Martin lewis' mse issues new alert as thousands of households due up to £1,000

THE ENERGY REGULATOR OFGEM HAS ANNOUNCED THAT £5.6MILLION WILL BE PAID OUT BY EIGHT ENERGY COMPANIES TO 40,000 CUSTOMERS IN TOTAL, FOLLOWING A REVIEW 09:33, 02 Jun 2025 Martin Lewis'

money saving website has issued an alert as tens of thousands of energy customers are set to receive payouts of upto £1,000 in response to the scandal over the forced fitting of prepayment

meters. Energy companies are paying out more than £70m in compensation and financial support to customers following a review by industry regulator Ofgem into the way suppliers switched

customers to paying upfront without their agreement after they fell behind with their bills. The watchdog has announced that £5.6million will be paid out by eight energy companies to 40,000

customers in total, following a review. The suppliers will also write off a further £13million of energy debt. The payments start at £40 or £60, rising to £250, £500 and £1,000. Mr

Lewis' financial help website, MoneySavingExpert, urges people: "Ofgem says affected customers don't need to do anything. But if you believe you are due compensation or a debt

write-off and don't hear from your energy supplier in the coming weeks, contact it. "How much you'll get depends on how you were treated during this process, though Ofgem

says very few will get the full £1,000, which will be paid to those who shouldn't have been switched at all." Article continues below The eight energy firms that are issuing the

payments are: Scottish Power, EDF, E.ON, Octopus, Utility Warehouse, Good Energy, Tru Energy and Ecotricity. It comes after Ofgem launched an investigation into often vulnerable customers

being switched to prepayment meters after they fell behind on bills between January 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023. Ofgem has said the compensation will be paid automatically into energy

accounts and added that some customers will have already been contacted by their supplier. The energy firms at the centre of the investigation have already paid out £55million in financial

support. It comes after new stricter rules on forced prepayment meter installations were introduced by Ofgem in 2023, following an investigation by The Times which revealed how debt

collectors had forced their way into homes to install prepayment meters. Article continues below Tim Jarvis, director-general of markets for Ofgem, said: "While the number of cases

where a prepayment meter was wrongfully installed is relatively low compared to the total number of PPM customers, one case is one too many. "We know that PPMs can be an effective tool

in helping customers manage their costs and debt. However, customers must always be treated fairly and compassionately, and we are confident that the changes we have made are a significant

step to ensure that happens." _FOR THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS AND STORIES FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE FROM THE DAILY STAR, SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER BY CLICKING __HERE__._