British Gas resumes forced prepayment meter installations
Ofgem has lifted its block on the supplier, allowing involuntary installations to resume subject to checks and protections for vulnerable households.
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Ofgem has lifted its block on the supplier, allowing involuntary installations to resume subject to checks and protections for vulnerable households.
British Gas has resumed installing prepayment meters without customers’ permission after energy regulator Ofgem lifted a block on the supplier, The Guardian said. The meters require customers to add credit for energy and can also be used to repay debt.
British Gas voluntarily suspended warrant-backed installations at the beginning of February 2023 after problems emerged. Ofgem later found that the supplier had breached protections for vulnerable customers; stronger prepayment rules have since become part of suppliers’ license conditions.
Citizens Advice says a supplier cannot make the move if the customer owes less than £200 for electricity and less than £200 for gas, the bill was issued less than 3 months ago, or the customer has explained why they dispute it. Customers also cannot be moved while they are setting up a repayment plan or keeping up its agreed payments.
Ofgem says suppliers must treat involuntary prepayment as a last resort. They must try to agree another way to repay, offer support, make at least 10 contact attempts using different methods and visit the home to check whether prepayment is safe and suitable. Citizens Advice says the contact requirement has an exception if the supplier has only the customer’s postal address.
British Gas said it would offer early, targeted support and, where possible, flexible and affordable repayment options. It said it would check vulnerability and affordability before an involuntary installation, while taking appropriate action where people can pay but do not engage.
Ofgem prohibits involuntary installation if a child under 2 lives in the home, someone has a terminal illness or severe health condition, or someone needs a continuous energy supply because of a medical condition or powered medical equipment. Its guidance also protects a household where everyone is 75 or older and no other resident can provide support. Citizens Advice says a person aged 75 or older is protected if they live alone, or if neither they nor the person they live with can safely access, operate or top up the meter.
Installation is also prohibited if no one in the home can top up because of a physical or mental health condition, or if temporary circumstances make prepayment unsafe or unsuitable, Ofgem says. Citizens Advice says unresolved practical problems reaching or topping up a meter can also prevent a move.
Customers who cannot afford to top up can run out of gas or electricity. Citizens Advice says they should warn their supplier if that would happen and disclose circumstances relevant to the risk, including pregnancy, a child aged 2 to 5, a long-term or mental health condition, recent bereavement, or a condition made worse by an inability to eat hot food.
A supplier can seek a court warrant to enter a home and install a meter, or remotely switch an existing smart meter to prepayment. Citizens Advice says a remote switch requires 7 working days’ notice. Before applying for a warrant, a supplier should give at least 21 days’ notice; after obtaining one, it must give at least 7 days’ notice for a gas installation or 7 working days for electricity.
Ofgem says home visitors should wear an audio recorder or body camera for welfare visits and installations, and suppliers must provide £30 credit after an installation or remote switch.
Customers who think the rules have been breached should contact their supplier promptly and ask for the reasons and checks behind its decision, Ofgem says. They can complain if dissatisfied and contact the Energy Ombudsman if unhappy with the complaint’s handling. Citizens Advice says customers can also explain their concerns to a judge at a warrant hearing.
The restart follows a separate £112 million (about $150.1 million) settlement over British Gas’s past treatment of vulnerable prepayment customers. Ofgem said the package included £20 million for its Voluntary Redress Fund, up to £70 million in debt write-offs for vulnerable customers and the remaining delivery of a £22.4 million support package launched in 2023.
The settlement includes compensation for affected customers from 2018–21, in addition to payments already made for 2022–23. Ofgem says British Gas will contact those due compensation and pay or credit them directly; they do not need to take action.
Simon Francis, a coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said magistrates were still approving warrant applications in bulk and some failures identified in the original investigations continued. Campaigners said the winter restart could add to households’ fear and stress over bills.
Ofgem says it will continue to monitor suppliers closely and act if it identifies breaches. A government spokesperson said the restart was Ofgem’s regulatory decision and that past wrongful installations in vulnerable people’s homes must not be repeated. The spokesperson said the government was watching to ensure companies protect customers and follow the rules.
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