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 make it his policy to (a) prevent and (b) regulate energy companies from forcibly installing prepayment meters in homes.

Prepayment meters (PPMs) allow customers to pay for energy on a pay-as-you-go basis and serve an important function by helping the avoidance of debt and court action. A ban on PPM switching as a last resort could lead to an increase in bailiff action. There are no plans to remove this option.

Ofgem has stringent rules on the force-fitting of PPMs and have recently published a letter where they outline steps they will be taking on tackling inappropriate supplier PPM practises including making sure suppliers are complying with those rules.