Check your Energy Balance: Energy Suppliers Sat on Billions

Popular comparison site Uswitch.com promptly warns customers that the big energy suppliers are sitting on at least £3 billion of household money.

They have concluded that the typical home is in credit with their gas and electricity supplier, approximately £210.

They instruct people to claim back money if they are in 2 months’ worth of credit.

Customers are normally in credit after winter

This comes as the country faces a severe cost-of-living crisis, where some families have had to deal with difficult situations where they can’t afford to heat their homes or have meals on the table.

Having usually used up their credit through the colder months, customers typically would enter the spring with no credit, and this is when they would begin to rekindle it thanks to lower energy use.

The 16 million households impacted

Take a look at the interactive table below for an in-depth look at the percentages of homes this is impacting:

Breakdown

Item 1: One in seven consumers (14 per cent) have balances over £300, and five per cent have more than £500 with their energy provider – but only a quarter (28 per cent) of these consumers plan to ask for it to be refunded.
Item 2: Two in five households (44 per cent) with more credit than this time last year say their balance built up over winter because their direct debit has been set too high.
Item 3: Two-fifths of consumers (40 per cent) attribute the increase in their credit balance to their efforts to reduce energy usage.
Item 4: a third (33 per cent) said they used the heating less often due to the mild winter.

Although nearly £3.5 billion lower than in 2023, which could be caused by energy costs being higher than last winter when homes gained £400 towards their bills from the government.

Speak to your energy suppliers

Energy expert at the comparison site, Will Owen, has stated that:

Despite the expensive winter for energy bills, more than half of the UK households are exiting this winter with credit on their accounts.

This may be because households were spending more on energy than the previous winter, as they were not benefiting from any government bill support this time around.

He went on to say that customers need to check if their credit balance is high. If it is, they need to request that their supplier re-check that the direct debit is set at the correct level for the amount of energy they use.

Bills are falling but people still need help.

Yes, energy bills are falling which is great. But they remain historically high and thanks to this, more and more people have found themselves slipping into debt.

Support should still be provided to people who are still in debt with their energy company and customers feeling the pressure should contact suppliers.

Remember, you should submit regular meter readings to your energy supplier if you are without a smart meter, ensuring you are being billed accurately.