The government announced on Monday that more than 94,000 prepayment metres were installed in houses in Britain using warrants and without consumer agreement in 2022, with British Gas, Scottish Power, and OVO Energy accounting for 70% of them.
In February, the UK energy regulator Ofgem ordered all energy companies to cease forcing prepayment metres into people’s homes and launched an urgent inquiry into such practises.
Customers can use prepayment metres to pay for gas and electricity on a pay-as-you-go basis.
However, some suppliers acquired court warrants to enter the houses of customers who had fallen behind on their payments in order to install prepayment meters, which meant that if they did not pay, their heating would be turned off.
An enormous increase in energy prices has left many people with large energy bills and debt.
Last year, British Gas, Scottish Power, and OVO Energy were forced to install 66,187 prepayment metres under warrant, according to the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Scottish Power was the worst culprit when it came to customer base, with more than 24,300 metres forced-fitted, according to BEIS.
British Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Today’s figures give a clear and horrifying picture of just how widespread the forced installation of prepayment meters had become, with last year seeing an average of over 7,500 force-fitted a month.”
Shapps urged businesses to prioritise repaying such clients.
British Gas owner Centrica (CNA.L) said that it would “only ever apply for a warrant as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted”.
The company said this is a months-long long process in which it makes “multiple efforts to engage and communicate with a customer to try and find a solution”.
“In the last six months we have provided £2.8 million of support payments to 60,000 customers,” Centrica added.
A spokesperson at Scottish Power said: “We would not switch a customer to prepayment without advance notice and installing a prepayment meter is always a last resort, only after we have exhausted all other options.”
Unless asked by the consumer, the company is not currently installing prepayment metres or recovering debt from those customers on new prepayment metres. OVO Energy did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
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