Debt and arrears indicators

At-a-glance summary

The last three years has seen substantial increases in average arrears, reaching £1,749 for electricity and £1,494 for gas in Q3 2025 (up by 12% for electricity, and 13% for gas compared to Q3 2024).

Relevance and further information

The increase in average arrears in the last three years has presumably been driven by higher retail prices and increasingly difficult financial circumstances faced by some households.

Methodology

A customer is in arrears if they have not paid a bill for longer than 91 days/13 weeks, and there is no formal arrangement to repay the debt. It excludes any charges for subsequent consumption. This will include customers who are billed in arrears for ongoing consumption, and direct debit customers who have fallen into debt by defaulting on one or more payments. It should exclude customers who have begun the transition to a formal debt repayment arrangement but have not yet started repaying their debt.

At-a-glance summary

The average level of debt for customers with a debt repayment in place rose by 5% for electricity customers (to £785) and rose by 3% for gas customers (to £651) in Q3 2025 compared to Q2 2025.

Ofgem have encouraged suppliers to act quickly to establish debt repayment arrangements.

Methodology

This is a snapshot figure of the average debt that remained owing on the last day of the reporting period for customers repaying a debt. It includes the outstanding amount of debt that the customer is paying as part of a repayment plan and does not include any debt incurred for consumption since the start of the repayment plan.

At-a-glance summary

The proportion of domestic customers repaying debt to their supplier using a PPM has ranged between around 30% and 60% for the last few years. During 2024 the number of customers repaying debt through a PPM rose to record levels. In Q3 2025, for electricity customers, this dropped back to 41% compared to 53% in Q3 2024. For gas, the number of customers repaying a debt via a PPM fell to 38% from 50% in Q3 2024.

Relevance and further information

When a customer is in debt to their supplier, they can repay this debt via the payment method they had previously, or a PPM can be installed to collect payments. Some customers may choose to have a PPM installed, while others may have a PPM installed to repay debts at the request of their supplier, or may have a PPM installed under warrant. In general, repaying a debt through a PPM can facilitate repaying a debt over a longer period of time than would be typical for credit customers.

Methodology

A debt repayment arrangement is an arrangement to repay debts which lasts more than 91 days/13 weeks.

At-a-glance summary

A long-term trend of reduction in the number of domestic customers disconnected for debt continued. No electricity or gas disconnection were recorded in Q3 2025 (as has been the case since Q1 2023). Learn more about the protections for consumers.

Relevance and further information

During winter (October to March), suppliers are prohibited from knowingly disconnecting customers of pensionable age (where they live alone, with other pensioners or with children). Suppliers must also take all reasonable steps during winter to avoid disconnecting premises where the occupants include a person who has a disability or a chronic sickness or a person of pensionable age.

Members of Energy UK also adhere to a voluntary code of practice known as the “Vulnerability commitment”. Among other protections, signatories have committed to never knowingly disconnect a vulnerable customer at any time of year, where the household has children under the age of 6 (or under the age of 16 during the Winter Moratorium) or where for reasons of age, health, disability, or severe financial insecurity, that customer is unable to safeguard their welfare or the personal welfare of other members of the household.

Further information about the code can be found on Energy UK’s website.

At-a-glance summary

The number of domestic customers who were repaying a debt to their supplier at the end of Q3 2025 fell compared to the previous quarter for electricity accounts by 3%, and by 2% for gas accounts. The total numbers decreased to 853,271 for electricity (2.9% of all customers) and to 696,355 for gas (2.9% of all customers).

Relevance and further information

Overall, the number of customer accounts repaying an energy debt decreased from the beginning of this time series in 2006, when nearly 5% of electricity customers and 4.7% of gas customers were repaying a debt. Volumes dropped off after peaking in Q2 2022, however we have seen a steady rise in the number of accounts repaying a debt over the last three quarters.

Methodology

This data reports the number of customers who have a debt repayment arrangement with their supplier on the last day of the quarter. These are customers who have entered a formal arrangement with their supplier to repay outstanding debts, including all prepayment (PPM) customers repaying a debt, and non-PPM customers on debt repayment arrangements extending beyond 91 days/13 weeks. It does not include those customers with a debit at the end of a payment scheme that will be rolled into a new payment scheme and those who have had their payments increased because previous payments were set too low. All customers on payment schemes (including direct debit) are excluded once the initial debt has been repaid.

At-a-glance summary

Customers in arrears are customers who owe a debt to their supplier, but do not yet have a debt repayment arrangement in place. In Q3 2025, the number of customers in arrears was almost unchanged, falling by 0.3% for electricity and by 0.04% for gas, compared to the previous quarter, to 1,130,612electricity customers (3.8% of customers) and 926,134 (3.8% of customers) for gas.

Relevance and further information

The number of domestic customers in arrears trended upwards across the 2024 calendar year as a whole, though dropped slightly in Q4 2024. We saw a rise in Q1 2025 that has continued into Q2 2025. The falls in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023 may be a reflection of the impact of financial support available to customers.

Methodology

These are accounts that have had a bill issued which remains unpaid for longer than 91 days (13 weeks) where a formal arrangement to repay the debt has not been agreed.

At-a-glance summary

For electricity smart-PPM customers, the total number of customers self-disconnecting at least once fell by 17% in Q3 2025 to 568,310, compared to 686,726 in Q2 2025. Over the same period, the number of electricity smart-PPM customers who self-disconnected for at least one period of more than three hours, decreased by 19% to 319,805 in Q3 2025, from 396,708 in Q2 2025.

For gas smart-PPM customers, the total number of customers self-disconnecting at least once decreased by 32% to 249,375 in Q3 2025, compared to 365,000 in Q2 2025. Over the same period, the number of gas smart-PPM customers who self-disconnected for at least one period of more than three hours, decreased by 32% to 200,353 in Q3 2025 from 293,077 in Q2 2025. We typically see levels of gas self-disconnection rise during colder months and drop off during summer.

Relevance and further information       

The number of customers with smart-PPM meters self-disconnecting can be viewed as a proxy for customers struggling to pay for their gas and electricity supplies. Smart meters are digitally connected to wider systems, which allows for direct monitoring, unlike traditional meters. Around 65% of all PPM customers have smart meters, so we can be confident that trends applying to smart-PPM customers will apply to the whole prepayment customer base. 

In this chart we have included the total number of customers self-disconnecting, and the total number of customers who had at least one period of self-disconnection for more than three hours. This is because self-disconnections of less than three hours may predominantly be people that had forgotten to top up and not necessarily in financial distress. 

Many factors can affect the data shown in the charts. As well as general economic conditions which affect customers’ ability to manage their energy usage, the price that customers pay for gas and electricity varies every three months as the Price Cap is updated. Suppliers have individual schemes providing Additional Support Credit (ASC).  

These offer discretionary credit to be repaid by the customer, with the aim of avoiding self-disconnections Furthermore, the number of smart meters which have the connectivity required to report self-disconnections will gradually increase over time subsequently impacting on the total number of customers self-disconnecting. Before Q3 2023, the data is from largest eight PPM suppliers, accounting for 98% of the market total. From Q3 2023, the data is from all suppliers.

Methodology

In this chart, a customer self-disconnecting on multiple occasions is only counted once. Similarly, a customer who self-disconnects for multiple periods of greater than 3 hours, is only counted once. 

At-a-glance summary

The number of smart-PPM self-disconnections for electricity customers fell by 6% in Q3 2025 to 1,889,636, compared to 2,020,374 in Q2 2025.

The number of smart-PPM self-disconnections for gas customers decreased by 36% in Q3 2025 to 572,353, compared to 898,454 in Q2 2025.

The large contrast between electricity and gas may be due to seasonal differences in use patterns. We can see seasonal variability with gas disconnections.

Relevance and further information

The number of self-disconnections for customers with smart meters can be viewed as a proxy for customers struggling to pay for their gas and electricity supplies. Smart meters are digitally connected to wider systems, which allows for direct monitoring, unlike traditional meters. Around 60% of all PPM customers have smart meters, so we can be confident that trends applying to smart-PPM customers will apply to the whole PPM customer base. We can see seasonal differences on gas in particular and the possible use of self-disconnection as a means of budgeting.

Many factors can affect the data shown in the charts. As well as general economic conditions which affect customers’ ability to manage their energy usage, the price that customers pay for gas and electricity varies every three months as the price cap is updated. Suppliers have individual schemes providing Additional Support Credit (ASC). These offer discretionary credit to be repaid by the customer, with the aim of avoiding self-disconnections. 

Furthermore, the number of smart meters which have the connectivity required to report self-disconnections will gradually increase over time subsequently impacting on the total number of self-disconnections recorded. Before Q3 2023, the data is from largest 8 PPM suppliers, accounting for 98% of the market total. From Q3 2023, the data is from all suppliers.

Methodology

This chart shows all self-disconnections regardless of length. Where a customer has self-disconnected more than once, each occurrence is counted individually. 

At-a-glance summary

Between Q2 2025 and Q3 2025, combined debt and arrears rose by 1%, from £4.43bn to £4.48bn – rising by 17% since Q3 2024. We can see that by Q3 2025, the value of arrears not on a repayment plan is around three times greater than debt, whereas back in Q1 2018 they were both nearly of equal value.

Relevance and further information

The total value of debt and arrears owed by customers to suppliers (defined in the ‘Methodology’ section below) has risen substantially since 2018. After sustained increases during 2021 and the first half of 2022, the value stayed relatively steady until Q1 2023, after which it increased sharply. The rate of increase slowed in 2024, and has continued to rise during 2025.

Methodology

This is a snapshot figure of the total debt and arrears that was owed on the last day of the reporting period for customers repaying debt or arrears, that had existed for >91 days.

Customers in arrears are customers who owe a debt to their supplier, but do not yet have a debt repayment arrangement in place.

Customers in debt have entered a formal arrangement with their supplier to repay outstanding debts, including all prepayment (PPM) customers repaying a debt, and non-PPM customers on debt repayment arrangements extending beyond 91 days/13 weeks.

It does not include those customers with a debit at the end of a payment scheme that will be rolled into a new payment scheme and those who have had their payments increased because previous payments were set too low. All customers on payment schemes (including direct debit) are excluded once the initial debt has been repaid. It includes the outstanding amount of debt that the customer is paying as part of a repayment plan and does not include any debt incurred for consumption since the start of the repayment plan.

At-a-glance summary

There is a wide range in the average length of debt repayment plans agreed for gas, with the shortest agreed by EDF Energy (63 weeks) and the longest by Good Energy (575 weeks). The average length of debt repayment plans across all suppliers was 264 weeks. 

Customers repaying a debt using a PPM will typically repay the debt over a longer time period than customers repaying a debt through a credit account. This chart represents the average amount of time afforded to customers in new debt arrangements. 

Relevance and further information

Suppliers must offer customers an option to pay for their electricity and gas through a PPM to recover debt where it is safe and reasonably practicable in all circumstances for the customer to do so. Suppliers must ensure repayment rates are affordable, which can lead to repayment arrangements spanning a long period of time. 

This data covers the period Q1 to Q4 2024. This is the latest calendar year period for which we have data available. 

Methodology

Only suppliers who had PPM customers repaying a debt during at least 1 of the 4 quarters are shown on the graph. For each supplier shown on the graph, we have calculated a weighted average of the last 4 quarters based on the total number of new PPMs installed for debt for each supplier in the 4 quarters.

At-a-glance summary

There is a wide range in the average length of debt repayment plans agreed for electricity, with the shortest agreed by Utilita (113 weeks) and the longest by OVO Energy (2,237 weeks). OVO have confirmed that their priority was on agreeing a repayment amount per week that customers could afford (see chart 'Electricity prepayment meter customers: Average weekly debt repayment rates (£)') rather than the length of the repayment plan. The average length of debt repayment plans across all suppliers was 473 weeks.

Customers repaying a debt using a PPM will typically repay the debt over a longer time period than customers repaying a debt through a credit account. This chart represents the average amount of time afforded to customers in new debt arrangements. 

Relevance and further information

Suppliers must offer the customer an option to pay for their electricity and gas through a PPM to recover debt where it is safe and reasonably practicable in all circumstances for the customer to do so. 

Methodology

Only suppliers who had PPM customers repaying a debt during at least 1 of the 4 quarters are shown on the graph. For each supplier shown on the graph, we have calculated a weighted average of the last 4 quarters based on the total number of new PPM installs for debt for each supplier in the 4 quarters. 

At-a-glance summary

The average weekly debt repayment rate across all suppliers was £4.40. This ranged between £2.01 per week for Good Energy customers, whereas Scottish Power customers paid £6.61 per week towards their debt on average. 

Methodology

Only suppliers who had PPM customers repaying a debt during at least 1 of the 4 quarters are shown on the graph. For each supplier shown on the graph, we have calculated a weighted average of the last 4 quarters based on the total number of new PPM installs for debt for each supplier in the 4 quarters. 

Relevance and further information

Suppliers must offer the customer an option to pay for their electricity and gas through a PPM to recover debt where it is safe and reasonably practicable in all circumstances for the customer to do so. 

At-a-glance summary

The average weekly debt repayment rate across all suppliers was £4.39. This ranged between £1.96 per week for OVO Energy customers, whereas Scottish Power customers paid £7.04 per week towards their debt on average. 

Relevance and further information

Suppliers must offer the customer an option to pay for their electricity and gas through a PPM to recover debt where it is safe and reasonably practicable in all circumstances for the customer to do so. 

Methodology

Only suppliers who had PPM customers repaying a debt during at least 1 of the 4 quarters are shown on the graph. For each supplier shown on the graph, we have calculated a weighted average of the last 4 quarters based on the total number of new PPM installs for debt for each supplier in the 4 quarters.