CRU highlights protection measures for vulnerable customers

People who have built up arrears on their energy bills over the winter months have been reminded that there are protections in place to stop them being disconnected.

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has stressed that suppliers will not disconnect customers who engage with them and that suppliers must provide every opportunity to customers to avoid disconnection.

The CRU is encouraging all domestic customers who may have built up any arrears during the winter period to proactively talk to their supplier to arrange a repayment plan. Suppliers are required to provide affordable and reasonable options to allow customers to reduce any arrears.

Among the options that suppliers must offer are help with payment plans. They must also show a willingness to engage with a money adviser acting on behalf of a customer and offer customers prepayment meters or budget controllers.

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Suppliers must also take into account a customer’s ability to pay when agreeing any repayment arrangement, by credit or prepay meter and confirm with the customer that arrangements are manageable.

Suppliers must also offer a minimum of 24 months to repay debt.

The enhanced customer protection measures were put in place in August 2022 and also mandate that customers with a financial hardship meter must be placed on the cheapest tariff available from their supplier while suppliers are obliged to actively promote the vulnerable customer register and the protections it offers.