British Gas Pays £20M to Settle Prepayment Meter Scandal
British Gas has agreed to pay £20 million into a customer redress fund to close a regulatory investigation into the force-fitting of prepayment meters, BBC Business reported Friday. Energy watchdog Ofgem found the company had breached licence conditions designed to safeguard customers in vulnerable circumstances.
A Scandal Years in the Making
The prepayment meter scandal first drew national attention in 2023. The Times revealed that debt agents working on behalf of British Gas had entered occupied homes without consent to install the devices. An undercover reporter documented agents and a locksmith forcing entry into a single father’s property after confirming it was temporarily empty. The incident was not isolated. Across the industry, roughly 40,000 customers had meters fitted without permission between 2022 and 2023. Other major suppliers including EDF, E.On and Scottish Power have already agreed to pay compensation over their own roles in the wider practice.
Regulator Highlights Years of Inaction
Ofgem’s investigation found British Gas had been alerted to problems as far back as 2018. An external review flagged concerns that year. An internal audit raised them again in 2021. The company did not suspend the practice until 2023, when press coverage forced the issue into the open. Ofgem subsequently banned forced meter installations in high-risk households entirely. Ofgem chief Tim Jarvis told the BBC that suppliers must first obtain a court warrant before installing a meter without consent and must then follow strict welfare-check rules before proceeding.
The Full Cost of the Settlement
The £20 million redress payment is only part of a broader financial reckoning. The complete settlement package will cost British Gas up to £112 million in total. That figure includes compensation for customers affected between 2018 and 2021, a sum covering those already compensated for incidents in 2022 and 2023. It also includes writing off up to £70 million in vulnerable customers’ energy debt and completing a £22.4 million voluntary support package announced in 2023. British Gas will additionally create an internal Vulnerable Customers Debt Advisory Panel. Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea said the incidents “should never have happened” and stated the company acted swiftly once the problems surfaced.
Customers and Advocates Demand More
Citizens Advice chief Clare Moriarty said many affected households were left without heat during winter because they could not afford to top up their meters. She welcomed the settlement but cautioned Ofgem that the investigation’s closure should mark progress, not a full stop. Ofgem said eligible customers would be contacted directly and do not need to take any action themselves.
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