Responding to the new Ofgem Code of Practice on force fitting of prepayment meters, Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:
“This voluntary code of practice is a much needed improvement in the protections people have against the forced installation of a prepayment meter by energy companies.
“It’s now up to suppliers to follow the rules and for Ofgem to crack down quickly on any sign of bad practice. The regulator must also act swiftly to make this voluntary code mandatory.
“For too many the damage has already been done. Suppliers must now check that none of their existing customers are paying for their energy via a prepay meter when it's not a safe option for them.”
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Notes to editors
Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.
Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free.
Citizens Advice helped 2.55 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2021-22. And we had 40.6 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.
Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 18,500 trained volunteers, working at over 2,500 service outlets across England and Wales.
Citizens Advice is the largest provider of free, multi-channel debt advice. Providing that help gives Citizens Advice unique insight into the types of debts people struggle with.
Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers.
You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.