UK fuel poverty hotspots revealed
Friday, 11 February 2011 01:48Nearly half of homeowners in Northern Ireland are struggling to pay their energy bills, according to a new survey from energyhelpline.com, which highlights the UK’s biggest fuel poverty hotspots in the light of the recent price rises.
A household is considered to be living in fuel poverty if they are spending more than 10 per cent of their take-home salary on energy bills. This is the state of affairs for 19 per cent of all UK households.
Those living in Northern Ireland are twice as likely to face fuel poverty, with 44 per cent struggling to heat their homes. Fuel poverty is also higher than the national average in Wales (32 per cent of homes) and Scotland (31 per cent).
However, the situation can be alleviated by switching to a new energy provider, changing to an online tariff or choosing to pay by Direct Debit, energyhelpline.com claims.
Mark Todd, director of energyhelpline.com, said: “Energy consumers can make life a lot easier and cheaper for themselves by coming off standard tariffs and switching to online ones, making savings of up to £343 a year.”
