Customers with energy prepayment
meters will no longer be charged an extra premium, following an announcement by
the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt in his budget speech.
He is to end the so-called 'prepayment
premium', saving four million households around £45 a year on their energy
bills. The Treasury estimates the change will cost the taxpayer £200 million.
Households who pay for energy using
'pay-as-you-go' meters are often on low incomes, but they currently pay more
than direct debit customers.
The Chancellor said: “It is clearly
unfair that those on prepayment meters pay more than others. We are going to put
an end to that.”
He added: “From July, four million
households won’t pay more than those on direct debits. We’ve already cut energy
bills by almost half this winter, and this latest reform is proof again that
we’re always on the side of families.”
Forced Installation of Prepayment
Meters
As we reported in The Customer Service
Blog on 8th February 2023 repayment meters have been in the spotlight after some energy
suppliers were found to be breaking into the homes of people in arrears, to forcibly install these meters.
An investigation by The Times revealed
how vulnerable customers were
being forced by British Gas to have 'pay-as-you-go' meters installed, or have their gas supply switched off altogether.
Energy companies were subsequently
banned from installing prepayment energy meters under warrant, as reported in a previous article in this blog.
Grant Shapps, the Energy Secretary,
said: “While actions I’ve pushed for have meant forced installations are on
pause, warrants aren’t being waved through and Ofgem is toughening up its
reviews, our changes will make sure families aren’t penalised simply for how
they heat their home.”
Meanwhile, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt
is expected to cancel a planned £500 increase in average energy bills which was
due to come into force next month.
For the average household that means
bills could stay at about £2,500, instead of going up to £3,000 as previously
announced.
Hunt has recently come under growing
pressure to cancel the rise, which was set to come into force from 1st April as
the country grapples with the cost of living crisis.
Some of the information used in this
article is taken from PA Media.
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