Falling into Energy Debt for the First Time - The Customer Experience, research for Ofgem by Creative Research
Data,
Reports, plans and updates
Publication date
Industry sector
Supply and Retail Market
This research was published alongside the Review of Suppliers’ Approaches to Debt Management and Prevention in June 2010.
The overall aim of the research was to enable Ofgem to develop its understanding of the experiences of energy customers who are new to energy debt and use the research findings to inform a wider review of debt prevention and management practices. A total of 42 depth interviews were carried out with customers of the six main energy suppliers. Additionally, ten telephone interviews were undertaken with Citizens Advice/Citizens Advice Scotland (CAB) and Money Advice Trust (MAT) advisors. There was a very high degree of consistency between the experience of customers new to energy debt and the third party advisors in terms of how suppliers are dealing with people who have found themselves in energy debt.