INVERCLYDE'S MP has criticised new rules on the fitting of pre-payment energy meters in people's homes, saying they don't go far enough.

The SNP's Ronnie Cowan says the new minimum guidelines for energy suppliers will not help all vulnerable households, nor will they assist in reducing the four million homes across the UK which currently have pre-payment meters.

Energy suppliers have signed up to a new Ofgem code which would make some households exempt from having a pre-payment meter forcibly fitted.

Last week, the Telegraph reported the case of Greenock pensioner David Fyfe who had been wrongly billed by Scottish Power for years as the firm sought to reclaim an alleged unpaid debt of more than £13,000.

Mr Fyfe, 72, received dozens of letters including threats from a debt collection agency to force entry to his Antigua Street home and fit - without his permission and at his own expense - a new pay-as-you-go meter.

The company was forced to apologise and cancel the balance and said it would 'discuss a goodwill payment in recognition of the distress caused and the time taken to sort this out'.

READ MORE: Utility firm says sorry to Greenock OAP after wrongly chasing him for £13,000 'bill'

Mr Cowan described the treatment of his elderly constituent as 'completely unacceptable'.

The new regulations include banning suppliers from installing a pre-payment meter in a home where the customer is over 85, or in homes which need a continuous energy supply for health reasons, or homes where a person has a severe health condition.

The measures come after it was revealed that agents working for British Gas had been forcibly fitting pre-payment meters in the homes of vulnerable people.

Those customers on pre-payment meters - normally on lower incomes - also have to pay more for their power supplies than those paying by direct debit.

The Inverclyde MP's comments came as he backed a campaign by fellow SNP MPs Anne McLaughlin and Drew Hendry, calling for an end to the force fitting of meters and an end to higher rates.

Mr Cowan has already revealed that more than a quarter of families on pre-payment meters have not redeemed government support vouchers designed to cut bills after raising the issue in parliament, saying he fears the vouchers are not getting through to those who need them.

READ MORE: Inverclyde MP says cost-of-living crisis is making people in the area sick

The MP said: "These new measures don't go nearly far enough.

"The ban on fitting these meters where the customer is over 85 means there's still plenty of scope for the force fitting of meters where the customer is vulnerable and might be 79, 83, or 84.

"On the one hand the guidelines recognise that some elderly customers are struggling and vulnerable, but on the other, still allow these meters to be forcibly installed.

"It is a disgrace that in the UK there are four million homes where the lights and heating will go off if people don't have the means to feed these meters.

"We need to reduce the number of these pre-payment meters and these measures won't achieve that.

"And it is a disgrace that people on low incomes are still having to pay higher rates.

"The Chancellor has said he will end the higher tariff rates later this year.

"Why will he not do it now? That would save vital money for customers during this Tory-fuelled cost-of-living crisis.

"But we will hold his feet to the fire on this.

"Energy debt in the UK is at an all-time high of £2.5 billion.

"But that is not because people don't want to pay their way, it is because they don't have the money to pay these crippling energy bills.

"The idea that during a cost-of-living crisis energy firms can still force fit these meters is shameful.

"It must end."