Dan Weir, Research and Policy Manager, Money and Mental Health
Power to help - how people in energy debt can be best supported
5 February 2025
- Years of high energy prices have created a backlog of energy debts, and managing these can be particularly difficult for those of us with mental health problems.
- Our latest policy note talks about how energy suppliers can make a positive difference in helping people with mental health problems access advice when they are in debt.
- However, evidence from our Research Community suggests many energy suppliers are missing the opportunity to help and that advice is not always meeting peoples’ needs.
- Our policy note makes recommendations for steps both energy suppliers and debt advice providers can take to support people with mental health problems and energy debt.
This winter may have only another month or so to run, but a lot of us are still counting the cost of previous years’ cold dark nights. For many, arrears that mounted during the historically high energy prices over 2022 and 2023 have still not gone away, and for people with mental health problems, lack of access to consistent debt advice has meant finding a way out of energy debt remains extremely challenging.
Our new policy note, Power to help, looks at how people with mental health problems in energy debt can be best supported by energy suppliers and independent debt advice organisations. The research that informed this policy note also supported Impact on Urban Health’s new report, Supporting Households in Energy Debt, responding to Ofgem’s debt strategy.
Help needed
To assess the scale of the problem we turned to our Research Community of people with lived experience of mental health problems. Of those who responded to our survey, nearly two thirds (64%) told us they had been behind on their energy bill in the last two years, and of these, over half (58%) were still in arrears.
Furthermore, a majority of people in arrears were also behind on other bills or credit agreements. This reflects a theme we have seen time and again: people who need support with one debt could benefit from help with other financial difficulties too.
Without support to get out of debt, people can be forced into drastic measures even being in the devastating situation of having to cut back on both heating and heating. Both the threat, as well as the reality, of being left hungry and cold can have a devastating effect on our mental health.
“I’ve used less energy, gone without heat, electricity, food and meals. I eat every 2 days. I don’t cook hot food to save on energy. I shower only 2 times a week … Stay in bed to keep warm triggers depression, house is cold. I live alone and I’ve never had an energy debt in my life.” Expert by experience
Missed opportunity
Unfortunately, energy suppliers are often missing the opportunity to help. In our survey, only just over half of respondents who had gotten in touch with their energy company said they had received some kind of support. Instead, for many, the experience was a deeply negative one.
“I struggled to get through to them, when I did they didn’t understand what I was trying to say, I wanted to pay less each month until I got another job then I could up my payment but they refused to understand or offer any help.” Expert by experience
Even where help was offered, it was not consistently useful in the end, and even independent debt advice organisations did not always get it right for people with mental health problems.
“This was a last resort for help and support. I was very frustrated, letdown and scared as no one seemed able to help. This made my mental health bad resulting in poor physical health. It’s not living, it’s trying to just survive! I felt a failure and ashamed to be disabled. I felt that I was letting my family down.” Expert by experience
If this situation can change, it could make a huge difference to those experiencing mental health problems and energy debt. Our previous research has shown the difference that access to support can make, and our Research Community has told us of the positive impact that well delivered support can have. This included both direct support, like energy suppliers matching payments to reduce debts, as well as signposting to trusted debt advice organisations.
“[Energy company] got a mental health specialist to call me. She was incredible and matched a couple of £50 payments when I made them to encourage me. She gave me energy saving advice and where to get free radiator reflectors, debt charity contacts, government support contacts.” Expert by experience
Recommendations
There is a real opportunity to make a difference to people with mental health problems and energy debt. These are some key steps both energy suppliers and debt advice providers can take now to support people with mental health problems and energy debt:
- Ensure their services are genuinely accessible to people with mental health problems, offering a range of channels and ensuring their staff are appropriately trained.
- Making support options clear through easy to understand communications.
- Highlight changes such as bill increases clearly and in good time.
- Avoid excessive action such as threatening communications.
Energy suppliers who want to improve their accessibility to people with mental health problems can contact our Mental Health Accessible team, who can offer a bespoke consultancy and accreditation service.
Read our full policy note on the accessibility of energy support for people with mental health problems here. And if you are someone who has lived experience of mental health problems and want to help us investigate issues like this, we encourage you to sign up to our Research Community!
And if you need advice or support related to energy debt, money or mental health, you can find a list of organisations who offer support on our Get Help page.