Call to stop court meter warrants

Campaigners have called for an immediate ban on pre-payment meter (PPM) installations through court warrants over fears that firms are using them to disconnect indebted customers "by the back door".

Energy firms' licence conditionsprotectmany vulnerable people from formal disconnection over the winter, but the End Fuel Poverty Coalition said transferring households on to more expensive PPMS often promptedpeopleindebt to "self-disconnect" and stop using energy.

It raised concerns that firms were using PPMS "more often as a method of revenue protection".

The coalition suggested that magistrates' courts could be "rubber stamping" warrants to install meters, noting thatfreedomofinformation requests revealed 187,000 applications in the first six months of 2022, making it "difficulttobelieve"theywere approved on a case-bycase basis.