One in five families struggling to pay for power bills

Britons are estimated to owe £637m to gas and electricity firms – £159m more than last year’s projections, comparison website uSwitch found.

Some 20 per cent of bill payers said they were in debt to their supplier – up from 14 per cent when similar research was carried out last year.

The latest survey of 2,000 bill payers in February found the average amount owed this year is £8 less than a year ago, at £123.

But a recent string of price hikes by energy companies combined with the unseasonably chilly weather could see the size of people’s energy debts shooting back up again, the study warned.

The average annual household energy bill has risen by almost £100 in the space of a year. The website said the typical bill now stands at £1,353 a year – around £830 higher than in 2004.

This sum is based on a consumer who uses a medium amount of electricity and gas on a standard dual fuel bill, paying quarterly by cash or cheque.

Just over a fifth of those in debt to their supplier said they were turning a “blind eye” to what they owe in the hope the amount would go down naturally over time.

A similar proportion plan to pay off a big lump sum, while one in 12 people in debt said they would need to try and agree a repayment plan with their supplier.

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch, said: “The soaring number of households in debt to energy suppliers is a clear indication of the pressure people are coming under to meet the cost of their basic bills.”

She said people could cut down on costs by paying by direct debit as suppliers tend to offer discounts for doing so.

And consumers should also make sure that someone is taking regular meter readings, as relying on estimated bills can be a “shortcut to debt”, she added.

The Government recently launched a Green Deal scheme allowing people to make energy efficiency improvements such as loft insulation or double glazing at no up front cost. Repayments are then to be added to the property’s energy bill over a period of time.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “Repayments will be no more than what a typical household should save in energy costs. A typical three-bed semi could save around £270 a year with just solid wall insulation.”

Utility giant SSE was last week fined a record £10.5m fine by regulator Ofgem for “prolonged and extensive” mis-selling.

SSE gave “misleading and unsubstantiated statements” to potential customers about prices and savings that could be made by switching to SSE, Ofgem said.