21 Aug 2018 | Posted In Money advice news

In 2017–18, Citizens Advice helped over 600,000 people with debt problems relating to household bills, such as council tax, water and electricity. That’s nearly double the number of problems Citizens Advice supported people with when compared to credit debts, such as credit cards and overdrafts.

Despite that, household bill debts get far less attention from policy makers than consumer credit. That’s partly because we know less about the level of household bill debt. No single organisation or government department has the responsibility for measuring the level of debt on household bills.

Today, for the first time, Citizens Advice estimated the amount of money owed to government and essential service providers. They calculated that the amount of household bill debt owed is nearly £19 billion.

Read the full report.