Join your energy supplier’s Priority Services Register

3 mins read

Thursday 8 December 2022

Tags: out of energy, priority services register, vulnerable customers

If you live in England, Scotland or Wales, you can contact your energy supplier to register as a vulnerable customer on their Priority Services Register.

We strongly advise families with children who have disabilities or rely on medical equipment to do this ahead of winter.

What does being on the Priority Services Register do?

Being on your energy supplier’s Priority Services Register means they know you are a vulnerable customer.

Many suppliers will give vulnerable customers advanced notice of planned power cuts and offer priority support during emergencies. Some may be able to provide cooking facilities, hot meals or charge points to households that rely on medical equipment.

Alongside providing extra support as a vulnerable customer, suppliers must take all reasonable steps to avoid disconnecting you during the winter months (1 October – 31 March). Suppliers that have signed up to Energy UK’s Vulnerability Commitment cannot knowingly disconnect a vulnerable customer at any time of the year.

You can also join the register of your energy network operator. This is the company that provides the pipes and cables that bring energy from your supplier to your home.

What is a vulnerable customer?

Ofgem – the energy regulator – lists customers normally considered vulnerable.

This includes disabled households and those young children, and households that use medical equipment that requires a power supply.

How do I register?

Contact your energy supplier and ask them to put you on their Priority Services Register.

You can also contact your local electricity network operator to ensure you are also on their register. Find out who that is.

Live in Northern Ireland?

Energy suppliers in Northern Ireland may operate their own schemes for older, disabled or chronically ill customers, such as the Medical Customer Care Register. Check with your supplier to find out more.

What other support could I get?

Visit our webpage on household bills to find out what other support you could be eligible to get with your energy costs, such as Cold Weather Payments or the Warm Home Discount.

An update on our Out of Energy campaign

We continue to call for targeted support now for disabled households to avert a deepening cost of living crisis.

Labour MP Catherine West has directed the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to our Out of Energy research.

Graham Stuart has responded, stating that the government will continue to assess the impact of rising costs on families with disabled children. He drew attention to the government support package announced by Jeremy Hunt in his Autumn Statement last month.

As we said at the time, while we welcome the rise in benefits to current inflation levels and the extra payments announced, the families we support can’t wait until next Spring. Better targetted support is needed now.

Join our Out of Energy campaign.