The boss of British Gas owner Centrica has said he is horrified that debt collectors have broken into vulnerable customers’ homes to fit energy meters.
The Times found debt agents working for British Gas expressed excitement at putting meters in the homes of people who had fallen behind on energy bills.
“This happened when people were acting on behalf of British Gas. There is nothing that can be said to excuse it,” Chris O’Shea told the BBC.
The firm has suspended installations.
The suspension follows an undercover investigation by the Times whose reporter went with agents working for Arvato Financial Solutions’ – a company used by British Gas to pursue debts – to the home of a single father with three children.
After establishing the property was unoccupied, the reporter observed the agents work with a locksmith to force their way in and install a prepayment meter.
It reported that the locksmith said: “This is the exciting bit. I love this bit.”
Mr O’Shea told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “The contractor that we’ve employed, Arvato, has let us down but I am accountable for this.
“This happened when people were acting on behalf of British Gas. There is nothing that can be said to excuse it.”
Agents also fitted a prepayment meter by force at the home of a young mother with an infant baby, the newspaper said.
Others who experienced similar treatment, according to materials seen by The Times, include a mother whose daughter is disabled and a woman described as having mobility problems.
Centrica said the suspension – where it applied to the court for a warrant to install a pre-payment meter – would last “until at least after winter” and that protecting vulnerable people was its priority.
Business Secretary Grant Shapps said he was “horrified” by the findings.
“Switching customers – and particularly those who are vulnerable – to prepayment meters should only ever be a last resort and every other possible alternative should be exhausted,” he said.
“These findings suggest British Gas are doing anything but this.”
Energy firms are required to have exhausted all other options before installing a prepayment meter, and should not do so for those “in the most vulnerable situations”.
It comes amid the rising cost of living and as household bills soar in part due to mounting energy costs.
