Despite energy debt rising, and bills increasing, the regulators do not have a comprehensive view of the debt owed by an individual across the three sectors. Debt is now a substantial problem. By March 2025, customers’ debt to energy supply companies and water companies totalled £7.2 billion. In energy, customer debt to energy supply companies increased in real-terms by 118% from March 2021 to March 2025. With energy and water bills set to rise further, this situation could worsen. When people are starting to struggle financially, early identification of problems and intervention, including making people aware of support available to them, can be key to preventing debts occurring, or accumulating and becoming unmanageable. For consumers struggling to pay, affordability challenges relating to paying for these services and other household spending categories are inter-connected. Ofgem-commissioned research into the causes of debt indicates that some customers may in principle be able to pay an energy bill, but would then fall into debt on other bills. However, there is currently no data sharing about an individual customer’s overall financial circumstances or receipt of social tariffs, between companies, regulators, government or other organisations. In the water sector, only 26% of households with a debt are on a repayment plan. Customers on a repayment plan typically owe around £140 less than those not on a plan. recommendation a. Within 6 months, Ofcom, Ofgem and Ofwat should each create a plan with DWP to help companies in their sectors identify financially vulnerable circumstances proactively, as a first step to making social tariffs a ‘default’ for the most financially vulnerable. b. Within 12 months, BIST should assess the feasibility of developing a single central register of customer debt across the three sectors, allowing financial data to be shared between companies across sectors to identify those in need of support. c. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) should discuss with Ofwat how it will work with water companies to increase the number of customers on debt repayment plans towards levels in other utilities.