UK's financial woes worsen during another turbulent year

Energy bills soar

As the winter approached in the UK, the cost of heating again caused an uptick in households' rising bills. According to the ONS, the price of natural gas in October was around 60 percent higher than it was two years previously, while the price of electricity was 40 percent higher.

Merih Gebremicael, an Uber driver who is a father of two who lives in Manchester, said his energy bill almost doubled last winter, with gas costing more than 100 pounds a month and electricity another 70 pounds.

"The bill is killing us, I cannot afford to get sick and have to work every day to ensure I can pay the bills," he said, adding that he has to switch off his heating for longer than he did in the past in order to save money.

Gebremicael was on the brink of falling into what National Energy Action, a UK charity working to ensure people have a warm home, describes as "fuel poverty", in which a household needs to spend 10 percent or more of its income on energy to maintain a satisfactory heating regime.

The average annual energy bill, under the calculation of the UK's Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, or Ofgem, stands at 1,923 pounds this winter, and National Energy Action estimates there are currently 6.3 million UK households in fuel poverty. In 2021, they estimated the number was 4.5 million.

In December, Ofgem revealed the total value of unpaid bills had hit 3 billion — the highest-ever level — due to a combination of sustained high wholesale energy prices, and wider cost-of-living pressures.

Although the commodity price for oil and natural gas has fallen from its peak in 2022, households are still having to pay around the same on their energy bills this winter as they did last year because the Energy Bills Support Scheme, which was introduced by the UK government to give every household 400 pounds of discount on their energy bills has been discontinued.

The UK government has instead announced that approximately 8 million eligible households will receive a cost-of-living payment early next year, as part of a broader support package for eligible individuals, primarily those who receive social welfare benefits. They will receive a payment of 299 pounds in February.

Despite the significant packages of support to date, National Energy Action said it believes there is still a need to increase financial support for the UK's poorest households.

In the November survey done by ONS, nearly four in 10 adults in the UK who pay energy bills said they were "very" or "somewhat" difficult to pay. The survey also revealed that 46 percent of adults were using less fuel, such as gas or electricity, in their homes because of the rising cost of living.