Energy bills: 86% of consumers can’t do the maths

If you’ve ever opened an energy bill only to find yourself completely baffled by the figures within, the results of the latest research from uSwitch.com may not surprise you.

In an experiment to test the problems people have when reading utility bills, uSwitch gave over 2,700 people an energy bill with the total and sub-totals blanked out and asked them to calculate the missing numbers.

In a damning indictment of the readability of energy bill, 86% of people – almost 2,400 people – got the figures wrong in the uSwitch.comEnergy Bill Challenge, even though they were allowed to make notes and use a calculator.

Despite being a common household bill, only 379 people arrived successfully at the correct total – a pass rate of only 14%.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, said:

“You shouldn’t need to be an ‘A’ grade student to be able to understand your energy bills. It’s deeply worrying that only 14% of people have passed what should be a straightforward test – it serves to highlight the fact that large numbers of consumers are in danger of being excluded because energy bills are far more complicated than they need to be. Ofgem is looking to address this, but it’s vital that consumers make their voices heard too.”

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