Scottish homes who use prepayment energy meters have been issued a warning ahead of Christmas.
As the festive weekend draws closer, customers are being urged to prepare for shop closure by topping up early - and to reach out for support now if they are struggling with costs.
Over the holiday season, Post Offices and many PayPoint and PayZone outlets will close or have different opening hours, and a Scottish charity is urging customers to top up in advance so they don't get caught out.
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Advice Direct Scotland, which runs the national energy advice service energyadvice.scot, also said people in financial difficulty should seek help as soon as possible.
Some meters may have “emergency” and/or “friendly” credit features available to prevent households being cut off, and it is important for people to understand how these work:
- Emergency credit – This is an amount of credit, normally up to £10, added to your meter to make sure you stay on supply if you cannot top up. You have to manually activate your emergency credit when your meter is running low. For smart meters, this can be done on the display, and for traditional prepayment meters, it can be activated by removing and replacing the top up card. Any emergency credit will have to be repaid, and this is done when you top up and replace the key or card in the meter.
- Friendly credit – Some meters will have this feature to prevent prepayment customers losing supply outside shop opening hours, for example, overnight, at weekends and on bank holidays. Friendly Credit is also paid back when you top up. The times for friendly credit vary, and some suppliers do not offer the facility on more traditional meter set ups. However, friendly credit will only activate if you go off supply during your suppliers’ designated hours. If you run out of credit and are off supply before a certain time, friendly credit will often not be available.
It is important to note that rules on friendly and emergency credit can differ between suppliers. Almost one in five households in Scotland use prepayment meters but recent figures from energy regulator Ofgem suggests this is on the rise, with debt recovery the likely cause.
Prepayment meters tend to be more expensive to run, with higher standing and unit charges than traditional credit meters.
Advice Direct Scotland highlighted a range of help available for those who are finding it difficult to pay and urged people not to struggle alone.
It said customers should contact their supplier in the first instance as they may be able to offer support.
This could include:
- Referring customers to sources of support that they have access to, such as hardship funds
- Offering support such as discretionary credit or top ups
- Most suppliers have signed up to the ‘Energy UK Vulnerability Commitment’ to ensure certain groups of vulnerable people are protected, meaning households will not be disconnected at any time of the year if young children under the age of six live there
- There is also a Priority Services Register that elderly people and those with disabilities or certain health conditions can sign up to if they require additional support
energyadvice.scot provides free, practical advice and information on energy-related matters, and can answer a wide range of queries.
Advisors can help facilitate conversations between customers and their energy suppliers if they are finding it difficult to get through on companies’ usual phone numbers.
More information on prepayment meters is available here.
Colin Mathieson, spokesperson for Advice Direct Scotland, said: “As we approach the Christmas and New Year holiday period, it is important for people to be prepared and seek support if they are struggling with the cost of energy. We know that many people are finding things extremely challenging time when it comes to their household finances, and this will be compounded at this time of year.
“For prepayment energy customers, topping up meters can lead to difficult choices about limiting spending on other areas like food. Help is available, and we would urge anyone in this situation to get in touch. At Advice Direct Scotland, we have a wide range of services available to everyone in Scotland, at no cost, regardless of personal circumstance.”
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