People fighting being forced to switch to energy prepayment meters have been given a boost. Magistrates have been ordered to stop processing any applications by energy firms to enter homes and install the devices.
The senior presiding judge of England and Wales, Lord Justice Edis, issued the guidance on Monday. He told magistrates that applications for warrants of entry to install a prepayment meter “should, with immediate effect, cease to be listed and no further such applications are to be determined until further notice”.
The move followed Ofgem becoming so concerned at energy firms’ practices around forced prepayment meter installation that it had asked them all to suspend the activity, the guidance said. It read: “Magistrates and district judges (magistrates’ courts) in issuing warrants of entry must act proportionately and with regard to the human rights of the people affected, particular any people with vulnerability.
