British Gas price rise “a bitter pill to swallow”, says Citizens Advice

Citizens Advice has responded to British Gas’s announcement that it is raising the price of its Standard Variable Tariff (SVT) by 3.8%. This follows a previous price rise of 5.5% announced in April.

Gillian Guy, Chief Executive at Citizens Advice, said:

“A second significant price hike in the space of a year will be a bitter pill to swallow for hard-pressed British Gas customers.

“Those people most likely to be on a standard variable tariff - including the elderly, people on low incomes and those with disabilities - will particularly struggle to cope with yet another bill increase.

“While the government’s proposed price cap should protect customers from the worst of these tariffs, anyone who isn’t happy with their energy company should think about switching tariff or supplier.”

Citizens Advice energy price comparison tool

Citizens Advice provides an independent comparison of energy tariffs, alongside a customer service star rating, at energycompare.citizensadvice.org.uk.

Notes to editors

  1. Citizens Advice has a statutory role as the consumer advocate for energy consumers across the UK.

  2. The Citizens Advice service is a network of around 300 independent local charities across England and Wales, the Citizens Advice consumer service and national charity Citizens Advice. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more see the  Citizens Advice website .

  3. Citizens Advice provides free, confidential and independent advice to help people overcome their problems.The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.

  4. To find your local Citizens Advice in England and Wales or to get advice online, visit  citizensadvice.org.uk

  5. Last year we helped over 2.7 million people face to face, by phone, email or web chat.

  6. People sought our help with 6.2 million issues in the last year. For full service statistics see our monthly publication  Advice trends.

  7. Citizens Advice services are provided by 23,000 trained volunteers and 7,200 paid staff.