# The Priority Services Register explained

> Who can join the free Priority Services Register, the help it brings in a power cut, and why you should ask both your energy supplier and your network operator.

- Canonical URL: https://powercutkit.co.uk/priority-services-register/
- Source: [Ofgem, join your supplier's Priority Services Register](https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/join-your-suppliers-priority-services-register)
- Checked: 2026-10-25

This page includes a free interactive tool that runs in the browser and sends no data. The figures and rules it uses are the ones stated on this page, with their sources.

## Who can join

You can ask to join if someone in your home ([Ofgem](https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/join-your-suppliers-priority-services-register)):

- has reached State Pension age;
- is pregnant or has young children;
- struggles to speak or read English;
- lives with a disability or long-term medical condition, including mental health conditions and sight, hearing or smell conditions, or needs medical equipment that uses electricity;
- has recently had a change in circumstances, such as recovering from an injury or hospital stay, a bereavement or losing a job.

## What it gives you

- Priority support in an emergency, and advance notice of planned power cuts where possible.
- A password scheme, so you can check that a caller or visitor really is from your energy company.
- Someone you choose, such as a relative or carer, can receive messages and bills.
- Help with a prepayment meter you cannot reach, regular meter readings, large print or braille bills, and help reconnecting gas.

In a power cut, network operators must offer people on the register extra help, which can include battery packs for phones or medical equipment ([Ofgem, power cut payments](https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/check-if-you-can-get-payment-power-cut)). The register brings no extra payments.

## Northern Ireland

The Priority Services Register is for England, Scotland and Wales. In Northern Ireland, NIE Networks keeps a Medical Customer Care Register for people who rely on electrical equipment for their care, and NI Water keeps its own care register; both give priority contact in a supply cut and warning of planned cuts ([nidirect](https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/care-registers)).

## How to join

It is free. Contact your energy supplier or your electricity network operator: each keeps its own register, so telling both does no harm. If your gas and electricity come from different suppliers, ask each one, and ask again when you switch supplier. Have the details ready: who in the home needs help, and what kind.

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Power Cut Kit · Contact: contact@powercutkit.co.uk