Energy: Prices

(asked on 3rd February 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will hold discussions with energy companies operating prepayment meters on the potential merits of increasing the (a) temporary credit and (b) extra temporary credit available to households with those meters.


Answered by
Greg Hands Portrait
Greg Hands
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This question was answered on 11th February 2022

Ofgem has robust rules in place to protect Prepayment meter customers. In December 2020 Ofgem introduced Licence Conditions that require energy suppliers to provide extra support for customers using prepayment meters. These include an obligation on suppliers to make emergency and friendly-hours credit available to all pre-payment meter customers.

In addition, where a supplier identifies that a prepayment customer is in a vulnerable situation, including where a customer is self-disconnecting or self-rationing their supply, they must also offer additional support credit. When assessing how a customer will repay any credit offered, suppliers must also consider their ability to pay.

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