Forcibly installing prepayment meters ‘widespread’ in Scotland, charities claim

A charity has claimed the practice of energy companies forcibly installing prepayment meters by “breaking into” people’s homes is widespread in Scotland.

Speaking to BBC Scotland’s The Nine on Thursday evening, Poppy Ives, from South Seeds in Govanhill, Glasgow, said she worked with many people who have had their meters forcibly changed.

“So many customers are vulnerable,” she said.

“They’ll have small children in the home, they’ll have health conditions,” she said.

“The area we work in is a very diverse area, so English is not the first language for a lot of clients.

“If they’re getting letters through, they’re not necessarily understanding what’s happening.

“I see warrants and meters being changed for these customers all the time.”

Ms Ives also said she had heard of families going to the public swimming pool to take a shower once a week in order to save money on bills.

She added: “People tell me all the time about the things they do to save on electricity and gas: people going to swimming pools once a week to shower there, people using candles to heat their homes because they don’t have any gas or batch cooking their meals once a week.”

The claim comes after an undercover investigation by The Times appeared to show third-party debt collectors contracted by British Gas “breaking in” to a customer’s home to forcibly install a pre-pay meter.

British Gas chief executive Chris O’Shea said he was “horrified” to discover the practice.

He told The Nine: “There is nothing that I can say that can express the horror I had when I heard this. It is completely unacceptable. As soon as we heard this we suspended the company.”

A statement on the Centrica website on Thursday said: “The allegations around our third-party contractor Arvato are unacceptable and we immediately suspended their warrant activity.

“Having recently reviewed our internal processes to support our prepayment customers as well as creating a new £10 million fund to support those prepayment customers who need help the most, I am extremely disappointed that this has occurred. As a result, on Wednesday morning, we took a further decision to suspend all our prepayment warrant activity at least until the end of the winter.”

Freedom of information figures obtained by the BBC showed 32,000 warrants for entry were lodged at courts in Scotland last year for unpaid energy bills.

Around 5,000 were granted in the first 10 months of 2022.

Citizen’s Advice Scotland’s David Hilferty said the sector was “trying to get a handle” on just how prevalent the practice was in Scotland.

He branded the practice as “dreadful”, adding: “If this is happening once, it is happening one too many times. We need to be really clear on what this means for people.

“This means that people can’t heat their homes and can’t light their homes.”

Mr Hilferty said the practice was “unthinkable” in the middle of winter while living through an “unprecedented” cost-of-living crisis.

He added: “The scenes we saw yesterday are extreme examples. You don’t need to have your door kicked in for that to be a traumatising experience for you. That shouldn’t be happening to anybody.

“What you’re effectively doing is putting someone in a situation where they can’t spread that consumption, spread that cost over a year.

“They need to find that cost upfront, they don’t have that cost up front and it’s putting people in a scenario where they are effectively disconnected, they’re cut off.”

Mr Hilferty said rising debt levels were responsible for the rise in the practice, but cautioned it was not people getting into debt “out of recklessness” or because they could not manage their money.

He added: “It’s people who are getting into debt to live, people who can’t afford soaring energy costs.”

He called for “an immediate stop” to forced pre-payment installations.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps urged energy companies to suspend the “outrageous” practice of forcibly installing prepayment meters following the reports.

EDF said it had also suspended the practice while it reviewed its processes, and Mr Shapps has urged other suppliers to do the same.

He said: “EDF have now confirmed they have suspended the outrageous practice of forced installation of prepayment meters following the investigation into British Gas.

“I am now calling on all the other energy companies to confirm they are following suit.”