Energy supplier Ovo has paused forced prepayment meter installations over Christmas to help customers through the cost of living crisis. The move will mean people who have fallen into debt on a credit meter and face having their supplier install a pay as you go replacement will have some respite over the Christmas period.
Ovo said the measure is already in effect and will remain in place until Saturday, December 31. It comes as campaigners have been calling for an immediate ban on compulsory prepayment meter installations, which are made under court warrants.
Prepayment meters require regular top-ups, which can be done online using a debit or credit card or by adding store-bought credit to a smart key or card. Prepayment meters charge for gas and electricity usage at a higher rate, which could mean customers who are already in debt may struggle to keep them regularly topped up.
This has prompted concerns about vulnerable people self-disconnecting - going off supply in their homes due to lack of credit over winter, especially amid the energy crisis.
In a statement on Thursday, an Ovo spokesperson said: “To support our customers over the Christmas period we have paused all mode switching to ensure that we take every reasonable step to contact and support our customers.”
In a letter to campaigners seen by the PA news agency, Raman Bhatia, Ovo Energy’s chief executive, wrote that pausing Prepayment meter transfers is the latest in a series of measures it has introduced to help customers this year, including a debt recovery holiday for pay as you go customers until at least March 2023.
Mr Bhatia wrote: “I would like to reassure you that we understand the critical role and responsibility that we have in supporting and protecting consumers this winter and beyond.”
He said Ovo “will not disconnect any household for non-payment throughout winter” but stopped short of committing to a longer-term ban on forced Prepayment meters installations.
“Unfortunately we are unable to commit to ending all customer transfers to Prepayment meters for the entire winter period because we believe that it would be irresponsible of us as a business to leave any arrears unaddressed and allow them to build up into an unmanageable amount, given the critical role and responsibility that we have to support and protect our consumers this winter and beyond,” he said.
“As such, we consider mode-switching to be a meaningful intervention provided that best practice is followed and customer vulnerability is assessed at every stage of the process.”
On Prepayment meters customers self-disconnecting, Mr Bhatia said: “We proactively reach out to those who we believe might be in this situation - our goal is to establish whether a Prepayment meter is suitable and safe for them, and provide them with any other support they may need, including making them aware of the Ovo customer support package.”
Campaign groups welcomed Ovo’s move to halt compulsory transfers but also urged all suppliers to act and continued to call on the UK Government to ban them completely.
Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “Even the energy firms are now waking up to the reality that prepayment meter customers are struggling in cold, damp homes this winter.
“Research for the Warm This Winter campaign has shown that these customers are likely to be vulnerable or have health conditions made worse by being unable to stay warm. Many will have been forced on to a prepayment meter against their will.
“The [UK] Government must act urgently to ban any further forced installations of prepayment meters either by court warrant or by smart meter.”
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