Consumer trust in the energy industry hits new low
This is according to new research from Which?, the consumer watchdog group.
The latest findings from its Consumer Insight Tracker show that consumer trust in the energy industry has fallen to its lowest level since the Tracker launched in July 2012.
Only one in seven consumers (15%) say they trust energy companies to act in their best interest, down from one in four (27%) before the price rises. Six in ten (59%) say they lack trust in energy companies, making energy the most distrusted of all consumer industry sectors, lower than banking (33%), car salesmen (55%) and train companies (27%).
The survey also found that energy is now top of the list of consumer worries and for the first time more than half (51%) say they are very worried about energy prices. Overall eight in ten (84%) consumers are worried about energy prices, the highest this has been since October last year.
An additional Which? survey carried out for tomorrow’s Channel Four Dispatches programme, “Energy Bills Exposed”, reveals the extent to which consumers are struggling to cope with their energy bills. It found seven in ten (69%) energy bill payers cut back on how much heating they use to keep costs down and almost half (43%) are worried about getting into debt as a result of rising energy prices. A quarter (24%) say they have taken money out of savings to pay for a bill in the last year.
Which? thinks that the Chancellor should stand up for consumers when he stands up in the House of Commons to deliver this year’s Autumn Statement on the 4th December. It is calling on George Osborne to:
• Cut the Big Six down to size to get more competition into the energy market
• Cut the cost of Government energy policies
Which? has made recommendations to the Chancellor that have the potential to improve the market and control the costs being added to consumers’ bills, while still ensuring the same number of households are helped to better insulate their homes.
“What we have heard from the Government so far is too little, and too late, for the millions of hard pressed consumers worrying how they will pay for their energy bills this winter,” says Which? Executive Director Richard Lloyd. “Consumers need to see radical changes now.
“George Osborne should use his Autumn Statement to cut the Big Six down to size by separating the wholesale energy market from domestic supply, and by cutting the cost of Government energy policies to consumers.”
