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Fuel poverty action plan not good enough
The Government's new plans to help elderly and vulnerable people cope with the soaring cost of gas and electricity bills have been dismissed as inadequate by consumer groups and charities.
Fuel prices hit the poorest households hardest
Ministers are planning to introduce new legislation to force energy companies to share data with regulators, so customers can be directed to the best value deals.
A trial scheme is also being proposed to check that 3,000 vulnerable customers are on their suppliers’ cheapest tariff.
Watchdogs and charities agree, however, that the plans go nowhere near far enough to addressing the problems faced by millions of homeowners across the UK.
Most of the announcements are of initiatives that have already been promised. Most significantly, they do nothing to address the fact that pre-payment customers, typically those on low incomes, are charged up to £330 a year more for their power by energy suppliers.
Official figures claim 2.3 million households are in fuel poverty - spending at least 10 per cent of their income on heating their home.
Watchdogs claim the real figure is closer to 4 million.
Energywatch said 14 per cent of gas pre-payment customers have ‘self-disconnected’ over the past year because they cannot afford to top up their meter.
