Poor hit hardest by token meter back charges

2.34.32pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 22nd Jan 2007

Councillor David Ward (Lib Dem, Idle ) has written to to npower and British Gas to find out how many people in Bradford are still using token meters and what actions are being taken to replace them with smart card or key prepayment meters.

He said,

"Research by Energywatch has shown that electricity companies are gaining up to £91 million a year from some of the poorest households, through back charging on token meters.

" The charges occur when electricity companies recalibrate meters to reflect rising energy prices. Because this is done so infrequently households get hit with back charges of up to £800 each. Generally people who use tokens are some of the most vulnerable people. They choose to pay this way for their energy costs as they have limited incomes. The last thing they need is to be hit with a massive bill.

"We need to get the energy suppliers to step up their efforts to get out into peoples' homes and recalibrate the meters after a price rise so people don't end up with large bills that come out of the blue when they think that they have paid for all the energy they have use. "