British Gas to pay £90m over pre-payment meter scandal

British Gas will pay out more than £90m in fines and compensation after it force-fitted prepayment meters in vulnerable customers’ homes.The energy supplier, which is owned by FTSE 100 firm Centrica, has agreed to pay £20m to Ofgem after the regulator found it had breached its licence conditions and fallen short of the standards required.In addition to the fine, British Gas will also provide compensation to those affected and write off £70m in energy debt for vulnerable customers.The redress follows a three-year investigation into British Gas by the energy regulator.Ofgem began examining the company’s practices after an investigation by The Times found that debt collectors acting on behalf of British Gas were reported to be entering homes and force-fitting meters even when they knew people had “extreme vulnerabilities”.The revelations caused outrage among MPs and consumer rights campaigners, as well as government ministers.Prepayment meters can be forcibly installed as a last resort if a customer cannot agree on repayment terms with their energy supplier.However, British Gas said in 2023 that an internal investigation uncovered at least 13 cases where Arvato employees conducted force-fittings without properly explaining how customer vulnerabilities had been considered.Tim Jarvis, chief executive of Ofgem, said: “It is clear that British Gas fell short in its treatment of an unacceptable number of vulnerable customers who had a PPM installed without consent, and it’s right that they’ve taken action to put things right.“The installation of prepayment meters under warrant should only be a last resort, with rigorous checks to ensure debt is recovered lawfully, proportionately and safelyBritish Gas said it will conduct a review of customer records between 2018 and 2021 and provide compensation to any of those affected.Chris O’Shea, chief executive of parent company Centrica, said: “What happened should never have happened, and I am sorry to the prepayment customers who were affected. When we get things wrong, we make them right.“When these issues came to light in 2023, we apologised, stopped the activity immediately and took rapid action to improve our processes and change how we engage with customers in debt, particularly those in vulnerable situations.”Ofgem has since banned the practice of installing prepayment meters in high-risk households without a customer’s permission.Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “The results of the Ofgem investigation are truly shocking. They have confirmed that British Gas knew about these failings as far back as 2018, was warned again in 2021, and still did not take adequate action“That means the firm knowingly forced prepayment meters onto customers, potentially including those with disabilities and families with young children.”