Help to Repay findings published

The Money Advice Trust has published findings from October 2023 on energy arrears, alongside a call from a coalition of charities for the Government to introduce a temporary Help to Repay scheme¹. The findings are based on a UK wide poll of 2,000 adults¹.

The research estimates that 6.4 million (12%) UK adults are behind on their energy bills, up by 824,000 since April 2023¹. One in four people with energy debts are currently unable to repay, according to the findings¹. More than one in five, an estimated 11.6 million UK adults, say they have cut back on food and other essentials to meet their energy costs, and 4.7 million people have sold personal possessions to pay their energy bills¹.

The Trust says high energy prices have had a significant impact on low-income households and that energy debt is now at a record high¹. It describes the proposed Help to Repay scheme as providing eligible households with help to reduce what they owe through repayment matching and debt relief¹.

The proposal follows earlier Trust research. Its Under Pressure report, published June 2023, identified a dedicated Help to Repay scheme, backed by 14 organisations, among four key recommendations to Government and creditors¹. That report found 5.5 million people (10% of UK adults) were behind on their energy bills by April 2023, an increase of 2.1 million since March 2022¹.

The Trust's research page also records that arrears levels reached a record breaking £4.4 billion in England alone¹. The page does not state which period or which type of arrears that figure covers, and no further detail on the Help to Repay scheme's eligibility, funding or timescale has been reported¹.

Why it matters for households

The findings concern households carrying energy arrears, and the estimated 6.4 million UK adults the Trust says were behind on their energy bills as of October 2023, up 824,000 since April 2023¹. For those households, the immediate position described is one of arrears that the Trust says many are unable to repay, alongside reported cutbacks to food and other essentials and the sale of personal possessions to cover energy costs¹.

The Help to Repay proposal is a call on the Government, not an existing scheme. The Trust says it would be temporary and would reduce what eligible households owe through repayment matching and debt relief¹. No eligibility criteria, start date, funding level or administrative body for the scheme appears in the published material, so who would qualify and from when has not been reported¹.

The figures sit alongside the Trust's wider research on household finances, including its Under Pressure series tracking the cost of living, which reported 3.7 million more people behind on household bills by April 2023 compared with March 2022¹. Households dealing with energy arrears can find background on how these debts are treated in the site's guide to energy and water bill arrears, and a wider view of problem debt in the debt hub.

What happens next

The Trust says it is leading a coalition of charities in calling on the Government to introduce the scheme¹. No Government response, consultation or implementation date is given in the published material¹.