The amount of people who are in arrears with gas and electricity bills has doubled since March 2013.
The DAC’s research shows that 8 per cent of customers missed or made only partial payments on their gas and electricity bills, while 9 per cent are behind on their water bills.
By contrast, when the same survey was conducted in March 2013 – at the end of a cold winter – 4 per cent of respondents said they were behind on gas and electricity, and just 5 per cent on their water bills.
The research also shows that utility customers in the 25-to-34 age group are most likely to have fallen behind with their bills and that problems with utility bills are most severe in Northern Ireland, London and the North East.
Ian Williams of Debt Advisory Centre says that more people are likely to fall into arrears during the next five months, as recently announced energy price increases are implemented and cold weather forces consumers to turn up the heating.
“It’s very worrying that such a large number of people are struggling with their bills already. The onset of winter and increases of up to 10% in gas and electricity bills are likely to drag even more people into debt, and make problems worse for those who are already struggling to pay for gas and electricity,” he said.
According to Williams, one way to limit the cost of bills was switching to a cheaper tariff but being in arrears could prevent customers from switching.