Which?, Money Saving Expert, National Energy Action, Citizens Advice and Age UK wrote a joint letter to energy firms in December 2022 calling on them to take immediate action to ensure traditional prepayment meter customers are able to access government support1. The letter also asked suppliers to publish data on voucher redemption at supplier level2.
The intervention followed concern about the take-up of Energy Bill Support Scheme vouchers, which are issued to households on traditional prepayment meters rather than applied automatically to accounts. In March 2023, Which? said three-quarters of those customers had redeemed their vouchers, but described the increase as only slightly up on January, when 29 per cent of vouchers had not been claimed2. By late April 2023, a fifth of vouchers were still unredeemed1.
Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said in April 2023:
"While we welcome efforts from the government and energy suppliers to increase the redemption rate for Energy Bill Support Scheme vouchers, it's worrying that a fifth of vouchers still haven't been redeemed."
Which? said customers on traditional prepayment meters are often on lower incomes and were missing out on financial support, and that in the scheme's final weeks the government, suppliers and top-up outlets should raise awareness and reach customers who were struggling to redeem vouchers or unaware of the scheme1.
In March 2023, Which? also said traditional prepayment meter customers should be prioritised in smart meter roll-outs where appropriate, so that support could be delivered automatically in future2.
| Point in time | Vouchers not yet claimed |
|---|---|
| January 2023 | 29 per cent2 |
| March 2023 | About 25 per cent (three-quarters redeemed)2 |
| April 2023 | A fifth (20 per cent)1 |
Why it matters for households
The Energy Bill Support Scheme was designed to deliver a fixed payment to every household, but the route differed by payment method. Direct debit and credit customers had the amount applied to their accounts, while traditional prepayment meter customers received vouchers that had to be taken to a top-up outlet and redeemed. That step introduced a failure point: a voucher that is not collected, lost or expired delivers nothing, and the household remains without the money it was due.
For a home on a prepayment meter, the practical effect is a gap between entitlement and money actually available for gas and electricity. Prepayment customers pay for energy before use, so an unredeemed voucher does not sit as credit on the meter and cannot be drawn on during a cold spell or a shortfall in income. The redemption figures indicate that a substantial minority of eligible households did not receive support that had already been allocated to them.
The letter also raised the question of how support reaches these households at all. Automatic delivery, whether through account credits or through meters that can receive payments remotely, removes the need for a household to act. The prepayment meters guide sets out how topping up and emergency credit work, and the closed energy bill support payments page covers the EBSS. Rules on suppliers' treatment of prepayment and vulnerable customers are covered under prepayment and vulnerable customer protections, and Citizens Advice is one of the bodies that took part in the letter.
What happens next
1. No further dated steps are set out in the material available.
Sources2 cited
- Which? responds to the news that a fifth of Energy Bill Support Scheme vouchers for traditional prepayment customers still haven't been redeemed - Which?, which.co.uk
- Which? responds to the news that three-quarters of traditional prepayment meter customers have redeemed their Energy Bill Support Scheme vouchers - Which?, which.co.uk