A Citizens' Advice report suggests 'When customers struggle with their payments, energy suppliers are required to support them. This usually takes the form of a repayment plan, agreed between the supplier and the customer. However, as fnancial pressures grow, many are struggling to meet their ongoing usage, let alone payments towards arrears.
This is leading to an escalation of debt collection activity, with suppliers increasingly forcing customers onto prepayment meters so that they stop building up debt and so the supplier can collect a part of the debt every time someone tops up.
This is extremely risky for customers; if a customer who is struggling to pay is put onto a prepayment meter, then they may not have enough money to top up their meter and their power will be disconnected. This is called self- disconnection.
We’re calling on the Government to stop forcing energy customers onto prepayment meters to recover debt, so that we can keep more people on supply this winter.
Specifcally, we want to see a winter moratorium on moving customers to prepayment meters under warrant and on switching smart meters to prepay in an attempt to recover debt. This moratorium should remain in place until April 2023....Energy companies have a duty to protect customers, but forcibly moving people in debt onto prepayment meters is disconnection by the backdoor. '
