Fuel poverty charity calls for ban on forced prepayment meter installations

Following reports of suppliers using warrants to forcibly install prepayment meters in customers’ homes, fuel poverty charity National Energy Action calls for a ban on forced prepayment meter installations.

Director of policy at National Energy Action Peter Smith says, “Sadly, today’s news about forced prepayment installations is another chilling insight into why a ban is needed. There now appears to be widespread evidence of a lack of effective adherence, or enforcement, of current licence conditions. This is leading to vulnerable people being forced onto prepayment meters by bulk magistrate warrants or remote switches.

 “It doesn’t just put those households directly affected at risk, it undermines confidence of millions vulnerable people to seek support from suppliers to get them through the worst of the energy crisis. Beyond supporting growing calls for a temporary ban on forced installs, we need to develop a bespoke plan to stop people building up debt and self-disconnecting in the first place. This means rewiring the energy market to provide more affordable tariffs and finding new ways to address the underlining debt issues, which are rife due to soaring energy costs.”