One in ten households in the UK are in fuel poverty, unable to pay their yearly energy bills, a study has shown.
As the Big Six are forced to come clean about the extent of rip-off tariffs around the UK and as temperatures look set to plummet further this winter, a new fuel poverty map of Britain shows that the five most fuel poor cities are all in Scotland, with more than one in five households in Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Falkirk unable to afford adequate heating.
Edinburgh and Glasgow also have the highest rates of energy wastage. Rankings for fuel poverty and energy inefficiency across the country are on the infographics below:
Fuel poverty, where a household can’t afford adequate heating, is a major issue in the UK.
As many as 10.8% of UK households are considered ‘fuel poor’ and fall short in paying their yearly energy bills, by an average shortfall of £371.
Moneysupermarket.com urged people to consider switching to cheaper tariff to help ensure they can heat their homes this winter.
Good With Money launched a “Star Switcher” campaign earlier this year, to encourage people to switch to the very cheapest 100% renewable energy supplier, saving money and the planet. Bulb Energy, a 100% renewable energy supplier, is among the top ten cheapest tariffs currently on the market (see the graph below – and you can sign up using this link to get £50 credit on your account):
Stephen Murray, energy expert at MoneySuperMarket.com, said: “It is upsetting to think of so many households in fuel poverty where some of the most significant ways of helping this are not being taken advantage of. Many of these households will still be on the most expensive tariffs and could save hundreds of pounds a year by switching, even to a tariff from the same supplier. For those most struggling, many suppliers have schemes and initiatives to help. So the advice has to be to do a comparison and switch to a cheaper tariff (get someone to help you if you are unsure what to do) and always keep in touch with your supplier on ways they can help you.”
