British Gas can force-fit prepay meters again, months after £112m settlement

British Gas is back in the business of force-fitting prepayment meters. The supplier restarted installations this winter after the energy regulator lifted an almost four-year block, according to The Guardian — a block that had been in place since the prepay meter scandal blew up at the height of the Russian gas crisis.

The timing stings. British Gas paid a settlement worth more than £100m — the largest on record — for sending debt collectors into the homes of vulnerable customers, and the ban on forced fittings followed within a year. Now the meters can go back in, just as households brace for some of the highest energy bills since 2023.

The scandal itself was ugly. Debt agents working for British Gas ignored signs of vulnerability while fitting meters, according to a Times investigation — including in homes of people with severe mental health issues and physical disabilities. Campaigners and Whitehall erupted, even as the government poured billions into cutting bills and propping up the supplier industry.

Some guardrails remain. Forced fittings in homes with children under 2 or people over 75, or where someone has severe health issues or relies on medical equipment, are still banned. Ofgem requires at least 10 attempts to contact a customer before installation and a welfare visit beforehand, and says fitting a meter under a warrant should only ever be a last resort.

British Gas says it plans to engage early, offer targeted support and agree flexible repayment options wherever possible, calling involuntary fittings a last resort with robust vulnerability and affordability checks. It points to household energy debt forecast to top £7bn — a burden that adds around £80 to the average bill.

Not everyone is comforted. Simon Francis of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition said it is almost as if regulators and ministers have forgotten the lessons of the last price spike, warning that magistrates still approve bulk batches of forced installation applications and that some original system failures persist. A government spokesperson said ministers are watching closely, and Ofgem said it will keep monitoring suppliers and act if rules are broken.