Prepayment meters: what has Grant Shapps said about energy providers switching to expensive tariffs - will they be banned?

Energy providers must stop pressuring financially strapped households to migrate to prepayment meters, the Business Secretary has demanded. The worst offenders will also be "named and shamed," said Grant Shapps.

According to the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, Shapps has written to firms asking they voluntarily stop the practice of forcing households onto more expensive pre-paid energy tariffs.

Shapps also advised energy companies to start by doing more to assist customers who are having trouble paying their bills, such as by providing credit or financial assistance.

After failing to keep up with escalating prices, hundreds of thousands of customers have been forced to migrate to more expensive prepayment meters, frequently against their will and without being offered assistance.

Some people have discovered that their smart meters have been remotely switched to prepayment mode, while teams sent by energy firms and armed with magistrate court warrants have physically confronted others at their doors to make the change.

The Business Secretary said: “Suppliers are clearly jumping the gun and moving at-risk customers on to prepayment meters before offering them the support they are entitled to – I simply cannot believe that every possible alternative has been exhausted in all these cases.

Campaigners say that people who are switched eventually lose power as they are unable to afford to keep the meters topped up, a process known as “self-disconnection.”

Shapps added: “I am deeply concerned to see reports of customers being switched to prepayment meters against their will, with some disconnected from supply – and quite literally left in the dark.

“Rather than immediately reaching for a new way to extract money out of customers, I want suppliers to stop this practice and lend a more sympathetic ear, offering the kind of forbearance and support that a vulnerable customer struggling to pay should be able to expect.”

Additionally, he has requested that suppliers disclose the number of warrant requests they have filed in order to forcibly enter premises in order to install meters.

Labour has pledged to implement a ban on the compulsory installation of prepayment meters, but the government is resisting such a move due to worries about an increase in subsequent bailiff activity.

Citizens Advice welcomed the Government’s call for energy suppliers to stop forcing people on to prepayment meters.

Head of energy policy Gillian Cooper said: “It’s now up to suppliers to do the right thing and end this practice. If they don’t, the Government must step in with stronger action. It’s also vital further protections are brought in for people already using prepayment meters.”