Another 230,000 people set for horrible spike in energy bills as three more suppliers fail

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Ofgem has announced that three more energy suppliers have gone to the wall: Enstroga, Igloo Energy and Symbio Energy.

Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst Hargreaves Lansdown: “This is horrible news for another 230,000 people, who are highly likely to see their energy bills shoot up overnight, and there’s nothing they can do about it.

“So far nine energy companies have fallen by the wayside in the past month alone, as these failures follow hot on the heels of the demise of People’s Energy, Utility Point, PfP Energy, Green Supplier, Avro Energy and MoneyPlus Energy, leaving well over 1.5 million customers out in the cold.

“On the plus side, the system is set up so that you won’t run the risk of being cut off. Ofgem will appoint a new supplier, and all your outstanding credit will be honoured. You just need to take a meter reading and sit tight until you’re completely switched.

“But that’s just the half of it. Normally in this situation, as soon as you’ve switched over, you can move to another competitive deal and cut your bills. At the moment, however, there just aren’t any cheap deals around. It means the standard tariff your new provider offers may be the best thing you can find right now.

“It means that people who were on cut-price deals with these nine providers face horrible hikes in their energy bills. And to make matters worse, when the energy price cap rises in April, these tariffs are likely to rise too. If you’re in this position, you’ll need to keep an eye on the market, so that when a better deal comes along, you can pounce.

“In the interim you should work out how you’re going to absorb the extra costs into your budget. With your spending squeezed from all sides, this is no mean feat, but if you can make a list of everything you have coming in and everything you spend in a month (or if your banking app provides these details), it’s much easier to track down the areas where you can cut back so these higher bills don’t derail your finances.”