Local Member of Parliament Katy Clark has written to Ofcom calling for them to put in place measures to end the practice of energy companies charging premiums to customers on pre-payment metres. The Energy Regulator is currently holding a consultation on the issue and the MP for North Ayrshire said this represented an ideal opportunity to put in place protections for the estimated 1 in 5 customers in Scotland currently on pre-payment metres for their household electricity and the 1 in 4 for household gas.
Speaking on the subject the local MP said “It is a national scandal that energy companies have been able to get away with overcharging households on pre-payment meters for so long. Households on pre-payment meters are often those on the lowest incomes trying to use the meters to budget their energy and I am appalled that for years they have been overcharged to simply to boost the profits of the major energy companies.”
“Whilst all suppliers and three of the ‘big six’ gas suppliers have now decided to charge prepayment meter customers the same as quarterly billed customers in the face of widespread public outrage there is nothing to stop this change from being reversed. I therefore urge Ofgem to put in place measure to ensure that pre-payment metre customers do not pay a penny more for their gas and electricity than customers on quarterly bills both now and in the future.”