Can you get CCJ from utilities?

elsien

Personally I don’t see the problem with prepayment meters being fitted for those who have fallen into a lot of arrears and are doing little to deal with the situation.

As long as the tariff  is similar to those on standard meters and processes are correctly followed it seems silly to allow people to continue to get further and further into debt. 

fatbelly

The latest code of practice for involuntary fitment of prepayment meters is here

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/involuntary-ppm-supplier-code-practice

Yellowsub2000

Its been written in a way so that there are lots of ways for someone to stop prepayment meters being fitted

The supplier must be able to satisfy themselves in all cases of Involuntary PPM that steps taken are in line with this Code of Practice, existing SLCs and guidance.

Do not install

2.10 Suppliers should not install a PPM if, within the household, there is no one with ability to access, operate and/or top up the meter due to physical or mental incapacity or for technical reasons. These are where:

• Household requires a continuous supply for health reasons, including:

• dependency on any powered medical equipment (such as heart/lung ventilators, dialysis equipment, stair lift, or hoist);

• Refrigerated medication;

• dependency on carelines or health and wellbeing alarms;

• a medical dependency on a warm home (for example due to illness

such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or sickle cell disease).

• Households with a very elderly occupant (85+), without support in the house;

• Households with chronic/severe or terminal health conditions (such as cancer, cardiovascular/respiratory disease and organ failure).

2 Site welfare visit: Visit to customers premises by appropriately trained staff or representatives to attempt to make contact with the customer to further assess any potential vulnerable circumstances that may be present in the household to determine if PPM is safe and reasonably practicable. If no contact is made with the customer during the site welfare visit, the supplier may proceed, however must reasonable attempts to:

a) Assess any potential vulnerabilities without customer engagement, seeking support from welfare officer in edge cases if not present.

b) Provide further written communication that the visit had been attempted and next steps (ie if Involuntary PPM has been progressed following this attempt

3I

  CO issued guidance and updated the Data sharing: code of practice in September 2021. These confirmed and outlined

  the legal basis allowing the sharing of personal data for the PSR, providing there is ‘legitimate interest’ such as the

 legitimate interest between suppliers and water companies to share PSR data as it allows for greater provision of

 support.

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Involuntary PPM Code of Practice

2.11 Since the process of exercising a warrant can be traumatic for vulnerable consumers in this high-risk category, suppliers should make every effort to identify such high-risk customers before applying for and seeking to exercise warrants.

– Further assessment required by suppliers on a case-by-case basis

2.12 Suppliers must include consideration of the below disabilities/characteristics/conditions, alongside the precautionary principle in making their assessment of safe and reasonably practicable:

• Age: Children under 5/Elderly 75+

• Other serious medical/Health Conditions (such as neurological diseases (Parkinson’s, Huntingdon’s, Cerebral Palsy), respiratory conditions (COPD) and mobility limiting conditions (Osteoporosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis)).

• Serious mental/developmental health conditions (such as clinical depression, Alzheimer’s, dementia, learning difficulties, Schizophrenia).

• Temporary situations (such as pregnancy, bereavement).

2.13 We also encourage suppliers to consider whether a PPM is safe and reasonably

practicable for any household with adults over 65 and/or children under 16.

2.14 Where a supplier has any reason to believe that a customer/household has a medical or other condition that could be exacerbated by frequent or prolonged periods of self-disconnection, the supplier must ensure that the severity and level of potential detriment of an Involuntary PPM is assessed, taking into account specific metering arrangements and after care support that can be provided.

2.15 Precautionary Principle: Suppliers must assume that any customer faced with Involuntary PPM for debt is likely to be in a financially vulnerable situation and therefore more likely to self-disconnect.

2.16 Suppliers must therefore assess the ability to pay of any household they have reason to believe has a medium risk characteristic, to understand if the customer will be unable to afford their ongoing energy consumption. If a supplier concludes (taking into account meter type, aftercare support and reasonable energy saving assumptions) that the household will, frequently or for prolonged periods, self- disconnect and risk causing significant consumer harm, then the supplier must consider PPM to be not safe and reasonably practicable.

2.17 In circumstances where suppliers have attempted contact via multiple channels and conducted a site welfare visit but have been unable to establish with certainty the level of detriment in association with medium risk characteristics and/or financial assessments, suppliers should apply their own discretion on progression to involuntary PPM, noting that any move to PPM may need to be reversed if vulnerabilities are subsequently discovered in the household.

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Involuntary PPM Code of Practice

Ability to Pay

2.18 When considering progression to Involuntary PPM, suppliers must consider the cheapest payment option for the customer and attempt to offer energy saving advice and an affordable, sustainable repayment plan prior to progression to Involuntary PPM. Where a customer agrees, and adheres to, a debt repayment plan the supplier should accept this and should not threaten Involuntary PPM to try to secure higher payment than is affordable.

2.19 When considering Involuntary PPM and conducting financial assessments, suppliers must accept information (including budgets and affordable payment offers) and third-party authority forms, from any credible partnered and non- partnered debt or consumer body organisations.

2.20 Where a supplier progresses with Involuntary PPM, they must take all reasonable steps to ensure that any debt repayments recovered via the PPM take into consideration the customer’s ability to pay. Where any financial assessment concludes that the customer will be able to afford to pay for ongoing consumption but not debt repayments, suppliers must consider alternative approaches to recovering the debt such as delaying repayment start (seasonality or change in financial circumstances).

2.21 Suppliers must ensure that any alternative actions taken to recover debt (including bailiffs, CCJs) in instances where a PPM is not suitable for the household are fair, reasonable and appropriate for the customer’s circumstances and level of debt owed.

Yellowsub2000

So you could choose ccj instead of prepaid meters

but I thought utilities very rarely issue CCJs 

sammyjammy

Yellowsub2000 said:

So you could choose ccj instead of prepaid meters

but I thought utilities very rarely issue CCJs 

No you don't get to chose, if they are allowed by law to fit you with a prepayment meter and they want to they will.