Discover out about your rights on refusing a prepayment meter and the foundations suppliers should comply with for set up with out your consent.
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In these robust instances, with the price of dwelling disaster biting arduous, many people are discovering it troublesome to maintain up with our payments, particularly power payments.
A fear for a lot of is being switched to a prepayment meter by their power provider.
However can they actually do this with out your say-so?
Let’s get the info straight.
What’s a prepayment meter?
A prepayment meter, also referred to as a pay-as-you-go meter, is a kind of power meter the place you pay in your gasoline or electrical energy earlier than you employ it, normally by topping up a key or card at a store.
It could actually aid you handle your power use and spending, however in the event you run out of credit score, your power may be lower off till you prime up once more.
You’ll nonetheless have to pay standing expenses, and the unit charges of power you employ are typically a lot larger than commonplace meters.
Once they can’t pressure you to have a prepayment meter
The power provider gained’t have the ability to pressure you to change to a prepayment meter or change your sensible meter to pay-as-you-go in just a few circumstances:
- you owe lower than £200 for gasoline and fewer than £200 for electrical energy.
- your final invoice was despatched out lower than three months earlier than.
- there’s a disagreement concerning the billing quantity.
Are you able to be compelled to change?
The reply is, it’s difficult.
Your power provider can ask to put in a prepayment meter in the event you owe them cash and accomplish that with out your permission.
However, they have to comply with the foundations set out by Ofgem and contemplate your scenario.
They need to give you a cost plan you may afford and solely change you to a prepayment meter as a final resort.
The method of switching to prepayment
- Owing cash: In the event you owe cash to your power provider, they may recommend a prepayment meter as a strategy to repay the debt. Keep in communication with them.
You possibly can ask for:
- a full overview of your debt repayments
- a “respiratory area” break of as much as 60 days or a discount in how a lot you pay
- extra time to pay
- assist with entry to hardship funds
- Authorized course of and court docket warrant: Suppliers normally want a court docket warrant to put in a prepayment meter in the event you don’t comply with it. This includes authorized issues, and suppliers should show they’ve taken acceptable steps to resolve the debt situation.
They will need to have made no less than 10 contact makes an attempt, have carried out a welfare go to earlier than any set up, and have checked out a strategy to repay any cash you owe.
If a warrant is served, it will probably price as much as £150 and may be added to any current debt in your power invoice.
- Contemplating circumstances: Earlier than getting a warrant, suppliers should contemplate your private scenario.
You probably have a long-term or extreme sickness, incapacity, or younger kids, they need to search for different methods that will help you pay. And so they have to point out they’ve tried to resolve the problem with you.
You probably have a wise meter, they’ll change it to reimbursement remotely – however solely after they’ve tried to agree funds with you.
Your rights and protections
- Proper to refuse: You possibly can refuse the change to a prepayment meter, particularly if it’s not secure or sensible for you.
This might be for:
- Inaccessibility: In the event you bodily can’t entry or function a prepayment meter on account of incapacity or age, you may refuse the change.
- Sensible difficulties: In the event you dwell removed from a store the place you may prime up, or if there are different sensible explanation why a prepayment meter isn’t appropriate, you may refuse.
- Well being issues: You probably have a medical situation that requires a continuing provide of power, or if a disruption in power provide would pose a well being threat, you may refuse the set up.
- Vulnerability: If there are younger kids, aged, or weak people in your family, this can be a sound cause to refuse a prepayment meter.
- Weak buyer safety: In the event you’re in a weak scenario, your provider has to give you additional safety.
This might imply they’ll’t pressure a prepayment meter on you. Be sure you are registered without spending a dime with the Precedence Providers Register.
- Cost plans: Suppliers ought to work with you to agree on a cost plan you may afford earlier than contemplating a prepayment meter.
- Swap to a brand new provider: You probably have power debt on an ordinary meter, you may change to a unique power provider in the event you’ve not had the debt for greater than 28 days.
What occurs in the event you disagree?
- Communication with the provider: At all times speak first together with your provider. Clarify your scenario and see if there’s a greater resolution.
- Getting recommendation: In the event you’re not glad together with your provider’s choice or really feel they’re not contemplating your circumstances, get recommendation. Residents Recommendation and different organisations can assist you.
- Formal complaints: You might have the proper to make a proper criticism to your power provider. They’re sure by the laws of Oftem, the power regulator.
In the event you’re nonetheless not glad or really feel that you just’ve not been handled pretty, you may take your criticism to the power ombudsman.
Why it issues
For a lot of, switching to a prepayment meter can imply dearer tariffs and the stress of managing top-ups.
Suppliers are supposed to assist, not make issues tougher for you, but there have been stories final yr of suppliers forcibly making folks have prepayment meters. A maintain was placed on power corporations doing this, however it has restarted for EDF, Octopus and Scottish Energy from January 2024.
Whilst you may be switched to a prepayment meter in the event you owe cash, there are steps suppliers should comply with. You might have rights and protections, particularly in the event you’re in a weak scenario.
Don’t hesitate to talk up and search recommendation in the event you’re dealing with this situation.
Poverty and power
IT all goes a lot deeper than merely saving cash on power payments. In response to Residents Recommendation, 5.3 million folks within the UK are in debt to their power suppliers. And the chances are tens of millions of individuals can be lower off from their gasoline and electrical energy this winter.
Sadly, 800,000 folks went with out gasoline or electrical energy for greater than a day in 2023 as a result of they couldn’t afford to prime up.
In October 2023, practically half of the poorest households had been behind on payments, in line with the UK Poverty 2024 report by the Joseph Rowntree Basis.
And it’s not simply payments.
Individuals are going with out necessities; 72% of households miss out on issues they want, and 58% wrestle to afford meals.
In 2021/22, a surprising 6 million folks had been in “very deep” poverty, with their earnings manner beneath the poverty line.
Over the previous few years, over 12 million have skilled this extreme degree of poverty.
Naomi is aware of the burden of dwelling on little or no and have become debt free by following her personal cash saving suggestions and methods. She is an skilled on saving cash on the grocery store and aspect hustles.
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