Younger customers most worried about energy bills and most likely to have fallen into arrears says Ofgem data
Ofgem has released its July update for its Consumers’ experiences with energy during the Covid-19 pandemic report and it has revealed that young energy bill payers are most at risk of falling into arrears and the most concerned over their ability to pay their bills.
Young most impacted
The Ofgem report is just the latest report that measures the social and energy consumption impacts of the measures imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The report was first released back in April 2020 and this latest update shows that challenges created by the national lockdowns continue to massively impact people’s lives.
The most notable statistic in the report is that 42% of 16-34 years old said that they are worried that they may fall behind on their energy bill payments. What’s more concerning is that 20% of this age group said that they have already fallen into arrears with their energy suppliers, a stark contrast to the national average of 7%.
When all the surveyed age groups were combined, a total of 12% were shown to have fallen behind on paying their energy bills. This figure represents a massive amount of money and further highlights the challenges energy suppliers are facing.
The pandemic has seen the number of households struggling to pay their energy bills soar and as a result, several energy suppliers are struggling to make ends meet due to the lack of income from their (non) bill-paying customers.
Also read: Young consumers struggling the most to pay energy bills says Ofgem Covid-19 report
Other priorities
Energy bills don’t top the priorities of those who struggle with their finances, with most of those surveyed stating that they would rather prioritise paying off their council tax, insurance payments and accommodation costs.
To help with paying their bills 64% said that they would reduce the amount of food they buy and 52% said that they would cut back on their energy bills or reduce the amount of energy they use.
Worries over rising energy bills, in general, are on the rise with 39% saying that they were worried over the possibility of increases.
Another factor of the pandemic and lockdowns was the fact that many people were either put on furlough or made to work from home. With the longer than usual, cold weather at the start of 2021 many of those surveyed were concerned over the resulting increased energy use.
With more people stuck at home, people have had to pay out more on heating and electricity.
Also read: How can Energy Suppliers reduce Energy Billing Errors?
Younger people keener to switch energy supplier
The Ofgem report also shows that consumers in the 16-24 age group (35%) are more likely to be actively looking to switch or in the process of switching (30%).
An interesting stat for energy suppliers is that younger consumers are much more likely to have a preference for larger, well-known suppliers compared to those aged over 35.
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Further Reading
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