British Gas to stop using contractors to fit prepayment meters

British Gas has announced that it will no longer outsource forced installations of prepayment meters (PPM). The company says that the announcement follows a detailed investigation overseen by independent regulatory compliance consultancy, Promontory Financial Services.

The report concludes that there are no systemic failings in the way British Gas handled the fitting of prepayment meters under warrant. But it did find evidence that in a small number of cases, things have gone wrong, or the company could have acted differently. As a result, some of our customers did not receive the highest levels of service that they rightly expect, and that British Gas aspires to deliver.

British Gas says it is taking immediate action to address the issues that the report has identified. This action includes:

• Immediately introducing the cheapest PPM tariffs of any supplier in the country, in line with the cost of energy for direct debit customers.
• Permanently ceasing all warrant activity with the third-party contractor and bringing this work in-house, giving British Gas more direct oversight of the process and ensuring agents benefit from training at British Gas’s award-winning academies.
• Continuing to support customers with the biggest support fund in the sector, £10 million, to directly support prepayment meter customers who are in debt by providing a free, no strings attached credit of up to £250. This fund has already helped over 50,000 PPM customers this winter.
• Commitment to Ofgem’s voluntary Code of Practice on prepayment installations under warrant. This code includes: Not carrying out involuntary installations for the highest risk customers, including over 85s, Re-assessing cases once a customer has repaid debts owed and changing from PPM to credit, Introducing the use of body cameras by employees carrying out this work when operating in the homes of customers.

Chris O’Shea, Centrica’s Group Chief Executive said “I was deeply concerned when I saw the way some of our prepayment customers were treated earlier this year. It’s not how I want us to do business and I’d like to take this opportunity once again to say how sorry I am and to apologise to anyone involved in cases where our actions fell short of the high standards we set ourselves.”

“I’m reassured that the investigation found no systemic issues with the treatment of prepayment customers, but it did highlight areas where we can, and should, do better. We’re already implementing those changes and I hope the action we are taking to improve our approach shows our commitment to doing everything we can to support our vulnerable customers.”

“But the increased cost of food, rising interest rates, higher rent and the impact of the energy crisis on consumer bills means that there is a substantial number of people who will continue to struggle with paying bills for the foreseeable future. The introduction of a social tariff for energy would be a significant step in the right direction. The funding of it will be a policy decision for Government but if we can get this right, and deal with the root cause of the affordability crisis, some of the difficult issues around fitting prepayment meters should no longer be necessary.”