British household energy debt has tripled in a decade

18 Sep 2025

The number of customers falling behind on energy bills with no repayment plan in place has more than tripled between 2012 and 2024, according to from the Resolution Foundation.

Those falling behind with electric bills rose from 300,000 to over one million during this period while the number of gas customers in debt increased from 300,000 to 900,000.

The report identifies new financial worries for families in the form of rising energy debt and Council Tax arrears that need to be addressed.

The report notes that the 13 million working-age families across the poorer half of Britain still struggle to save, with over two-in-five having less than £1,000 in liquid savings.

Saving rates are at going in a positive direction – a third of poorer households said they had money to save at the end of the week or month in 2018-20, up from just a fifth in 2006-08.

Felicia Odamtten, Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: 'Tackling these financial problems will require additional help with priority bills, such as improved Council Tax support, and a social tariff on energy bills. But all too often, lack of financial resilience is simply a consequence of lack of income and addressing this will mean fixing Britain's dire record on productivity and real wage growth.'