The energy supplier will compensate customers who were affected in 2018-21 and write off up to £70 million of energy debt for vulnerable customers.

British Gas has agreed to a £20 million payout and to compensate customers who had a prepayment meter installed without their permission, regulator Ofgem has said following an investigation.

The energy supplier will compensate customers who were affected in 2018-21, on top of payments that have already been made to those affected in 2022-23.

British Gas will also write off up to £70 million of energy debt for vulnerable customers as part of the agreement.

Ofgem said the investigation into five-year long policies and procedures had been one of the most complex in its history.

Tim Jarvis, the watchdog’s chief executive, said: “It is clear that British Gas fell short in its treatment of an unacceptable number of vulnerable customers who had a prepayment meter installed without consent, and it’s right that they’ve taken action to put things right.

“Because of our action customers will receive a substantial package of redress, compensation and debt write off.”

More from Perspective

Get a free copy of our print edition

News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fill out this field
Fill out this field
Please enter a valid email address.
You need to agree with the terms to proceed

Your email address will not be published. The views expressed in the comments below are not those of Perspective. We encourage healthy debate, but racist, misogynistic, homophobic and other types of hateful comments will not be published.