Freedom of Information data obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and shared with the End Fuel Poverty Coalition shows that 48,062 households had a smart meter switched into prepayment mode because of debt in the first half of 2022, 64.4 per cent of all such switches in that period1. The coalition reports that this is more than the 43,072 households switched to smart prepayment mode in the whole of 20211. The figures cover England, Scotland and Wales only, and only the first two quarters of 20221.
The same data shows 895,739 customers were in debt to their energy firm by the end of June 2022, before the winter price rises1. Prepayment meters could cost customers in excess of £200 more for their energy this winter1. Energy firms have secured almost 500,000 court warrants to install traditional prepayment meters in the homes of customers in debt since the end of lockdown, while smart meters can be turned to prepayment mode without a court warrant1.
Separate polling for the Warm This Winter campaign found that 68 per cent of smart prepayment meter customers are vulnerable, with 58 per cent having health conditions or disabilities1. Among this group, 53 per cent are estimated to have drastically reduced their energy use in recent months and 35 per cent now live in a cold damp home as a result1. A vulnerable household is defined as having a child under 6, an adult over 65, or a person who is disabled or has a long term health condition1.
The End Fuel Poverty Coalition said:
"The new figures reveal the extent to which unscrupulous suppliers are forcing people onto more expensive tariffs by switching their smart meter remotely onto pre-payment mode."
The coalition has called for a ban on the forced transfer of customers to all kinds of prepayment meters1. It advises customers to check all messages from energy firms and, if contacted about a prepayment meter installation, to contact the Good Law Project, which is looking to challenge these transfers1. Jacky Peacock of Advice for Renters said some families sign agreements for the switch without understanding what they are signing up for, and that this affects people who are not fluent in English worst1. Graham Duxbury of Groundwork UK said its Green Doctor advisers are seeing more households switched because of relatively small debts1.
Why it matters for households
A smart meter can be moved to prepayment mode remotely, without a court warrant and without anyone visiting the property1. For a household already in debt, that changes how energy is bought: credit is replaced by topping up in advance, and the meter recovers the debt and daily standing charges from each top-up before any energy is supplied1. The coalition describes the result as customers being "disconnected by the back door" when servicing debt and standing charges leaves no money for energy1. The difference between a smart meter and a prepayment meter is therefore not fixed: the same device can operate in either mode, which is central to how smart prepayment meters and smart pay as you go work in practice. The question of whether a smart meter can be switched to prepayment without consent sits with the regulator rather than the household. For energy independence in the home, the practical effect is that a meter in prepayment mode can leave a property without supply when the credit runs out, which is the subject of self-disconnection data and guidance on what happens when a prepayment meter runs out. The findings also sit against the wider case for smart meters, monitoring and energy independence, which rests on households seeing and controlling their own consumption.
What happens next
The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has called for a ban on forced transfers to all kinds of prepayment meters1. It states that the Good Law Project is looking to challenge these transfers1. MPs told the Government on 15 December 2022 that constituents would die this winter without access to light, a phone, hot water or medical equipment dependent on power, and asked for at least a moratorium; the coalition reports that the Minister promised to do nothing1. No date has been reported for any change in the rules on remote switching.
Sources1 cited
- Pre-payment meters crisis hits 'smart' customers - End Fuel Poverty Coalition, endfuelpoverty.org.uk