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Ban on prepayment meters will continue beyond March

A ban on the forced installation of prepayment meters by energy companies has been extended beyond the end of March, Ofgem has said.

The energy regulator’s chief executive, Jonathan Brearley, told MPs that suppliers would not resume the installations until a code of practice was published, and Ofgem was satisfied it was being adhered to.

Ofgem – which covers England, Scotland and Wales – agreed with suppliers in February to suspend until the end of March the forced installation of meters under warrant after a Times investigation showed debt agents at Arvato Financial Solutions ignored signs that British Gas customers were vulnerable and force-fitted meters.

On Tuesday, Brearley told the business, energy and industrial strategy committee: “Our priority is ensuring this industry gets its act in order. Therefore, they will not restart the forced installation of prepayment meters at the end of March.”

Since late last year, MPs and campaigners have argued that energy firms should not be allowed to force-fit prepayment meters, and charities have raised concerns that many customers cannot top-up, leaving them without heat and power. Energy firms use prepayment meters to recover debts.

Chris O’Shea, the chief executive of Centrica, which owns British Gas, told MPs on the committee that 300 customers had written to the energy supplier since the Times report, saying they had been moved on to prepayment meters incorrectly. “We’re looking into every one of those cases. If that’s the case, we’ll reverse it; we’ll make it right,” he said.

O’Shea said the firm would not restart forced installations until at least the end of April when an internal investigation is expected to conclude. “Before we in British Gas would think about restarting this practice, we’ve got to understand whether there’s a systemic issue in our processes,” he said.

O’Shea said British Gas installed 20,469 prepayment meters under warrant last year, and a further 6,000 had been remotely switched from a credit to a prepay tariff through their smart meter.

He said that more than 70,000 prepayment meters were “installed at customers’ request”.

The Labour MP Darren Jones argued that many may have chosen to switch on the advice of British Gas.

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