Domestic energy customer credit balances, October 2023 to September 2024
Data
- Publication date
- Industry sector
- Supply and Retail Market
Main points
- Between October 2023 to September 2024 the average amount in credit energy accounts for people who pay for their gas and electricity by fixed Direct Debit was £3.53 billion. This is a decrease of £120 million from the previous reporting period of July 2023 to June 2024.
- Over the last 12 months the highest amount of credit in customer energy accounts (£4.58 billion) is between July to September 2024 (Quarter 3).
- Between October 2023 to September 2024 the average household energy account in credit held £233.
- The average household energy account was in credit by £267 between July to September 2024, a decrease of 13% compared to the same period in 2023.
Things you need to know
Energy suppliers’ customer credit balances are an important part of the retail energy market. Details about how energy suppliers should treat customer credit balances are included in the rules in energy licences that set out consumer standards and what suppliers must do to stay financially stable.
The amount of credit that is held in energy accounts goes up and down during the year. Accounts will have more credit in them during the summer but then more is spent in the winter as more energy is used. Each household may have different experiences with how much credit they have on their balance at different times of the year. However, this is the trend that is seen across the energy sector.
Data are for live domestic customers energy accounts that are held by people who pay for their gas and electricity by fixed Direct Debit and have paid for the energy they use.
The data are for households whose energy account was in credit on the last day to each quarter from October 2023 to September 2024.
Get data
Get all the live energy domestic customer credit balances data in the retail market indicators data on our data portal.
Methodology
We have removed the amount of energy that has been used but not yet been paid for from the data, as well as any credit held by closed accounts, and those on non-domestic tariffs.
By including the quarterly figure alongside the yearly average, we show how households use their balances to keep how much they pay the same throughout the year.
Further information
This data is published at the end of March, June, September and December each year.