Utility Week

14 | OCTOBER 2022 | UTILITY WEEK Customers Event Utilities must get help to those most in need Utility Week's Consumer Vulnerability & Debt Conference was a timely opportunity to discuss how utilities can support customers through the coming winter, and how much the government's support package might help. Forced installation of PPMs 'puts lives at risk' Charities have reiterated calls for a tem- porary ban on the forced installation of prepayment meters (PPM) in the homes of customers struggling to pay their bills. Thomas Brooke Bullard, senior policy researcher at Citizens Advice, told the Con- sumer Vulnerability & Debt Conference in Birmingham last month that "lives are going to be at risk" if the issue is not addressed ahead of this winter. Under ability to pay principles, suppliers must base repayment rates for energy debts on customers' ability to pay and then moni- tor the arrangements once they have been set up. If customers are struggling to make repayments, suppliers can either install a PPM if appropriate or use the Fuel Direct scheme to collect payments directly from cer- tain means-tested benefits. Ofgem stipulates that installing a PPM should only be a last resort for suppliers and it has banned installations for the most vul- nerable customers such as those with severe mental health issues. However, there have been major concerns about rule breaking, with Ofgem chief execu- tive Jonathan Brearley acknowledging that there were "troubling signs" about how some retailers were treating customers in debt fol- lowing last April's price cap rise. Brooke Bullard noted there were "a num- ber of commitments around moratoriums on forced prepay installations and moratoriums on disconnections" during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. "That's something I would want to see again, otherwise we are going to see people really suffering and beyond suffering – peo- ple's lives are going to be at risk if we don't find a way of addressing that," he said. "Something we are seeing quite worry- ingly high levels of at the moment is sup- pliers moving to install prepayment meters, and given the trends we are seeing in terms of people's ability to pay once they are on a prepayment meter, it's something that we really want to see a stop to." Brooke Bullard said the charity wants to see a temporary moratorium on forced PPM installations "at least for the coming winter". He said the customers being put on to PPM meters are "already struggling with their ongoing usage" so it "seems pretty danger- ous" to continue with the practice. "What we would like to see is a concerted pre-action protocol that suppliers sign off on, on the steps that they will take to iden- tify vulnerability and to understand ability to pay before considering a prepayment instal- lation," he said. His views were shared by Jess Cook, pro-

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