A quarter of households won't be able to afford to pay energy bills by October

The largest increase of energy bills in living memory has come into effect, with the average household now paying out almost £700 more a year for their bills. Charities have warned that 2.5 million more households are set to fall into “fuel stress," where they are spending at least 10% of their total budgets on energy bills.

As a 54% increase to Ofgem’s price cap hits bills, the Resolution Foundation think tank said the number of English households in fuel stress was set to double overnight from 2.5 to five million. Resolution Foundation senior economist Jonathan Marshall said: “Today’s energy price cap rise will see the number of households experiencing fuel stress double to five million.

"Another increase in energy bills this autumn hastens the need for more immediate support, as well as a clear, long-term strategy for improving home insulation, ramping up renewable and nuclear electricity generation, and reforming energy markets so that families’ energy bills are less dependent on global gas prices.”

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Citizens Advice said around five million people would be unable to pay their energy bills from April, even accounting for the support the government has already announced. It warned this number would almost triple to one in four people in the UK – more than 14 million – if the price cap rises again in October based on current predictions.

Concern about the pressures households are facing came as energy firms continued to struggle to allow customers to submit up-to-date meter readings to avoid paying the higher tariff on energy used before April 1. Customers reported issues logging in to supplier websites