Britons’ energy bill debts soar to £2.1bn ahead of price hike

Liz Truss must ‘write off’ arrears to help struggling families survive winter, campaigners demand

The government has promised to cap prices at £2,500, but many households are already in debt (PA)

Britons struggling to afford to heat their homes and keep the lights on have accumulated more than £2bn in energy bill debt, the latest annual figures show. Gas and electricity bill arrears rocketed by just over a third, from £1.5bn to £2.1bn, in the year to April 2022 – just before the spring price-cap rise kicked in.

Liz Truss has promised to cap annual household energy bills at £2,500 for two years, after setting out a plan for the government to subsidise the big suppliers’ increased wholesale costs. But the Debt Justice campaign group – who produced the analysis based on the latest data from Ofgem – said many people were struggling to cope with already “astronomical” bills on top of rising living costs.

Calling for Ms Truss to “write off” existing energy debt, executive director Heidi Chow said: “The government cannot afford to ignore record levels of energy debt that will drive even more poverty and hardship for years to come.”