New research from uSwitch.com has found that 6.5 million households are in debt to energy suppliers to the tune of £820m – more debt that needs to be secured before more bills follows.

The average amount owed has £126 – and over half of those in debt to their energy supplier owe more than they did this time last year. And it's likely to get worse. 2008 saw energy price hikes of 42% or £381, however many customers have only just started to see these increases reflected in their monthly direct debit payments.

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com, says: "Despite energy prices now starting to fall, almost a third of direct debit households have only started to feel the impact of last year's price hikes within the last few months. Not only has this raised concerns over affordability, but it also suggests that energy debt is likely to continue to grow as so many households will be playing catch up."

Energy bills are crucial, obviously, but if you are playing catch-up with them, other bills may suffer. You may have to miss out on a car loan payment to cover them, or a credit card repayment. And then this will lead to penalties or fines on those debts, which will lead you to have to miss other debts, like store card repayments and insurance bills. This could snowball, and before you know it you have a host of arrears, missed mortgage payments and you cannot keep up with any of them.

Don't let bills get the better of you. Use your home's equity to clear your name, get back in the black. Using a secured loan will mean you are paying a much smaller rate than you would if you were paying penalties and fees on other debts.

SOURCE: uSwitch.com, 10/03/09

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