In April 2009, we conducted extensive research amongst our customers backed up with research commissioned through YouGov, to find out which household bills people find the most confusing.
The results are back, and they clearly show that while 72% of you find bank and building society statements straightforward, 75% of you find energy bills confusing. The numbers also show that energy, home telecoms and water bills confuse people the most.
As a result of our findings, uSwitch is calling for household bills to be made simpler, clearer and easier for everyone to understand.
Horror household bills
The table below shows the results of our survey, in order of the most confusing bills down to the least.
| | Type of household bill | Confused consumers | Very confused consumers |
| 1 | Energy bills | 75% | 17% |
| 2 | Communications - home phone, broadband, DTV | 59% | 8% |
| 3 | Water bills | 59% | 6% |
| 4 | Mortgage statements | 57% | 9% |
| 5 | Mobile phone bills | 55% | 5% |
| 6 | Council tax | 54% | 6% |
| 7 | Credit and store card bills | 41% | 4% |
| 8 | Bank/building society statements | 27% | 1% |
What's confusing you?
We asked you what you found frustrating about your bills, and what you'd like to see improved.
Only 4 in 10 people could understand the calculations on their bill, making it difficult for them to check if their bills were correct. One respondent said, "Make the calculations simpler so that I can check them for myself." When the average household is paying £1,243 a year for their energy bills, it is worrying that 60% of people cannot understand their bills well enough to check if they're being billed accurately.
On top of this, only 39% of respondents felt that their energy bills were written in plain English. One response read, "The layout of the bills could be improved so that they are easier to read". Bills full of technical jargon and complex calculations baffle the majority of people, with one frustrated respondent suggesting that bills "cut out all the jargon - just tell me what I've used and how much it costs."
Cut out all the jargon - just tell me what I've used and how much it costs.
Respondent - uSwitch survey
uSwitch's campaign for simpler, clearer and easier bills
Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, says: "Nobody likes bills, but they do play a fundamental part in the relationship between a company and its customers. A well-written, clear and concise bill should leave consumers feeling empowered and in control, not bemused. This is why it is so worrying to find that three quarters of us are confused by our energy bills.
"If Ofgem is to succeed in making energy bills simpler, clearer and easier then it has to look outside of the energy industry for ideas on best practice. Judging by our research, it could do far worse than look to banks and building societies, which seem to be leading the way in providing consumers with bills and information they can easily understand."
Your guide to simpler, clearer and easier bills
To help you decipher your energy bills, we have put together a guide on how to read your energy bill, with full illustrations to point out where you can find all the details you might need.
We've also created an energy bill jargon buster, containing a full list of any terms you might find on your energy bills and an explanation of what they mean.
And once you know your way around an energy bill, comparing energy plans online is easy. Compare now and see if you could save up to £425 by switching.
Join the simpler, clearer and easier campaign