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Priority Services Register

If you struggle to read your energy bills, rely on electricity or water to run vital medical equipment, have a health condition that would make a prolonged power or gas cut difficult, or have other vulnerabilities, you may be eligible for additional support from your utility providers.

To make your energy and water providers aware of your needs, you should sign up for their Priority Services Registers, confidential lists of customers who require extra help.

Lauren Smith
Written by Lauren Smith
09 December 2025
8 mins read

What is the Priority Services Register?

The Priority Services Register (PSR) is a free, confidential service provided by energy and water companies to protect vulnerable customers. 

Customers registered under the scheme are entitled to additional help, including priority assistance in the event of emergencies, advanced notice of planned outages, accessible bills, and help with meter readings. Some households on the register can also claim a free annual gas safety check.

Customers can sign up for the Priority Services Register on a long-term basis, for instance, if they’re elderly or living with a disability or chronic health condition. They can also sign up if they’re going through temporary hardship, for example, recovering from an injury, recently bereaved, or newly unemployed.

According to Ofgem data, more than seven million households are on their electricity supplier’s Priority Services Register, while almost six million are registered for additional support with their gas supplier.

What benefits do you get from signing up for the PSR?

Energy providers offer a range of support mechanisms for customers on their Priority Support Registers, usually tailored to their particular needs. Applications for PSRs typically ask about your specific needs, including your age, medical conditions, mobility, use of medical equipment, and communication requirements, so you can be offered appropriate support.

Your provider may also follow up with a phone call or letter to discuss your circumstances and how they can help. 

The benefits they offer may include:

  • Help during power cuts
    This includes priority assistance, such as faster reconnection if your supply is interrupted, and advanced notice of scheduled power cuts and gas outages, which is especially crucial for people reliant on medical equipment. Some providers may offer additional support during long (24+ hour) outages. This could include home visits, hot meals, hotel stays, temporary heating (usually portable electric heaters), temporary cooking equipment (such as portable electric or gas cookers, microwave ovens, or hot plates), and temporary hot water (for example, electric kettles and hot water flasks).
  • Accessible communication
    This could include bills in large print, Braille, translated into another language, or even audio recorded onto CD or read to you over the phone. Priority Services Register applications should ask if you have any preferences about how your supplier communicates with you. You can also nominate a family member or carer to receive communication and bills from your supplier on your behalf. Some suppliers also prioritise your phone call when you contact them, some with dedicated Priority Services Register phone lines.
  • Help with meter readings
    If you’re unable to read your meter, your supplier can send out someone to regularly read it. If you have a prepayment meter and struggle to access it to top up, it can sometimes be relocated for free. 
  • Protection from scams
    Some suppliers offer password schemes, requiring their staff, including engineers, to tell you a password or present their ID card when they contact or visit you, so you know they’re genuine.
  • Free annual gas safety checks
    Customers on the Priority Services Register who own their own homes and claim means-tested benefits (for example, Universal Credit, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, and Guaranteed Credit as part of Pension Credit) may be eligible to receive free checks of their gas appliances and installations by Gas Safe registered engineers each year.

The benefits of being on your water company’s Priority Services scheme are similar and could include:

  • Bills and other communication in accessible formats, such as large print or Braille.

  • Advanced warning of planned supply interruptions.

  • Help with meter readings if you can’t do them yourself.

  • Nominee scheme: appointment of a family member or carer to receive bills and other communication on your behalf.

  • Password protection scheme: Staff from the water company could be required to offer a password or show their ID cards when contacting you, including visiting your home.

  • Dedicated phone line for Priority Service customers.

  • Delivery of bottled water during supply interruptions for customers unable to leave the house.

Who is eligible for the PSR?

You’re eligible for your energy company’s Priority Services Register if any of the following apply:

  • You’ve reached State Pension age (currently 66 for men and women, rising to 67 between April 2026 and April 2028). To check your State Pension age, use the government’s website.

  • You have a disability or long-term medical condition. These include mental health conditions, conditions affecting your senses, or conditions that mean you use medical equipment that requires a power supply.

  • You have children under five or are pregnant.

  • You struggle to speak or read English or have other communication needs.

  • You’re going through temporary hardship, such as if you’re recovering from an injury, have recently been discharged from hospital, have been bereaved, or have lost your job.

You may also be eligible in other cases. If in doubt, get in contact with your provider. You don’t need to supply evidence to support your application. 

The eligibility criteria for water companies' Priority Services schemes are broadly the same, but also specifically include people who must shower and bathe more often due to health conditions and those who require water for medical equipment, for example, for home dialysis.

How to sign up for the PSR

For energy, you can sign up for the Priority Services Register with your gas or electricity supplier or network operator, the company that owns and operates your local electricity wires or gas pipes. With your consent, one of these companies can share your information with the others, so you don’t have to apply multiple times.

To find your electricity network operator (ENO), enter your postcode into the Energy Networks Association website. You can find your gas distribution network by using findmygdn.co.uk.

You’ll typically need to fill out a short application. You can do this online, by filling out a form, or by phoning the company’s customer service line. Some companies can send out a paper form for you to return by post. 

The application will typically ask:

The application will typically ask:

  • ?

    Your personal details, including address and, when applying through your energy supplier, your account number with them

  • ?

    Your personal circumstances and vulnerabilities

  • ?

    Whether you rely on any medical equipment

  • ?

    Your preferred communication method and needs

The provider may follow up with a phone call, letter, or email to further discuss your needs and the support they might offer.

Applications for your water company’s Priority Service scheme operate similarly. To find your water provider, enter your postcode into the checker run by Water UK.

Is there any other help available?

Yes, there are several other schemes to assist vulnerable energy customers, including:

  • Warm Home Discount scheme: an annual £150 discount on your electricity bill, to offset higher winter energy bills, available for people receiving the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit or receiving certain means-tested benefits and having high energy costs. For most people, this discount is automatically applied, but contact your energy supplier if you have any questions about your eligibility.

  • Winter Fuel Payment: an annual lump sum payment of between £100 and £300 for households with a resident over state pension age. Eligibility for the payments has changed as of 2025, and if you earn over £35,000 annually, the payment will be recollected by HMRC as part of your tax.

  • Cold Weather Payments: £25 payments for each seven-day period of very cold weather (below 0°C) between 1 November and 31 March, paid to those in England and Wales on certain benefits, to ensure they can keep the heating on.

  • Energy Company Obligation (ECO4): funding for energy efficiency upgrades, funded by large energy suppliers, for households that receive certain income-related benefits and live in properties with Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings of D or below. Upgrades could include insulation, heating system updates, and renewable energy technologies such as solar panels.

  • Great British Insulation Scheme: government funding for cavity wall and loft insulation, available to residents of energy-inefficient homes (EPC ratings of D to G) in lower council tax bands (A-D in England, A-E in Scotland and Wales).

  • Energy supplier schemes: Most large energy suppliers run their own support schemes for vulnerable customers struggling to pay their bills, which may offer grants, flexible repayment plans, standing charge waivers, and temporary credit for prepayment meters.

  • Local authority schemes: Local authorities offer support to vulnerable residents struggling to pay for essentials, often through their Household Support Funds. They may be able to offer grants to cover energy bills and fuel vouchers for prepayment customers or direct you to other support.

  • Fuel vouchers for prepayment customers: If you’re a prepayment customer, you may also be able to receive fuel vouchers to top up your meters from food banks and charities.

  • Charitable schemes: Some charities can also help households struggling with energy bills.

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