Energy firms breaking into people’s homes is very wrong
Energy suppliers in Great Britain have been banned from forcing the installation of prepaid meters in homes of over 85s.
As energy prices surged in the winter, suppliers have stepped up the use of court warrants to force their way into homes to install prepayment meters. Magistrates have approved hundreds of warrant applications at a time. Some smart meter homes even had the change made remotely without a sniff of a warrant.
Quite rightly there was heavy criticism of the government and Ofgem for not bearing down on forced installations with warrants ghoulishly approved enmass.
This left 3.2 million people in cold and dark homes during the winter as they ran out of credit.
This was more than a clumsy failure. It is downright wicked. This ban is a step in the right direction, giving better protection for a vulnerable group of people.
Legally and morally such practices should never have been in place to begin with.
How was it ever okay to break into someone's house and force something on them?
Also, consumers who need a continuous energy supply for health (such as powered medical equipment) should never have be put in such a predicament.
Likewise, those who cannot physically or mentally top up the meter or people with mobility issues were unbelievably being treated in the same unacceptable way. This is a deplorable dichotomy between those who get to be treated as a human and those who do not.
At times I feel we are living in a tyrannical trap where many are being held with a theoretical noose around their necks for wanting the modern basic human needs like warmth and light.
British Gas made record profits of more than £3.3 billion last year. Apparently that was not enough. The lives of vulnerable people are an afterthought.
A Citizens Advice study showed that 37% of prepayment customers with a disability or health condition have had to cut back on food spending to keep the lights on, while 14% used a food bank to maintain their food supplies. I'd like to see increased scrutiny of supplier practices and a complete redress of these measures.
Energy companies breaking into someone's private home is not right.