Blog

Almost 2 million energy bill payers could be owed a share of £240m from old accounts that were closed while still in credit, according to the regulator.

The latest figures from Ofgem show that about 1.9m energy accounts were closed over the past five years, with outstanding credit balances totalling £240m left unclaimed.

The regulator is urging anyone who has moved in recent years to check whether they are owed a refund from their previous account. Some may be owed only a few pounds, but others could be owed more than £100, Ofgem said.

Tim Jarvis, Ofgem’s director general of markets, said that although suppliers “work very hard to return money to people” when they close an account, in line with industry rules, “without the right contact details, they’re stuck”.

“The message is clear – if you’ve moved in the last five years, reach out to your old supplier, provide them with the correct information, and you could be due a refund,” Jarvis said.

Energy bill payers face a difficult winter after the regulator lifted the maximum cap that suppliers can charge their 29 million household customers for each unit of gas and electricity from the start of this month.

The average price cap for households paying by direct debit increased by £35 to £1,755 for a typical annual dual-fuel bill, despite a 2% fall in the wholesale price in the energy markets over the summer, reigniting concerns about energy affordability in the UK.

Ofgem said on Thursday that it would move ahead with plans to clear £500m of debt from about 195,000 people on means-tested benefits who have built up debt of more than £100 during the energy crisis.

The first phase of its scheme could offer debt relief of about £1,200 per account, or about £2,400 per dual-fuel customer, to eligible bill payers. The cost of this policy would be paid for by adding about £5 a year on the average dual-fuel bill by 2027-28.

This measure is expected to make only a small dent in Britain’s deepening energy debt crisis, which reached a record £4.4bn in unpaid bills as of the end of June. The Office for National Statistics found that a record proportion of British households were unable to pay their energy bills by direct debt in April because there was not enough money in their bank accounts.

Stay informed with free updates

Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.

China’s factory activity declined for the seventh month in a row in October on weak domestic demand, complicating the economic outlook for policymakers in Beijing as they grapple with a trade war with the US.

The purchasing managers’ index fell to 49 this month, according to the official data released on Friday, missing the average forecast from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg of 49.6 and trailing September’s figure of 49.8. A reading below 50 represents a contraction in activity.

The results were driven by seasonal factors, such as a weeklong public holiday at the beginning of the month, as well as “a more complex international environment”, said Huo Lihui, chief statistician of the service industry survey centre of the National Bureau of Statistics.

The softer activity comes as China has pledged to step up high-tech manufacturing and increase “self reliance” in science and industry as it pursues a deepening rivalry with the US for economic supremacy.

President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump on Thursday agreed to a ceasefire in their trade war at a summit in South Korea, suspending export controls, port fees and some tariff. But analysts believe that the truce will be difficult to maintain given the countries’ deep differences.

China has relied on manufacturing and exports to deliver economic growth in the face of a slowdown in the property market that has undermined household confidence and spending.

Despite the slowdown reflected by the PMI data, which is in its longest continuous decline in more than nine years, activity in high-tech and equipment manufacturing — two sectors prioritised by Beijing’s industrial policies — expanded this month, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Consumer-related sectors also grew. Beijing has promoted extensive subsidies for consumers in a push to boost domestic demand.

The statistics bureau said the non-manufacturing PMI, which includes construction and services, rose 0.1 percentage points in October to 50.1, indicating an expansion.

This was supported by sectors such as railway and air transportation, accommodation, culture, sports and entertainment. The country had an eight-day national holiday this year starting on October 1 that included the mid-autumn festival, traditionally a period of peak travel and spending.

China’s exports have proved resilient during the trade war, expanding 8.3 per cent in September on a year earlier. But authorities have become increasingly concerned that aggressive competition among producers is driving deflation by pushing down prices.

Policymakers have begun intervening in industries such as electric vehicles and solar panels to try to reduce predatory pricing, but economists worry that doing so could also deal a blow to activity.

The statistics office said new orders in manufacturing, raw materials inventories and the factories employment index declined in October, pointing to depressed activity.

“The official PMIs suggest that China’s economy lost some momentum” in October, said Capital Economics in a note. “Some of this weakness may reverse in the near term, but any boost to exports from the latest US-China trade ‘deal’ is likely to be modest and wider headwinds to growth will persist.”