Energy News

Brits worried about ‘cold snap’ energy bills

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

By Hazel Cottrell - hazel@consumerchoices.co.uk

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This winter’s cold snap is fuelling fears of high winter energy bills hitting doormats in the coming weeks.

More than a third of Brits are worried about paying their energy bills this month.

There’s little choice but to turn the heating up when you’re faced with cold weather.

And around two thirds of the 1,066 adults surveyed by consumer champion Which? (www.which.co.uk) said they had been thinking more about their energy bills because of the recent cold weather.

Some people confessed to dipping to their own – or their children’s – savings to prepare for the cost of bills while others cut back on spending in other areas.

Martyn Hocking, editor of Which?, said: “There’s little choice but to turn the heating up when you’re faced with cold weather, so it’s inevitable that people are going to worry about their bills.”

Which? found that the five most popular ways to keep warm were:

Putting on extra clothes
Having a warm drink
Having a filling meal
Blocking draughts under doors/windows
Staying in bed

Chris Eagle, commercial manager at Energychoices.co.uk, said: “Almost a third of the people surveyed by Which? said they had switched energy provider during the cold weather or called their provider to check they were on the cheapest tariff.

“This is exactly the right thing to do to ensure your winter energy bills are as low as possible, so if you haven’t compared energy tariffs recently, do it now.”

Energy bills: How much will the cold snap cost me?