Family fuel bills set to hit £1,000 a year

Energy bills are set to cost the average family £1,000 a year following the latest round of price increases.

Energy switching adviser SimplySwitch.com said a London family of five in a four-bedroom house could expect combined gas and electricity bills of £1,032 a year if they paid by cheque. The typical bill for a family of four could be about £980.

With central heating in millions of homes likely to be turned on in weeks, customers were urged to switch to cheaper suppliers. Karen Darby, chief executive of SimplySwitch.com, said: "There are so many to choose from, the power really is with the consumer."

Today's rise is the second of the year from British Gas, which blames rising oil prices and dwindling supplies of North Sea gas.

The first rise in January saw 220,000 customers desert Britain's biggest energy supplier. Many more are expected to switch. But while some other suppliers have also announced rises, more than £200 a year can still be saved by moving from British Gas to cheaper rivals, experts say.

British Gas said it did not expect to lose millions of accounts, as some switching companies had predicted. A spokesman said: "The number of calls to our call centres has been far, far lower than we have experienced previously." He said British Gas offers a range of tariffs allowing customers to cap the price they pay.

However, wholesale gas prices are far higher in Britain than in most other European countries. Trade and industry select committee MPs will investigate in November.