The largest energy suppliers are registering twice as many requests for payment plans as in 2021, Het Laatste Nieuws reported on Friday. “Compared to last year, we have 2.5 times more payment plan requests“, says TotalEnergies, the fourth supplier in Belgium. Mega has also seen the proportion of customers affected increase in recent months, from 1% to 2.5% of the total. The other suppliers all speak of a “significant increase“. Both customers benefiting from a commercial tariff and those benefiting from a social tariff are concerned.
Record
Additionally, suppliers are finding that not only is paying the final bill more problematic, but also that more and more customers are unable to meet their prepayments. This increase is explained by the surge in energy prices, which have been climbing since September and have not yet relapsed.
According to figures from the energy market regulator in Flanders (VREG), the average annual bill for a natural gas contract concluded in July has reached the highest level ever recorded.