Discover out about your rights on refusing a prepayment meter and the foundations suppliers should observe for set up with out your consent.
£10 BONUS OFFER: Earn straightforward money by watching movies, enjoying video games, and coming into surveys.
Get a £10 enroll bonus whenever you be part of right this moment.
Be part of Swagbucks right here >>
In these robust instances, with the price of dwelling disaster biting laborious, 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 called a pay-as-you-go meter, is a sort of power meter the place you pay in your gasoline or electrical energy earlier than you utilize it, often by topping up a key or card at a store.
It could assist you handle your power use and spending, however when you run out of credit score, your power might be reduce off till you high up once more.
You’ll nonetheless must pay standing prices, and the unit charges of power you utilize are usually a lot larger than commonplace meters.
After they can’t drive you to have a prepayment meter
The power provider received’t have the ability to drive you to change to a prepayment meter or swap your sensible meter to pay-as-you-go in a couple of 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 when you owe them cash and achieve this with out your permission.
However, they have to observe the foundations set out by Ofgem and think about your state of affairs.
They need to give you a cost plan you’ll be able to afford and solely swap you to a prepayment meter as a final resort.
The method of switching to prepayment
- Owing cash: In case you owe cash to your power provider, they may recommend a prepayment meter as a approach to repay the debt. Keep in communication with them.
You’ll be able to ask for:
- a full overview of your debt repayments
- a “respiratory house” 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 courtroom warrant: Suppliers often want a courtroom warrant to put in a prepayment meter when you don’t comply with it. This includes authorized issues, and suppliers should show they’ve taken acceptable steps to resolve the debt difficulty.
They should have made a minimum of 10 contact makes an attempt, have carried out a welfare go to earlier than any set up, and have checked out a approach to repay any cash you owe.
If a warrant is served, it will probably value as much as £150 and might be added to any present debt in your power invoice.
- Contemplating circumstances: Earlier than getting a warrant, suppliers should think about your private state of affairs.
In case you have a long-term or extreme sickness, incapacity, or younger kids, they need to search for different methods that will help you pay. They usually have to point out they’ve tried to resolve the difficulty with you.
In case you have a sensible meter, they will swap it to reimbursement remotely – however solely after they’ve tried to agree funds with you.
Your rights and protections
- Proper to refuse: You’ll be able to refuse the swap to a prepayment meter, particularly if it’s not secure or sensible for you.
This may very well be for:
- Inaccessibility: In case you bodily can’t entry or function a prepayment meter as a result of incapacity or age, you’ll be able to refuse the swap.
- Sensible difficulties: In case you stay removed from a store the place you’ll be able to high up, or if there are different sensible explanation why a prepayment meter isn’t appropriate, you’ll be able to refuse.
- Well being issues: In case you have a medical situation that requires a continuing provide of power, or if a disruption in power provide would pose a well being danger, you’ll be able to refuse the set up.
- Vulnerability: If there are younger kids, aged, or weak people in your family, this can be a legitimate purpose to refuse a prepayment meter.
- Susceptible buyer safety: In case you’re in a weak state of affairs, your provider has to give you further safety.
This might imply they will’t drive a prepayment meter on you. Be sure you are registered without spending a dime with the Precedence Companies Register.
- Cost plans: Suppliers ought to work with you to agree on a cost plan you’ll be able to afford earlier than contemplating a prepayment meter.
- Change to a brand new provider: In case you have power debt on a regular meter, you’ll be able to swap to a distinct power provider when you’ve not had the debt for greater than 28 days.
What occurs when you disagree?
- Communication with the provider: At all times discuss first along with your provider. Clarify your state of affairs and see if there’s a greater answer.
- Getting recommendation: In case you’re not completely satisfied along with your provider’s determination or really feel they’re not contemplating your circumstances, get recommendation. Residents Recommendation and different organisations can assist you.
- Formal complaints: You have got the precise to make a proper criticism to your power provider. They’re sure by the rules of Oftem, the power regulator.
In case you’re nonetheless not glad or really feel that you just’ve not been handled pretty, you’ll be able to 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 more durable for you, but there have been experiences final yr of suppliers forcibly making folks have prepayment meters. A maintain was placed on power firms doing this, nevertheless it has restarted for EDF, Octopus and Scottish Energy from January 2024.
Whilst you might be switched to a prepayment meter when you owe cash, there are steps suppliers should observe. You have got rights and protections, particularly when you’re in a weak state of affairs.
Don’t hesitate to talk up and search recommendation when you’re dealing with this difficulty.
Poverty and power
IT all goes a lot deeper than merely saving cash on power payments. In line with Residents Recommendation, 5.3 million folks within the UK are in debt to their power suppliers. And the chances are high that tens of millions of individuals can be reduce 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 high up.
In October 2023, practically half of the poorest households have been behind on payments, in response to 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% battle to afford meals.
In 2021/22, a stunning 6 million folks have been in “very deep” poverty, with their earnings manner under the poverty line.
Over the previous couple of 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 ideas and tips. She is an skilled on saving cash on the grocery store and aspect hustles.
