Citizens Advice has revealed a c90-fold increase in traffic to a website page giving advice to pre-payment meter (PPM) customers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
At the peak on 19 March, more than 14,000 daily page views were recorded for the charity’s ‘If you can’t afford to top up your PPM’ page. This was up from just 150 at the start of the month.
There was also an 80-fold increase between 1-23 March to a page advising customers what to do if they cannot access their PPM, meanwhile the category ‘what to do if you if you’re struggling to pay your energy bills’ was checked 16 times more regularly towards the end of the month than at the start.
There was a sixfold increase in traffic – from the start of the month to the height on the 19th – to a page containing advice on grants and benefits to help people pay their energy bills
The coronavirus pandemic is a continuing cause for concern for many consumers and between 22-28 March, 181,000 page views were recorded for the page ‘If you can’t pay your bills because of coronavirus’ – an almost ninefold spike on the previous week’s visitor numbers – and 180,800 for the page ‘Coronavirus – what it means for you’.
In just four days following its publication on 24 March, there were 66,000 views for a page outlining what benefits people might be able to claim because of adverse effects caused by the virus such as a loss of income due to sickness.
In response to the figures the interim head of energy policy at Citizens Advice, Gillian Cooper, said: “This data allows us to see in real time what people are worried about. It’s clear that for many people topping up their prepayment meter and paying their bills are, understandably, real concerns right now.
“We’ve worked with government, Ofgem and suppliers on what the sector needs to do to keep people on supply and will be monitoring the situation closely.
“Energy suppliers need to make sure people can keep their homes warm and don’t face additional financial stress or worry during an already uncertain time.”
Writing in a blog last week, the charity revealed that week beginning 16 March was the busiest in the website’s history with 2.2 million views. This as the day after the UK government strengthened its advice on when households should self-isolate.