OVO Energy has introduced a temporary ban on forcing customers onto prepayment meters over Christmas, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition reported on 1 December 2022. The supplier said the practice will resume in the new year1.
The company also said it had suspended debt recovery until at least March 2023, meaning customer top-ups would be used to pay for usage and standing charges only, not to clear existing debts1. The End Fuel Poverty Coalition noted that this would be a temporary reprieve if debt collection restarts in the spring, when energy prices are once again set to rise1.
The move followed a demand from campaign group 38 Degrees, which wrote to all the UK's major energy suppliers urging them to stop forcibly installing prepayment meters and remotely switching smart meters to prepayment mode without customer consent1. Matthew McGregor, chief executive of 38 Degrees, said:
"While it may be good news that struggling families won't wake up to a prepayment meter on December 25th, they could still be facing disconnection by the backdoor come January."
The development came amid wider pressure on suppliers and the government. The House of Commons agreed to a motion put forward by Anne McLaughlin MP expressing deep concern that self-disconnection of prepayment meter customers would leave the most vulnerable without heat, light and cooking facilities over the winter, and urging the government to outlaw self-disconnection1. The motion followed reporting that energy firms had secured almost 500,000 court warrants to install prepayment meters in the homes of customers in debt1. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told the Commons, in response to a question from Gerald Jones MP, that the government would continue to monitor the situation over the months ahead because it was aware of the extreme vulnerabilities of this group1.
Why it matters for households
For a household already in debt, a forced prepayment meter installation changes how energy is bought and paid for. Credit is purchased in advance rather than billed afterwards, and a meter can be switched remotely where a smart meter is already fitted. The rules on when a supplier may force a meter on a customer, and the protections that apply to vulnerable customers, sit alongside the court warrant process used for entry and installation, covered in disconnection and warrants.
The debt recovery suspension matters because of how repayments are taken. Where a meter is set to recover arrears, part of each top-up goes to the debt rather than to energy, which is explained in repaying energy debt through a prepayment meter. Under OVO's suspension, top-ups cover usage and standing charges only until at least March 20231. Once recovery restarts, that deduction returns, and the amount available for actual energy falls. Households on these meters also rely on emergency credit when the balance runs out, and self-disconnection is the point at which supply stops.
The pause applies to one supplier and to a defined period. It does not change the underlying rules, and it does not prevent installation by other suppliers. The moratorium on involuntary prepayment meter installations is the wider question MPs and campaigners raised, and the government had not committed to a ban at the time of the coalition's report1.
What happens next
OVO's forced installation ban ends in the new year, when the practice is set to resume1. Its debt recovery suspension runs until at least March 20231. The End Fuel Poverty Coalition said the government must act urgently to ban any further forced installations of prepayment meters, whether by court warrant or by smart meter1. No date has been reported for a government decision.
Sources1 cited
- Pre-payment meters pressure mounts on government and suppliers - End Fuel Poverty Coalition, endfuelpoverty.org.uk