A consumer watchdog has called for a ban on 'forced' switches to prepayment meters until more protections are introduced. Citizens Advice found 3.2 million people in Britain on a prepayment meter were cut off in 2022 - the equivalent of one every 10 seconds.
New protections would ensure that households can no longer be fully cut off from gas and electricity, says the charity group. This may be of particular importance to those who have a smart meter as they can be switched to a prepayment mode remotely and without permission, reports the Daily Record.
Ofgem data from November 2022 showed that around 60,000 UK households had their meters remotely switched to prepayment mode in the three months prior. In many instances, this will be voluntary, as people will opt to be switched to prepay to stop them from accruing debt with their supplier.
