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Pre-Payment Meters Unfair

Letter from Angela Watkinson MP.
Date: 26th January 09

Dear Sir,

Pre-Payment Meters Unfair.
Some of the poorest people in society are forced by power suppliers to use pre-payment meters which result in them paying on average £225 more each year for their gas and electricity than those who pay by other means.

It may be legitimate for power suppliers to insist that some customers have pre-payment meters, but I consider that it is unjustifiable and immoral to charge them more for their gas and electricity. Many fuel-poor customers on such meters may self-disconnect through an inability to purchase tokens. I call upon the energy companies urgently to look at ways to assess the level of self-disconnection. Power companies can not use the excuse that these are more costly to administer. They should cut the cost of power supplies to pre-payment customers to the same level as that for direct debit customers.

Yours sincerely, Angela Watkinson MP.