Former magistrates have hit out at the “injustice” of hundreds of prepayment meter warrants being rubber stamped in minutes by courts as the Government faces mounting pressure to outlaw the forced-installation of the devices.
i revealed on Monday that nearly half a million warrants allowing energy firms to forcibly install the meters have been granted since July 2021.
We also revealed that warrants are being granted through an obscure court process in which magistrates are issuing hundreds at a time with little or no apparent oversight of people’s vulnerability or health issues.
MPs have submitted more than 20 written questions to ministers about prepayment meters and fuel poverty in the wake of i’s investigation.
On Tuesday, debt collectors acting on behalf of one energy company turned up at house in the East Midlands with a warrant issued nearly 200 miles away in Portsmouth with three uniformed police officers.
One former magistrate said: “This is obscene. It highlights the injustice of the drive for remote telephone or video hearings. How are statements on vulnerability going to be checked?
“On the bench, I read every single utility warrant application. Thirty or 40 was the most I can remember. Now its hundreds. Prepayment meters are causing a downward spiral of debt.”
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Brent Central MP Dawn Butler, who previously served on the bench in London, said: “This whole system needs reviewing. Compassion must be added into these decisions, which have a real effect on people.
“Those who are struggling and who are put on a prepayment meter are not going to be able to heat their homes or cook food. They shouldn’t be forced on them.
“There were times in court when we would question the energy companies on these and what they were saying did not make sense. I remember going through some cases and I would say, ‘I’m not going to sign this’ and be told, ‘you’re not a social worker’.
“The Government must hold these energy companies to account. This situation is definitely going to get worse this winter. I’m very afraid for my constituents.”
A former London deputy chief clerk added: “It used to be that each warrant was checked before they were signed and the magistrate would specifically ask it applied to anyone vulnerable and, if so, it would be put back for further enquiries.
“Even then it was fairly rudimentary, but this is shocking. There is a legal obligation to make proper inquiry into the request for all warrants.”
Scotland’s Children and Young Person’s Commissioner Bruce Adamson has also spoken of concerns about children’s safety in homes with prepayment meters.
i has revealed how 4,822 warrants for force-installations have been granted in Scotland since January this year.
Mr Adamson, who has recently written to Ofgem’s chief executive urging the body to use its powers to protect children, said: “Energy companies forcing a prepayment meter on a family already struggling to pay their bills is tantamount to disconnecting them. It’s only a matter of time.
“Over winter and beyond, forced installations risk children’s rights to health development and at worst, to their survival. Choosing to allow children to go without a safe, warm house and hot foot is unacceptable.
“Ofgem must do more to ensure that children are not left in homes with no energy supply.”
Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden, who sent the Business Secretary Grant Shapps a written question asking what steps he has made to ensure firms are following the rules around force-fitting meters, told i: “Energy companies entering homes and forcibly installing prepayment meters should be illegal. This callous behaviour will ultimately put lives at risk this winter.
“People struggling to pay their bills need support to heat their homes. The prepayment meter rip-off already sees the poorest paying the highest prices.
“We need to act now to stop the force-fitting of the meters this winter and end the indefensible premium paid by families already on them.”
Glasgow North East MP Anne McLaughlin, who has asked the Business Secretary to confirm how many warrants have been granted in each constituency, has put forward a private member’s bill which will have a second reading this week.
The bill calls for equal treatment for those on prepayment meters and those paying by direct debit.
Ms McLaughlin said: “Most people on prepayment meters are on them for financial reasons and may have been forced onto them by their energy suppliers. It is having a massive impact on a lot of pensioners and people with terminal illnesses.”
A Government spokesman said it expects energy suppliers to do all they can to help customers who are struggling to pay their bills and suppliers can only forcibly-stall prepayment meters as a last resort.
The spokesman said: “The regulator Ofgem requires energy suppliers to offer solutions for customers in, or at risk of, debt or disconnection. This includes offering emergency credit to all prepayment meter customers and additional support credit for those in vulnerable circumstances.”