Ofgem issued a Provisional Order to British Gas at the start of February 2023 temporarily banning the company from carrying out any forced installation or remote mode switch, the regulator said on 21 February 20231. The order followed undercover reporting by The Times which alleged "appalling behaviours" in the treatment of customers during forced prepayment meter installations, and which Ofgem said raised "enough doubt" of potential rule breaches1.
The regulator also set out the terms of reference for its urgent investigation into British Gas, covering four areas: whether the company took all steps required under its licence to support domestic customers in debt before installing a PPM or disconnecting them; whether it systematically assessed safety, practicability, mental capacity and psychological state before installing under warrant or by remote switching; whether representatives visiting homes had the necessary skills and were fit and proper to enter premises; and whether affected customers were treated fairly under Ofgem's Standards of Conduct1.
"The rules and regulations are clear that installing forced PPMs should only be done as a last resort and only where it is safe and practicable to do so. We expect suppliers to treat customers with compassion and professionalism and those executing a warrant should take into account what they find when they visit a home and pause the installation if they see a safety risk. Where this hasn't happened, we will hold suppliers to account."
Alongside the British Gas investigation, Ofgem set out the scope of a market-wide compliance review into how PPMs are handled across all suppliers, examining governance, policies, risk management, processes, controls, management information, training programmes and assurance1. Ofgem said it had agreed with all other suppliers a voluntary suspension of forced prepayment meter installations and remote switching of smart meters to prepayment mode until 31 March 20231. It also called on suppliers to use that pause to check whether any PPMs had been installed incorrectly and to consider removing them and offering compensation where appropriate, adding that fines would follow if problems were found to be systemic1.
Under current rules, suppliers can move customers onto prepayment meters by force if they are behind on bills and after all other options have been exhausted, but the practice is banned altogether for certain highly vulnerable customers, including those with medical equipment needing constant power, those with severe mental health problems, or those who would struggle to top up a meter1. Remote switching means a smart meter is switched to PPM mode remotely by the supplier1.
Separate campaign material from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition states that 187,000 warrant applications were made by energy firms in the first six months of 2022 and 500,000 since the end of Covid lockdown, and that some courts were approving 500 warrants in under four minutes2. It cites research by an energy firm indicating that as many as 630,000 households, or 14% of the 4.5 million PPM households, may have been placed on the tariffs without their express consent, while 86% did choose to be on a PPM2. Those figures are not in Ofgem's statement and have not been confirmed by the regulator.
Why it matters for households
A prepayment meter requires payment in advance, topped up by smart card, key or cash token1. For a household already in debt, being moved onto one changes how energy is bought and paid for, and running out of credit leads to self-disconnection. The End Fuel Poverty Coalition notes that PPM users generally still pay daily standing charges even after falling into debt and self-disconnecting, and are often required to clear accrued debt before supply can be restored2. The protections at issue here, on vulnerability assessment, doorstep conduct and the safety of installation, sit within the prepayment meter rules for vulnerable customers that suppliers must follow, and the enforcement route runs through Ofgem's regulatory role. For a home, the practical question is whether a meter change happens only where it is safe and practicable, and whether the household's circumstances are properly assessed first.
What happens next
The market-wide review and the work with stakeholders on further protections are due to conclude by the end of March 20231. The voluntary suspension of forced installations and remote switches runs until 31 March 20231. Ofgem has written to the Secretary of State for Energy, Grant Shapps, setting out the scope of the review1. The outcome of the British Gas investigation has not been reported.