Citizens Advice responded on 10 February 2023 to an announcement by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on forced prepayment meter installations. Gillian Cooper, Head of Energy Policy at the charity, said the step was welcome but came too late for many households.
The charity said the change should not be treated as the end of the issue. In its response it said suppliers must now carry out a thorough review of existing prepayment customers, and that any protection must also cover people whose smart meters can be switched to prepayment remotely, without a warrant.
"Though this step is welcome, it's little comfort to many existing prepayment customers"
Cooper also said: "It should never have taken this long to protect people from disconnection by the backdoor," and that existing prepayment customers "have gone - and will continue to go - without energy during the coldest months". On smart meters she said: "Remote switching removes the need for a warrant but it means people can still be forced into prepayment."
The response did not set out the detailed terms of the government announcement itself, such as which households are covered, from what date, or what suppliers must do. Those details have not been reported here. The charity's own figures cover its wider advice work: it says it helped 2.55 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2021-22, and had 40.6 million visits to its website. Its service staff are supported by more than 18,500 trained volunteers working at over 2,500 service outlets across England and Wales1.
Why it matters for households
A prepayment meter requires credit to be added before energy is used, so a household that cannot top up can be left without gas or electricity. That is the practical difference between a prepayment meter and a standard credit meter, and it is why the rules on when a supplier can move a customer onto one matter for a home's energy independence.
The charity's point about smart meters concerns how that move happens. Fitting a traditional prepayment meter generally requires access to the property and, in some circumstances, a warrant. A smart meter can be changed to prepayment mode remotely, so the same outcome can be reached without anyone entering the home. Households on smart prepayment meters therefore sit inside the same debate about prepayment meters and vulnerable customer protections as those on older meters.
For anyone trying to work out where they stand, the relevant questions are whether a supplier can force a prepayment meter in their circumstances, and whether a smart meter can be switched to prepayment without consent. The moratorium on involuntary installations is set out in the site's guide to the prepayment meter moratorium.
What happens next
Citizens Advice has called for a review by suppliers of existing prepayment customers, to establish whether prepayment is a safe option for each of them, and for protection to be extended to remote switching of smart meters. No timetable for either has been reported. The charity's consumer service can be reached on 0808 223 1133, or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers1.