20 February 2009
Gas and electricity providers have been cutting their prices, but the reductions "will not even scratch the surface" of fuel poverty in the UK.
This warning comes from uSwitch.com, which claims that 21% of UK households are spending more than 10% of their income on energy.
The independent price comparison and switching service says price increases introduced in 2008 caused energy bills to rise by an average of 42%, while cuts announced so far this year are averaging out at 4.5%.
It calculates that 120,000 households will be lifted out of fuel poverty as a result of the recent reductions, but points out that 5.4 million will still be left struggling.
Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, said: "Fuel poverty is a ticking time bomb that energy price cuts alone will not be able to defuse."
She urged households living in fuel poverty to speak to their energy supplier to find out what help is available to them and to shop around to make sure they are on the cheapest possible gas and electricity tariff.
Energy providers that have cut their prices this year include British Gas and Scottish and Southern Energy.