{"value":{"id":89914,"askingMemberId":4308,"askingMember":null,"house":"Lords","memberHasInterest":false,"dateTabled":"2014-09-01T00:00:00","dateForAnswer":"2014-09-15T00:00:00","uin":"HL1756","questionText":"To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to encouraging the six largest energy companies to develop and use their own vulnerability checklist as part of a comprehensive assessment process to help determine a household's circumstances before any new pre-payment meters are installed, in accordance with the voluntary code agreed with Consumer Focus in March 2011.","answeringBodyId":63,"answeringBodyName":"Department for Energy and Climate Change","isWithdrawn":false,"isNamedDay":false,"groupedQuestions":[],"answerIsHolding":false,"answerIsCorrection":false,"answeringMemberId":3790,"answeringMember":null,"correctingMemberId":null,"correctingMember":null,"dateAnswered":"2014-09-15T00:00:00","answerText":"

All the large suppliers have agreed to the 5 key principles set out by Consumer Focus in March 2011. This includes a check of whether a customer is vulnerable before installation of a prepayment meter and offering a different payment method if appropriate. In the 2012 report “Making Progress” Consumer Focus found that most large suppliers use a checklist to help staff identify the best approach. This report is available at this link: http://www.consumerfutures.org.uk/files/2013/07/Making-progress.pdf

Government supports initiatives to ensure that vulnerable pre-payment customers are being treated fairly and receiving appropriate support and is considering areas where Government action could further improve the consumer experience of pre-payment customers.

","originalAnswerText":"","comparableAnswerText":"","dateAnswerCorrected":null,"dateHoldingAnswer":null,"attachmentCount":0,"heading":"Energy: Meters","attachments":[],"groupedQuestionsDates":[]},"links":[{"rel":"self","href":"/Questions/89914","method":"GET"}]}