Fuel Rights Handbook 21st editionChapter 7: Arrears5. Paying your arrears Prepayment meters
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Prepayment meters
Prepayment meters can be calibrated to pay for gas or electricity before consumption. They can also be calibrated to pay for arrears over a period of time. For many prepayment meters (or remote-recalibrated smart meters), this means adjusting the meter to reclaim a fixed amount of arrears each week, irrespective of the amount of fuel used. A timing device in the meter registers the amount due towards the arrears each week. This amount is then deducted from the value of fuel paid for by top-ups, either when the meter is topped-up or over the week.
If you do not add credit to the meter every week, a build-up of these charges may result. Your supply is effectively disconnected until you can afford to pay these charges through your meter. This is known as ‘self-disconnection’. Self-disconnection can occur on a credit-calibrated mode prepayment meter if all credit is exhausted, including a fixed emergency credit. Signatories to Energy UK’s Vulnerability Commitment (see here) have agreed to alert prepayment customers of standing charge build-up during the summer, and encourage them to keep their meters topped-up during this time and avoid self-disconnection.1Energy UK, The Vulnerability Commitment, 2024 See here for help if you have self-disconnected.
If you deliberately limit or control your energy use to lengthen your available credit or prudently save money for other goods or services, this is called ‘self-rationing’.
Suppliers must actively manage consumer usage and self-disconnection for prepayment meter customers. Standard Licence Condition (SLC) 27A requires that suppliers provide appropriate emergency credit support (usually about £5) in situations of self-disconnection or self-rationing to ensure continuity of supply. They must also offer ‘friendly hours’ top-up points and ‘additional support credit’ if you are in a vulnerable situation. See here for more information.
Where an involuntary prepayment meter is installed (see here), suppliers must automatically add a repayable £30 credit so you have a supply at the point of installation.2Condition 27A.7A SLC; Ofgem, Involuntary PPM Code of Practice, 18 April 2023, at ofgem.gov.uk/publications/involuntary-prepayment-meter-energy-supplier-code-practice Suppliers must actively monitor prepayment meter ongoing usage to identify trends, including to consider if you are self-disconnecting and offer you support, as appropriate.3Condition 27A.1 SLC
On a smart meter, the emergency credit support can be accessed via the in-home display (IHD).
The emergency credit support provided needs to be repaid when you next top-up or agree an instalment plan, taking into account your ability to pay.4Condition 27A.6 SLC
The gas Quantum meter and similar ‘smart card’ electricity prepayment meters are more sophisticated in the way they are able to recover arrears. They recover an agreed fixed sum once each week and leave you with a certain minimum percentage of your credit – typically 30 per cent – for your current fuel supply. This means you always get some fuel for each credit you make.
The British Gas prepayment meter is set so that, where there is a build-up of weekly fixed charges, you are guaranteed the use of only 10 per cent of any credit you make for your ongoing supply. The remaining 90 per cent is used towards this part of your debt.5britishgas.co.uk/help-and-support/struggling-to-pay/paying-us-back-through-your-pay-as-you-go-meter If your supplier offers this or a similar meter, you can find out the level of this setting from the meter itself. The information booklet supplied with the meter should give details of how to obtain information from the meter. These settings can be changed by the supplier. It may be worth pressing for a change in the settings or tariff if you are facing hardship as a result of the amount you are paying back, particularly given that such repayment arrangements must be calculated with your ability to pay.
Smart meters can be programmed remotely to operate in both credit and prepayment mode. You can agree with your supplier to pay in the way that best suits you. They facilitate greater payment flexibility and choice – eg, you can top-up credit instantly online, via text message or through your telephone, reducing the risk of ‘self-disconnection’. You can also manage your budget better because the IHD shows your consumption, debt balance, emergency credit balance and provides low credit alerts.
A prepayment meter can sometimes be a good option if you have energy debts. Some rented properties already have prepayment meters to avoid fuel debts being left by previous tenants. The advantage is that you pay-as-you-go and cannot therefore run into more debt. It also means that once the debt is paid off the situation cannot resurface in the future. However, the disadvantages of a prepayment meter include the risk that if you are in serious financial difficulty or have a physical or mental impairment, the lights may literally go out. It is therefore important that you notify your supplier of particular vulnerabilities you have to mitigate the risk of self-disconnection. Ofgem’s Consumer Survey 2020 found that of the four million households using prepayment meters, 21 per cent had self-disconnected their supply in the previous 12 months.6ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2021/04/consumer_survey_2020_update_on_engagement.pdf
It is rare for a voluntary request for a prepayment meter to be refused. If it is, contact Citizens Advice consumer service or Advice Direct Scotland. If you cannot have a prepayment meter for safety reasons or because you are particularly vulnerable, request a payment plan or request Fuel Direct if you receive a qualifying benefit. Suppliers cannot involuntarily install a prepayment meter without meeting a number of conditions detailed in SLC 28. If breached, it can result in enforcement action and substantial fines.
For repayment arrangements set up on a prepayment meter, suppliers must actively monitor its initial usage to identify trends, including considering if a different repayment plan or repayment method would be more suitable.7Condition 27.8A(g) SLC
If you have previously not been able to manage a payment plan, you may be offered a prepayment meter as your only option. If this is not convenient for you, try to renegotiate another payment plan – SLC 27 sets out alternatives including Fuel Direct.
You are not normally charged the cost of repositioning a meter to enable a prepayment meter to be fitted in these circumstances or for a smart meter set in prepayment mode.
Resisting a prepayment meter
Suppliers sometimes attempt to impose a prepayment meter– eg, if a payment plan breaks down or if you are unwilling or unable to pay a security deposit.
– In individual cases, Ofgem has a duty to make decisions about the reasonableness of the request for security, including the request for a cash security deposit or the imposition of a prepayment meter as an alternative.8Condition 27.3 and 27.4 SLC
– Check the supplier’s code of practice and point out its obligations, including licence obligations towards those in a vulnerable situation.9Condition 0.1 and 0.3 SLC Try to negotiate an affordable payment plan in the first instance. Ensuring that a payment plan is affordable reduces the chance of it failing and avoids more difficult negotiations to reinstate a revised payment plan.10Condition 27.8 SLC
– Check whether the supplier is a signatory to Energy UK’s ‘Vulnerability Committment’11Current signatories are British Gas, EDF Energy, E.ON Next, Scottish Power, Octopus Energy, Utility Warehouse, OVO Energy, Ecotricity, So Energy, Outfox the Market, Utilita, Good Energy and E Energy which provides better safeguards and protections if you are in financial difficulties.12Energy UK, Vulnerability Commitment, 2024
– Where a supplier asks for a security deposit, you may need to show that you can manage a payment plan, perhaps by referring to other bills you have successfully managed to pay in instalments – eg, catalogue debts or consumer purchases. If negotiations fail, contact Citizens Advice consumer service.
– If it is not ’safe and reasonably practicable’13Condition 27.6(a)(iii) SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, at ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/PPM%20Guidance_Safe%20and%20Reasonably%20Practicable.pdf for you to operate a prepayment meter, the supplier is in breach of its duty to supply and should offer you alternative means to pay charges or other arrangements to make it ‘safe and reasonably practicable’.14Condition 28.2 SLC Contact Citizens Advice consumer service.
– If you have entered into a breathing space scheme (see here), fresh action to install a prepayment meter must not be taken (existing warrant proceedings may however continue, save execution of the warrant).15DRS Regs
– If you have entered into a breathing space scheme, a supplier must not use a prepayment meter already installed to take payments, except if you had agreed to the meter before the breathing space commenced.16DRS Regs
 
Energy UK, The Vulnerability Commitment, 2024 »
Condition 27A.7A SLC; Ofgem, Involuntary PPM Code of Practice, 18 April 2023, at ofgem.gov.uk/publications/involuntary-prepayment-meter-energy-supplier-code-practice  »
Condition 27A.1 SLC »
Condition 27A.6 SLC »
britishgas.co.uk/help-and-support/struggling-to-pay/paying-us-back-through-your-pay-as-you-go-meter »
ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2021/04/consumer_survey_2020_update_on_engagement.pdf »
Condition 27.8A(g) SLC »
Condition 27.3 and 27.4 SLC »
Condition 0.1 and 0.3 SLC »
Condition 27.8 SLC »
Current signatories are British Gas, EDF Energy, E.ON Next, Scottish Power, Octopus Energy, Utility Warehouse, OVO Energy, Ecotricity, So Energy, Outfox the Market, Utilita, Good Energy and E Energy »
Energy UK, Vulnerability Commitment, 2024 »
Condition 27.6(a)(iii) SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, at ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/PPM%20Guidance_Safe%20and%20Reasonably%20Practicable.pdf »
Condition 28.2 SLC »
DRS Regs »
DRS Regs »
Prohibitions on installing a prepayment meter
Suppliers are prohibited or restricted from force-fitting prepayment meters under a warrant or recalibrating smart meters to prepayment mode in certain circumstances. A warrant should not be exercised and a prepayment meter installed or smart meter recalibrated where:
    •it will be severely traumatic to you due to an existing vulnerability which relates to your mental capacity and/or psychological state, and it will be made significantly worse by the experience;1Condition 28.10 SLC
    •you are in financial difficulty and the supplier has not offered or discussed with you a range of debt repayment options first;2Condition 27.5 and 27.6 SLC
    •it is not safe and reasonably practicable in all circumstances for you to use a prepayment meter;3Condition 27.6(a)(iii) SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023
    •you are in the ‘high risk’ category (see here);4Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 3.7
    •you are in the ‘medium risk’ category (considered on a case-by-case basis – see here);
    •it is not a ‘proportionate’ measure in the debt recovery process. Suppliers must ensure that all debt recovery actions and costs and charges levied up to and including applying for a warrant are proportionate to the amount that is owed;5Condition 28.14 and 28.15 SLC
    •there are unpaid charges which are genuinely in dispute;6Sch 6 para 2 EA 1989; Sch 2B para 7 GA 1986
    •you have entered into a breathing space scheme (see here).7DRS Regs
 
1     Condition 28.10 SLC »
2     Condition 27.5 and 27.6 SLC »
3     Condition 27.6(a)(iii) SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023 »
4     Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 3.7 »
5     Condition 28.14 and 28.15 SLC »
6     Sch 6 para 2 EA 1989; Sch 2B para 7 GA 1986 »
7     DRS Regs »
Prohibitions on warrant-related charges
Suppliers are prohibited from levying charges or costs associated with a warrant (including applying for and executing) where:
    •you have a vulnerability which significantly impairs your ability to engage with the supplier;1Condition 28.11 SLC or
    •you have a severe financial vulnerability which will be exacerbated by warrant-associated charges or costs;2Condition 28.11 SLC or
    •you have entered into a breathing space scheme (see here).3DRS Regs
In all other cases, warrant-related charges and costs are capped at £150.4Condition 28.12 and 28.22 SLC
Is it safe and reasonably practicable for you to have a prepayment meter?
When a supplier becomes aware that it is not safe and reasonably practicable in all circumstances for you to use a prepayment meter, it should make alternative payment arrangements, move your meter, adapt your meter or replace it completely.5Condition 27.6(a)(iii) SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023
What determines ‘safe and reasonably practicable’ is open to interpretation and has ‘high risk’ and ‘medium risk’ categories. These apply where you request or a supplier offers a prepayment meter, or it is considering installing (or installs) an involuntary prepayment meter. Relevant factors can include:
– a physical or mental disability, or other limitation, which prevents you from operating or understanding a prepayment meter or prevents you from travelling to local top-up outlets or operating top-up devices;
– you require an uninterrupted or regular fuel supply due to a relevant health condition – eg, an electric ventilator;
– local top-up outlets are located an impracticable distance for you to travel;
– the prepayment meter is located in an inaccessible location – eg, a locked room to which you do not have regular access, high on a wall or outside.
Where it becomes apparent that your household will, frequently or for prolonged periods, self-disconnect and risk causing you significant harm, it will not be considered safe or reasonably practicable for you to have a prepayment meter, either voluntarily or involuntarily. In these circumstances, the supplier must also conduct an affordability assessment, provide meter care and aftercare support. If appropriate, raise a formal complaint with your supplier. Consideration should be given to guidance published by Ofgem.6Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023; Ofgem, Guidance on the interpretation of Safe and Reasonably Practicable for the purposes of Standard Licence Condition 28 of the Gas Supply Licence and the Electricity Supply Licence, 31 March 2016 You can also contact Citizens Advice consumer service or Advice Direct Scotland.
 
1     Condition 28.11 SLC »
2     Condition 28.11 SLC »
3     DRS Regs »
4     Condition 28.12 and 28.22 SLC »
5     Condition 27.6(a)(iii) SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023  »
6     Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023; Ofgem, Guidance on the interpretation of Safe and Reasonably Practicable for the purposes of Standard Licence Condition 28 of the Gas Supply Licence and the Electricity Supply Licence, 31 March 2016 »
Involuntary prepayment meters
A supplier can seek to install a prepayment meter or recalibrate a smart meter to prepayment mode without your written or verbal consent.
In all cases, suppliers should individually assess the suitability of each household for involuntary prepayment meter, including considering if it is ‘safe and reasonably practicable’ (see here). An involuntary prepayment meter cannot be installed for those highest at risk. They fall under the ‘do not install’ category.1Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 3.7 A second group, those at medium risk, require further investigation by suppliers before proceeding with an involuntary prepayment meter or smart meter recalibration.2Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 3.8
‘High risk’ - involuntary prepayment meter cannot be installed
When a supplier considers that it is ‘safe and reasonably practicable’ for you to use a prepayment meter, and seeks to proceed with a prepayment meter, it must refrain from all involuntary installations for the highest-risk customers. These include households:
– where all occupants are aged 75 years and over (if there is no other support in the home);
– with children aged under two;
– which require a continuous supply for health reasons, including dependence on powered medical equipment – eg, heart/lung ventilators, dialysis equipment, stair lift, hoist, carelines, health alarms or refrigerated medication;
– includes someone with chronic, severe or terminal health conditions or those with a medical dependency on a warm home – eg, cancer, organ failure and cardiovascular/respiratory disease (such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis);
– where no one can access, operate and/or top up the meter due to physical or mental incapacity or for technical reasons.
If you fall into this ‘do not install’ category, raise a formal complaint with your supplier. Consideration should be given to guidance published by Ofgem.3Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 3.8
‘Medium risk’ – further assessment required before involuntary installing a prepayment meter
Before a supplier can proceed with an involuntary prepayment meter, it must refrain from all involuntary installations for medium-risk customers. These fall into the ‘further assessment needed’ category. In making its assessment of ‘safe and reasonably practicable’, the supplier must consider a number of characteristics/circumstances/conditions, alongside the assumption that this group is in financial difficulty and likely to self-disconnect. It should be noted that the personal circumstances and characteristics are not absolute nor exhaustive. They include households:
– with children aged under five years;
– where someone has a serious medical or health condition such as a neurological disease (eg, Parkinson’s, Huntingdon’s or cerebral palsy), respiratory condition, nutritional issue (eg, malnutrition) and mobility limiting condition (eg, osteoporosis, muscular dystrophy or multiple sclerosis);
– where someone has a serious mental or developmental health condition (eg, clinical depression, Alzheimer’s, dementia, Schizophrenia or learning disabilities and difficulties);
– temporary situations – eg, pregnancy or bereavement.4Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 3.7
In these circumstances, suppliers must conduct an ‘ability to pay’ assessment and provide meter care and aftercare support. If you fall into this ‘further assessment needed’ category, raise a formal complaint with your supplier. Consideration should be given to guidance published by Ofgem.5Condition 28.7 SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 5
Before an involuntary prepayment meter can be installed
Suppliers must follow certain processes before proceeding with an involuntary installation of a prepayment meter. The outstanding charges per fuel must be £200 or more (called the ‘debt trigger’) and be outstanding for three months or more after the date the bill was issued.6Condition 28.4, 28.22 SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 5.2 Three months preceding any execution of an involuntary prepayment meter, suppliers must also:7Condition 28.7 SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, paras 5.3 and 5.7
    •make at least 10 attempts to contact you through various communication channels, at various times of day;
    •conduct a site welfare visit at least once, with audio or body cameras;
    •make translation services and accessible formats – eg, braille;
    •retain any assessment documentation and audio or body camera recordings;
    •consider the cheapest payment option when calculating your ability to pay and offer you an affordable, sustainable repayment plan;8Condition 28.9(b) SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 5.6
    •provide clear information relating to prepayment meter operation, including process and methods to pay and procedures in the event of disconnection;9Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 8.1
    •provide you with easy access to a Supplier Priority Services team.10Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 8.1
Suppliers must accept information from you (or your representative) about your circumstances and your ability to pay,11Condition 27.8 SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 6.1 including the conditions detailed in SLC 27.
If all engagement attempts have been exhausted, including during site welfare visits, suppliers can exercise their discretion to obtain a warrant for a prepayment meter to be installed or for a smart meter to be recalibrated to prepayment mode. In doing so, suppliers must also use their internal ‘welfare officers’. Welfare officers are responsible for overseeing the safeguarding of consumer protection, particularly if they have not been able to establish with certainty your risk level and that it is ‘safe and reasonably practicable’ for a prepayment meter to be installed.12Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, paras para 5.8 and 5.16
At the point of warrant installation/recalibration, suppliers must place a repayable £30 credit per meter (or equivalent non-disconnection period) as a short-term credit/measure to remove the risk of you disconnecting.13Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 10.1
If it is subsequently determined that the involuntary prepayment meter is unsuitable, the prepayment installation/recalibration should be reversed to non-prepayment mode. If suppliers have been found to breach licence conditions and guidance, they must offer compensation reflective of any detriment suffered.14Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 10.4
Assessment of ‘ability to pay’ for involuntary prepayment meter
As with customers who are in payment difficulty under SLC 27, suppliers must also take into account your ‘ability to pay’ before proceeding to an involuntary prepayment meter. Suppliers must:15Condition 27.8 SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 6
    •not threaten you with involuntary prepayment meter to try to secure a higher payment than is affordable;
    •consider the cheapest payment option when calculating your ability to pay and offer you an affordable, sustainable repayment plan;
    •consider alternative approaches to recovering the debt such as delaying repayment starting if the affordability assessment establishes that you can only currently afford to pay towards your ongoing energy usage.
 
Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 3.7  »
Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 3.8  »
Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 3.8  »
Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 3.7  »
Condition 28.7 SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 5  »
Condition 28.4, 28.22 SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 5.2  »
Condition 28.7 SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, paras 5.3 and 5.7  »
Condition 28.9(b) SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 5.6  »
Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 8.1  »
Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 8.1  »
Condition 27.8 SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 6.1  »
Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, paras para 5.8 and 5.16 »
Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 10.1  »
Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 10.4  »
Condition 27.8 SLC; Ofgem, Guidance: PPM (safe and reasonably practicable), 13 September 2023, para 6 »
Collecting arrears from a previous property on a prepayment meter
The Electricity (Prepayment Meter) Regulations 20061SI 2006 No.2010 and the Gas (Prepayment Meter) Regulations 20062SI 2006 No.2011 allow a prepayment meter to be used to recover a sum owed to a supplier for the supply of gas or electricity, including the provision of the gas and electricity meter, ‘at any premises previously owned or occupied by the customer’.3Reg 3(1)(a) E(PM) Regs; reg 3(1)(a) G(PM) Regs Note that a supplier cannot recover sums unless it had previously entered into an agreement with you, which states in writing:4Reg 4 E(PM) Regs; reg 4 G(PM) Regs
    •your name; and
    •the charges you are required to pay in addition to those recovered from a previous property; and
    •a guarantee that the supplier has verbally provided you with details of other payment options available to you; and
    •the operation of the prepayment meter as regards recovery of debt and charging for ongoing consumption; and
    •the implications of failing to make payments.
You can cancel the agreement by giving verbal or written notice to the supplier within seven working days of receiving the written terms of the agreement. Either party can terminate the agreement on provision of 30 days’ verbal or written notice.
Vulnerable customers facing disconnection should refer to Energy UK’s Vulnerability Commitment (see here) and SLC 28.
 
SI 2006 No.2010 »
SI 2006 No.2011 »
Reg 3(1)(a) E(PM) Regs; reg 3(1)(a) G(PM) Regs »
Reg 4 E(PM) Regs; reg 4 G(PM) Regs »
Fuel Direct
The Fuel Direct scheme is a means to clear fuel arrears. It is also known as the DWP’s ‘third party deduction scheme’. It allows an amount to be deducted from your benefit at source by the DWP and paid directly to your energy supplier until the debt is cleared.
To be placed on the Fuel Direct scheme you must have a fuel debt and be in receipt of:
    •universal credit (UC). Five per cent of your UC is deducted to put towards your outstanding fuel debt (see here for the amounts);1Sch 9 paras 6 and 8 SS(C&P) Regs or
    •pension credit, income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) or income-related employment and support allowance (ESA). In some situations, deductions can be made from contribution-based JSA or contributory ESA. A fixed amount of £4.55 a week (during 2024/25) is deducted to address your arrears.
An additional amount can also be deducted to cover ongoing consumption, based on your previous annual bill, except where you are using a prepayment meter. This is to avoid future debt accruing and assist with budgeting in the future. See here for how the scheme works.
Fuel Direct should be used as an option, ‘where available’, when arrears have been incurred by vulnerable people.2Condition 27.6 SLC (gas) A supplier may be at fault if it overlooks this option, as many people who fall within a vulnerable category are likely to be on a qualifying benefit. You must be contacted by the DWP to establish your wishes or have an opportunity to make representations before being placed on the scheme.3Timson, Rex (On the Application Of) v SSWP [2022] EWHC 2392 (Admin)
If you are eligible for Fuel Direct and are willing to have arrears deducted from your benefit, request that your supplier and Jobcentre Plus implement this.4DWP, A guide for energy suppliers (‘Fuel Direct’), 12 September 2024, at gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-request-deductions-from-benefit-a-guide-for-creditors/third-party-deductions-from-benefits-a-guide-for-fuel-suppliers Be prepared to raise a formal complaint if the supplier will not implement Fuel Direct or if you face procedural obstacles or delays (see Chapter 14).
Fuel Direct deductions usually involve suppliers applying to the DWP for deductions for both ongoing consumption and arrears. However, since 1 April 2023, new deduction applications for ongoing fuel consumption, or a change in existing deductions, can only be made if a supplier obtains your consent first or you apply for it yourself.5Social Security Benefits (Claims and Payments) (Amendment) Regulations 2023
 
1     Sch 9 paras 6 and 8 SS(C&P) Regs »
2     Condition 27.6 SLC (gas) »
3     Timson, Rex (On the Application Of) v SSWP [2022] EWHC 2392 (Admin) »
4     DWP, A guide for energy suppliers (‘Fuel Direct’), 12 September 2024, at gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-request-deductions-from-benefit-a-guide-for-creditors/third-party-deductions-from-benefits-a-guide-for-fuel-suppliers »
5     Social Security Benefits (Claims and Payments) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 »