Uswitch has claimed that despite the pandemic, the average debt owed to energy suppliers fell by 10 per cent over the winter period compared to last year.
The switching service believes that in total 4.2 million households owe £529 million after winter. On average each household owes £126 which according to Uswitch.com is £15 less than last year. However, it says the total number of households in debt has risen from 3.9 million last year.
The comparison service’s findings were extrapolated from an Opinium poll of more than 2,000 adults, asking them about credit balances.
It estimated that suppliers owe 13 million households a total of £1.8 billion in credit balances, with more than one million bill payers due more than £300.
Ofgem released similar figures in its consultation on issuing automatic refunds for credit balances earlier this year. The regulator’s research found that as of October 2018, suppliers collectively owed £1.4 billion to their customers.
Uswitch found that coming out of winter this year, almost half of all UK households (45 per cent) are due a refund from their provider, with the average amount worth £142 – up £6 on last year.
Additionally, a quarter of bill payers in credit are owed a rebate of more than £200 — up from one in ten last year. More than half a million (535,000) households are due more than £500.
A further 59 per cent say their energy supplier has never automatically credited their account while 35 per cent of those in credit say their supplier has never been in contact with them to review their direct debit payments .
Sarah Broomfield, energy expert at Uswitch.com, said: “At a time when many people’s finances are stretched any windfall would be gratefully received.
“A growing credit balance can be a sign that a customer’s direct debit is too high – yet a third of those in credit say their supplier has never adjusted their payment.
“It’s clear that Ofgem’s proposal to introduce automatic rebates will benefit a huge number of consumers, particularly those who do not know how much credit they have, or do not know how to obtain a refund.”