British Gas knew about the forced prepayment meter scandal for years and did nothing. Ofgem has finally fined them.
Ofgem has just closed its three-year investigation into British Gas and the results are pretty damning.
The regulator found that British Gas breached licence conditions protecting vulnerable customers when it forced prepayment meters onto people without their consent.
The really shocking part: they knew. An external review flagged the failings in 2018. An internal audit flagged them again in 2021. British Gas still didn’t take adequate action.
That means the company was knowingly forcing prepayment meters onto customers, potentially including people with disabilities and families with young children.
The settlement:
• £20m fine into Ofgem’s redress fund
• Up to £70m in debt write-offs for vulnerable customers
• Additional compensation for those affected between 2018 and 2021
If you’re owed compensation, Ofgem says British Gas will contact you directly. You don’t need to do anything.
But this isn’t the end of the story. Courts are still using batch processing to approve warrants for forced entry. Customers still can’t properly defend themselves in that process. The Energy Independence Bill needs to fix this permanently.
The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has been covering this for years: https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/british-gas-fined-20m-over-forced-prepayment-meter-scandal