverty’
“In November we managed to negotiate our electricity bill down from £276 to £150 a month,” said Chris in Devon, who is on a variable rate with Octopus. She and her partner used to pay £68 a month but were asked to increase their direct debit in October because they weren’t covering the cost. They now owe Octopus about £1,400 but have decided to stick to the new monthly payments for the foreseeable future.
“We are absolutely shocked at how much energy has gone up and has left us with debt,” said the 25-year-old NHS worker. “My partner’s job is seasonal and my income is mostly based around universal credit because I have a toddler and only work part-time.
“The increase has been difficult for our finances and we budget more tightly with food but thankfully we have family to support us. It’s not just energy though: everything is going up. We shop at a local Lidl and we’ve noticed the price changes there. With everything costing so much there must be thousands of people who could be thrown into poverty.”
‘The cold really affects me’
In Northampton, pensioner Will has seen around a 50 per cent increase in his electricity usage since his landlord moved supplier recently after the previous one went into bankruptcy. “It used to cost approximately £5 a week but it’s now gone up to around £10 depending on how cold it is,” said the 72-year-old.
Will, who has been living in shared accommodation for three years, uses a prepayment meter which he “pops coins into” when he needs to. “I probably use the electricity the most in the household. I had major heart surgery last June and the cold really affects me, and because I’ve not been well I’m virtually at home all day.”
His income is about £1,300 a month, which includes his state pension and financial assistance he receives for housing and council tax. He believes he would be eligible for a warm home discount but because his landlord receives the electricity bill he doesn’t think he can apply for it.
“It’s been tough. I’m having difficulty walking so at least I’ve been able to reduce my expenditure by not going out, but I’ve also been eating less. If the electricity price goes up again it will become quite a concern. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
• This article was amended on 2 February 2022 because an earlier version referred to the collapse of gas supplier Green Energy when Green Supplier Limited (Green) was meant.
