Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions has he had with energy suppliers on the timeline for the distribution of compensation to customers who were forced to have prepayment meters installed.

We have campaigned tirelessly on this issue since this scandal came to light, and I am pleased to see justice is finally being delivered to many of the affected families. The Secretary of State urged Ofgem to accelerate work to deliver payments earlier this year, and on Wednesday 28 May Ofgem announced £18.6m of compensation for households affected by the involuntary installation of pre-payment meters (PPMs). Suppliers will pay £5.6million in compensation – using the guidelines set out by Ofgem – to 40,000 consumers that had an involuntary PPM installed during the assessment period. Suppliers will also write off a further £13million of debt from customers who had an involuntary PPM during the assessment period. I am pleased to see the level of compensation increase significantly from £420,000 in June 2024.

Ofgem has been working with suppliers to make sure suppliers are paying compensation in a fair and consistent way. Ofgem has also been negotiating with suppliers on offers of debt write-off, to make sure involuntary PPM customers directly benefit from this work. It is paramount that compensation payments are issued as quickly as possible, and we will continue to work with Ofgem and suppliers to ensure affected consumers are compensated in a timely manner.