Citizens Advice published a report, Out of the cold, in September 2022 calling for a winter moratorium on the forced installation of prepayment meters, warning of the hardship facing people on prepayment meters through the winter1. The charity said its frontline advisers had consistently seen evidence of people in vulnerable circumstances being moved onto prepayment meters in breach of energy supplier regulations, and that it continued to see such practices even after the regulator wrote to suppliers in mid-November to remind them of their obligations1.
Polling commissioned by Citizens Advice, described as nationally representative, put the scale of self-disconnection at more than 2 million people disconnected from their energy supply at least once a month1. One in three (33%) people on prepayment meters said they had disconnected at least once in the past year because they could not afford to top up, which the charity said equates to more than 3 million people, or one person every 10 seconds1. One in five (19%) prepayment customers who had been disconnected in the past year said they had disconnected for more than 24 hours at least once1.
The report also stated that over 130,000 households including a disabled person, or someone with a long-term health condition, are being disconnected from their energy supply at least once a week because they cannot afford to top up1.
"The situation is so acute that we are now calling for a total ban on the forced installation of new prepayment meters until additional safeguards are put in place to end self-disconnection. This ban must include legacy prepayment meters and remote switches for smart meters."
The charity added that it was also calling for a review of all users of prepayment meters, with a commitment to replace them with credit meters where this is necessary to remove the risk of disconnection1. It said it would take forward further work to define what the additional safeguards should be in collaboration with industry, Ofgem and Government1.
Why it matters for households
A prepayment meter requires credit on the meter before energy is supplied, so a household that cannot afford to top up is cut off without the supplier taking any action. That makes the meter itself the point at which a home loses power, heat and hot water, and it is why the rules on whether a supplier can force someone onto a prepayment meter and the protections for vulnerable customers sit at the centre of this debate. The figures above describe self-disconnection rather than formal supply disconnection, and the two are handled differently: disconnection, warrants and forced prepayment installation covers the formal route.
For a household, the practical difference between a credit meter and a prepayment meter is control over when energy is paid for. On a credit meter, energy is used first and billed afterwards, so a shortfall becomes debt rather than an immediate loss of supply. On a prepayment meter, the same shortfall becomes an outage. The charity's call for a review of existing prepayment users, and for replacement with credit meters where necessary, is aimed at that difference1. How repaying energy debt through a prepayment meter works, and how topping up and emergency credit work, determine how quickly a household can restore supply once it is cut off.
What happens next
Citizens Advice said it would take forward further work to define the safeguards it wants, in collaboration with industry, Ofgem and Government1. No date has been reported for that work, and no decision by Ofgem or the government on the moratorium or on a review of existing prepayment meter users has been reported1.
Sources1 cited
- Kept in the dark - The urgent need for action on prepayment meters - Citizens Advice, citizensadvice.org.uk