Britons are bracing themselves for an expensive winter as a global surge in the cost of gas at wholesale has led many companies to drastically increase their prices. While many companies have reacted by hiking up costs even more for customers, others have taken themselves off price comparison websites and some have gone bust. Households are facing much higher gas bills this winter due to a global surge in wholesale gas prices that have forced some energy companies to go bust and others to take themselves off price comparison websites for the time being. The British public has already been hit with energy price hikes over the last few months and could be paying hundreds of pounds more this winter, unless they counterbalance the extra costs by making some simple changes to their usage. The news that another five energy firms have folded in recent months will no doubt worry many householders but Ofgem has said it has systems in place to look after consumers. An Ofgem spokesman said that currently wholesale gas prices are at a record high, driven by international supply and demand factors. This is undoubtedly putting pressure on companies – with four leaving the market over the last few weeks. In the past few months Utility Point, People’s Energy, PfP Energy, MoneyPlus Energy and Hub Energy have all ceased trading – something which is thought to have affected half a million British households. And although these consumers will be given a new supplier, that means extra hassle for them with the costs passed onto customers. Ofgem added that it is working closely with the government to manage the wider implications of the global gas price increase and it is not thought that this will lead to a complete halt in supply. As such there is no better time to see if you qualify for the Warm Home Discount Scheme, which could ensure some people are £140 better off. To find out, people can speak to their energy supplier, most of them are signed up to the scheme if they have 250,000 customers or more. More than two million UK households should qualify for this rebate on their energy bills this year and it’s important to get in touch with them early as there is only a limited amount of people energy companies can help.

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