
The current situation
With concerns of a possible 81 percent price cap increase by Ofgem*, raising the average household energy bill to £3,582 a year** debt help charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) is sounding the alarm that they are already seeing increases in desperate clients asking for emergency support.
Last year CAP helped over 13,000 clients and already this year it has seen a 37 percent increase in calls to its helpline. Among those clients, CAP has seen a doubling in pleas for emergency fuel top-ups in the first half of this year compared to last, along with a sharp rise in requests for emergency food shops.
* Energy price cap does not apply to Northern Ireland
** Forecast by Cornwall Insight.