Ofgem fines British Gas after forced meter scandal, orders £20m payout

The central question now is whether a £20 million penalty is real redress or just another business expense after British Gas debt agents broke into vulnerable customers’ homes to fit prepayment meters. Ofgem’s settlement with the supplier goes beyond the fine: British Gas must compensate affected customers from the 2018-21 period, continue payments already made to customers affected in 2022-23, and write off up to £70 million of energy debt for vulnerable households.

Ofgem closed its investigation on 15 May 2026 after a five-year review of British Gas policies, procedures and customer cases covering activity from February 2018 to February 2023. The regulator said the company failed to meet required standards and breached licence conditions designed to protect customers in vulnerable situations. It also described the case as one of the most detailed and complex investigations in its history, drawing on evidence from Citizens Advice and the Energy Ombudsman that covered thousands of customer experiences.

The scandal first surfaced in February 2023 after undercover reporting by The Times exposed debt agents working for British Gas had broken into homes to install prepayment meters. British Gas paused force-fitting soon after, and Ofgem’s wider scrutiny of the sector intensified. Prepayment meters, sometimes called pay as you go meters, can help suppliers recover debt, but the practice became deeply contentious during the energy crisis that began in 2021, when bills rose sharply and arrears mounted among the households least able to absorb the shock.

British Gas says it stopped involuntary installations immediately in 2023, ended the use of third-party contractors for field debt recovery and has not restarted warrant-based prepayment meter installations. Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea apologised, saying: “What happened should never have happened.” Ofgem chief executive Tim Jarvis said British Gas had fallen short in its treatment of an unacceptable number of vulnerable customers. Citizens Advice said the case vindicated its earlier warnings, with Dame Clare Moriarty saying: “Three years ago our landmark report blew the whistle on the prepayment scandal.”

The settlement also reflects a broader shift in regulation. On 28 May 2025, Ofgem said suppliers that had not followed the rules when installing prepayment meters would pay £18.6 million in compensation and debt write-off to at least 40,000 customers, after reviewing more than 150,000 cases of involuntary installation. For British Gas, the cost now reaches well beyond the fine itself. The harder test is whether the new enforcement regime will stop the abuse from happening again.