How are the rising Energy Bill Costs affecting Asians?

Martin Lewis has urged the government to take action now to help millions of households across the UK cope with the increasing cost of energy bills.

This follows the estimation that heating bills will hit £4,266 by January 2023.

Martin appeared on Good Morning Britain to voice his concerns over the lack of additional support being put in place to offset Ofgem’s price cap which comes into effect on October 1, 2022.

He dismissed claims that nothing can be done until a new Prime Minister is elected.

He also said that despite the Conservative leadership contest, decisions can be made now to help people.

Martin Lewis said: “In May when the [UK] Government was facing political problems due to Boris Johnson, they were planning to make an announcement on energy in July and August, that was brought forward to May and the mechanism for bringing it forward is they asked Ofgem to publish forward guidance of what the price cap would be and they were therefore able to crystallise what was happening and they then made the announcements of the up to £1,200 available for the poorest homes.

“There is absolutely nothing stopping the Government doing that now.”

He also said that Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak could work together on what is going to happen, but they are “not willing to do anything, they are not willing to work together” to address the “national crisis” on energy bills which said is coming on the scale of the coronavirus pandemic.

Martin explained that for every £100 someone is currently paying per month through direct debit, that will increase to £181 from October 1. It will jump to £215 from January.

He said that millions of households will not be able to afford it.

He was also concerned for the “mental health damage” facing millions in the UK as a direct result of the soaring energy bills.

Martin said: “What we’re facing here is a financial emergency that risks lives.

“I accept the point that Boris Johnson is running a zombie government and can’t do much, but the two candidates – one of them will be our Prime Minister – they need to get together in the national interest to tell us the bare minimum of what they will do.

“If they can’t agree, and what we need to hear now, because the mental health damage for millions of people who are panicked about this is manifest, is we need to hear accurate plans.

“We have some relative detail from Rishi Sunak saying he will look at the handouts he gave in May and increase them, but, unless he’s doubling them, and he needs to double them, it is not in proportion to what he did back in May.”

Speaking about Liz Truss’ plans, Martin added:

“I cannot believe the only proposal will be tax cuts, because many of the poorest, many state pensioners, many on Universal Credit, don’t pay tax so it will not help them and they simply cannot afford this £2,000-a-year or more year-on-year rise.

“And getting rid of the green levy, which is a sticking plaster on a gaping wound.

“The green levy is typically around £150 off bills, we’re talking about a rise of thousands of pounds on bills.”

For British South Asians, the energy bills affect them because many households have above-average energy use.

This is because there are typically multiple generations living in larger homes. It is also because of living arrangements and the varied routine of each family member.

There are a number of other trends which may contribute to their high energy use.

The pandemic caused changes to many household situations.

Some family members either lost jobs or had been placed on furlough, some of their children were unable to go to school and older people unable to attend day centres.

This meant more people were at home during the day and naturally, using more energy.

Different generations have separate routines and don’t always cook and eat meals together.

Older and younger generations also disagree on what is a comfortable temperature in the home, meaning that heaters and air-conditioning is more frequently used

Despite making efforts to use energy efficiently, some continue to struggle to pay their energy bills.

Ofgem is set to confirm the October price cap at the end of August.