uswitch

• Seven in ten households — 20 million — pay for their energy monthly[1], but only four in ten (43%) receive a bill every month [2]
• One in five households (20%) have asked their supplier to change how often they get their bill [3] , but three fifths (60%) say the changes haven’t been made [4]
• Suppliers who don’t deliver monthly bills are leaving consumers in the dark
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• The amount of money households owe to their energy suppliers has doubled in a year to reach £1 billion — with a quarter (23%) of consumers now in energy debt[1]
• Six million households owe £188 to their energy providers on average — leaving them without a war chest to battle rising bills [1]
• Almost 11 million households have £1.4 billion in credit balances, with
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1. Best to budget: Before signing up to a new contract, be realistic about the price you’re willing to pay every month. Most broadband and mobile contracts last for 12, 18 or 24 months, so budget wisely to ensure
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• Days before the energy price hike, a quarter of consumers (27%) on Standard Variable Tariffs say they haven’t seen any communication from their supplier about their price rise [1]
• Almost half of bill-payers surveyed (47%) mistakenly believe the new £1,971 price cap is the maximum
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Justina Miltienyte, energy policy expert at Uswitch.com , said: “The Spring Statement delivered some support for customers struggling with rising household bills but the announced measures are not targeted enough to really help those most in need.

“Consumers are already desperately worried about what will happen to their bills this winter, and this was a missed opportunity to offer...

Consumers have started receiving letters and emails from their energy suppliers regarding price hikes, with the average bill expected to rise to £1,971 from 1st April. While many may feel powerless to do anything about the rising costs, there are some important steps that people can take over the next few weeks to ensure their bills are as low as they can be.

• Consumers can snap up great mobile and broadband deals in January, including some of the best savings seen on monthly iPhone 13 contracts[1]

• Among the best SIM-only deals is a Lebara tariff offering 10GB data, unlimited calls and texts for £6.95 a month, reduced to £3.47 a month

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● Two of the largest energy suppliers - EDF and Scottish Power - have already closed applications for their Warm Home Discount schemes

● ‘First come, first served’ applications remain open with a number of suppliers, but others including Utilita and E have reached capacity

● Some energy suppliers offer grants to help their customers clear domestic gas and...

• Parents’ support for a mobile ban in schools is growing, up to 57% from 49% two years ago
• Three quarters of parents (74%) claim mobiles are a distraction, three in five (61%) believe a ban would cut bullying and a quarter (24%) believe it would reduce peer pressure to buy premium handset
• But almost four million parents (27%) think banning mobiles at school
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Written by Uswitch

• Broadband outages have tripled in the last year[1] as almost 15 million consumers faced downtime of three or more hours[2]
• Over three in ten experienced an outage during office hours, costing the UK 16 million working days — a hit of nearly £5 billion to the economy[3]
• A third of people used their mobile data during an outage[4
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