Energy Company Debt Recovery In The Spotlight
Energy companies are often criticised for imposing unfair charges on consumers, however it no seems that the energy companies themselves are under pressure from bill payers going into arrears.
Ofgem recently released information about an unnamed energy supplier seeing a “significant” rise in customers not paying their bills and going into debt. The company is not alone – money owed to energy suppliers by their customers has risen to almost a billion pounds in the past year.
The number of accounts in the red for electricity usage is just short of 1.4 million while gas is slightly less at 1.2 million although these numbers were less than that recorded the year before in 2014. The average amount of money owed by householders was £355 for electricity and £382 for gas which is well up by 16% and 18% respectively on 2013 figures.
This shows that even though the amount of households owing money has fallen, customers are actually getting into more debt with suppliers than they were in the previous year. Ofgem will be investigating the industry’s debt collection policies in an effort to help consumers manage their debts better. However, as energy prices have fallen in recent months this year’s figures are likely to read better.