British Gas Fined £20 Million, Writes Off £70 Million for Forced Prepayment Meter Installations

British Gas will pay £20 million into a redress fund and write off up to £70 million in energy debt for vulnerable customers, following an investigation by the regulator Ofgem into the forced installation of prepayment meters.

Three years prior, it emerged that debt agents operating on behalf of British Gas had forcibly entered the homes of vulnerable individuals to install prepayment energy meters. Ofgem’s inquiry confirmed that British Gas “failed to meet the standards required” of an energy supplier and violated licence conditions intended to safeguard vulnerable customers.

The practice of installing prepayment meters without customer consent in high-risk households has since been banned by Ofgem. Chris O'Shea, the chief executive of Centrica, British Gas's parent company, issued an apology, acknowledging that the incidents “should never have happened.” He stated that the company ceased the activity immediately and implemented changes to its processes for engaging with customers in debt.

In 2023, reports detailed how agents from Arvato Financial Solutions, acting for British Gas, forcibly entered the home of a single father to install a prepayment meter. An undercover reporter witnessed agents and a locksmith entering a property identified as unoccupied to install a meter, with agents allegedly expressing enthusiasm for such installations in vulnerable households.

Ofgem chief executive Tim Jarvis criticised British Gas for “fall[ing] short in its treatment of an unacceptable number of vulnerable customers.” He stressed that installing prepayment meters under warrant should be a measure of last resort, subject to rigorous checks to ensure lawful, proportionate, and safe debt recovery. Customers eligible for compensation will be contacted directly.