UK regulator Ofgem has toughened guidelines around energy providers forcibly installing prepayment meters following a scandal that showed highly vulnerable customers being cut off from their gas and electricity supply.
Involuntary prepayment meters can no longer be installed in the homes of those aged over 85 or with severe health conditions. Meters that are fitted must come with a £30 credit to avoid the immediate loss of power or heating, while installation teams must now wear bodycams.
The move comes after a de facto freeze on the practice after Centrica-owned British Gas was revealed to have forcibly installed prepayment meters in the homes of people who had fallen into arrears as their bills soared during the energy crisis.
On Tuesday, Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley said: “Customers in vulnerable situations will be given the extra care and consideration they deserve, over and above the rules already in place, by suppliers — something that has clearly not always been happening.”
Brearley told BBC Radio 4 that he had informed suppliers they would need to show a rapid improvement or face “further rules and regulations which will be against your commercial interest”.
Citizens Advice, the consumer charity, which was consulted on the changes alongside energy suppliers, said the new guidelines were an “improvement” but called on Ofgem to make them mandatory.
“It’s now up to suppliers to follow the rules and for Ofgem to crack down quickly on any sign of bad practice,” said Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice.
“For too many the damage has already been done. Suppliers must now check that none of their existing customers are paying for their energy via a pre-pay meter when it’s not a safe option for them.”
Campaign groups and charities criticised the new guidelines for not going far enough, highlighting that those in their early 80s or with certain debilitating illnesses could still find themselves facing forced installations of prepayment meters.
Tom Marsland, policy manager at disability equality charity Scope, said the changes would “still allow energy companies to install prepayment meters in some disabled households.
“We want to see the forced installation of meters and remote switching banned outright for disabled people,” Marsland said.
He echoed calls of some of the energy suppliers for the regulator to introduce a “social energy tariff” to help vulnerable and low-income households cope with higher energy costs.
Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said there were also concerns about how it will be managed.
“There are really vulnerable groups which have been omitted from its full level of protection and we have serious concerns about how it will be implemented, such as how people will prove their medical conditions without being humiliated by an energy firm health inspection,” Francis said.
Source: Economy - ft.com
