Over 94,000 prepayment meters were forcibly installed in homes under warrant last year without customer consent – on average over 7,500 meters a month the Government has revealed
Leading the charge with the highest number of prepayment meters force-fitted last year are British Gas, Scottish Power and OVO Energy, making up 70% of all forced installations with a total of 66,187 devices fitted under warrant.
Of these, Scottish Power tops the list as the worst offender when taking into account their customer base – force fitting over 24,300 in their customer’s homes in 2022.
Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps said:
Today’s figures give a clear and horrifying picture of just how widespread the forced installation of prepayment meters had become, with last year seeing an average of over 7,500 force-fitted a month.
Prepayment meters are right for some people, so I do not want to ban them outright, but I do have concerns that companies have not been treating their customers fairly, over an already difficult winter during which the government has tried to help families by paying around half the energy bill of the average household.
After my calls for change, I’m pleased that suppliers have made their actions public and agreed to put a stop to forcing prepayment onto vulnerable customers for good – but this cannot happen again.
I will be watching Ofgem’s ongoing review closely so customers get the support they need – and those vulnerable consumers who have wrongly suffered forced installations get the justice they deserve in the form of redress.
