A family living in Horsham in West Sussex has been “tormented” after allegedly being forced onto a prepayment meter by EDF without further notice.
Speaking to ELN and describing with dire details the hardship her family have been put in, Lara James explained how the saga began: “We got home one day and the electricity was off. So, we thought it was a power cut, we left it for a while and when we went to our neighbours they had electricity. We contacted EDF and they told us that we had been put onto a prepaid meter and we had no idea what that meant at all.”
Ms James said her home was previously registered as a business while it was getting built – “we contacted EDF to try and get an account and they couldn’t set up an account. It took months for them, which then gave us a large bill of about £1,800”, she explained.
The family agreed to pay in instalments and EDF was allegedly “happy with that”.
She continued: “But then the energy prices went up and we were trying to negotiate different prices with them to try to make the debt we owed more manageable because obviously after lockdown a lot of people were in difficult circumstances and we certainly were.”
The James family paid a total of £2,500 to EDF.
Lara added: “They never explained to use how to top up the meter. They had taken all the money we had to live on and they couldn’t have cared less.
“In the phone calls we had, they were listening to me crying on the phone, begging them for electricity because my husband works from home. My husband lost his work, we lost money from the defrosted food in fridges, we lost so much. And also, the torment of it, because it’s cold, it’s dark, it gets dark quickly.
“One of these times, my daughter was home and it went off again and she was ill – we had to get her into the warmth. We had to stay in hotels and it was just like a month of torment and no one would help us at EDF.”
An EDF spokesperson told ELN: “We are sorry to hear about the problems Ms James has been facing and we are investigating this as a priority.
“We remain committed to helping as many customers as possible this winter, including providing debt relief and installing energy efficiency for those in fuel poverty.”
An Ofgem spokesperson told ELN: “Customers in vulnerable circumstances being left without power for days or even weeks is completely unacceptable and we take this issue extremely seriously.
“Suppliers must follow strict rules when installing prepayment meters and need to have exhausted all other options, particularly when a warrant is required to enter a vulnerable customer’s home. Ofgem has already taken action against suppliers through our compliance and enforcement action, including our recent review into how energy suppliers treat vulnerable customers.”
Lara says her household is on a normal meter today and they have not been contacted by EDF.
