Older consumers are losing out due to overcomplicated households bills and small print, according to a new report which suggests that people across the UK are being overcharged by £6.7 billion a year on their household bills, research from uSwitch.com has revealed.
Energy bills appear to be the main culprits, with 86 per cent of people finding them too complicated due to the use of too much jargon, and 28 per cent of people thinking they have lost money because an energy bill has been too difficult to understand.
Despite this, digital TV companies remain the least trustworthy service providers, with just one in five people having complete faith in them. This is in contrast to local council tax departments, who have the biggest amount of trust placed in them, by 52 per cent of people.
Director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com said: "Consumers are spending thousands of pounds a year on household bills. They must continue to check their bills carefully as failure to do so could leave them out of pocket."
Minister for energy and climate change Greg Barker said the government is doing all it can to ensure that hard-pressed families do not suffer set-backs due to increasing energy costs and the rising cost of living.
The news should hopefully put homeowners on alert to the hidden or concealed charges that they could experience on their monthly, quarterly or annual bills.
More and more UK households are looking to move away from energy firms to provide power for their properties.
One of the common solutions is accessing renewable technology such as solar panels, which could help cover some, if not all, of a household's energy requirements using clean renewable energy.
The technology could also help homeowners to generate money, as excess energy created could be fed back to the National Grid via the government's feed-in tariffs. Residents will then be able to benefit from money off energy bills or monetary payments.