British Gas has parted ways with Arvato Financial Solutions, a third-party debt collection agency involved in the alleged illegal fitting of prepayment meters in vulnerable customers' homes.
Following an internal investigation, British Gas parent Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA) said no “systematic issues had been found” with meters being “fitted under warrant,” but there had been at least 13 cases where rules may have been broken.
“It’s not how I want us to do business and I’d like to take this opportunity once again to say how sorry I am,” Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea commented.
“I’m reassured that the investigation found no systemic issues with the treatment of prepayment customers, but it did highlight areas where we can, and should, do better.”
Regulator Ofgem suspended the use of forced installations in February after an investigation by The Times found debt collectors had broken into homes to fit pre-payment meters.
Energy suppliers were allowed to force-fit the meters as a last resort to avoid customer debt, though British Gas found Arvato had failed to explain if customer vulnerabilities had been considered in several cases.
British Gas, Scottish Power and Ovo Energy customers made up 70% of the 94,000 forced pre-payment meter fittings last year, according to government figures.
O’Shea also joined calls for the government to introduce a social tariff, dubbing the scheme which would cap how much the poorest households pay per unit of energy “a step in the right direction”.
“Funding of it will be a policy decision for the government but if we can get this right […] some of the difficult issues around fitting prepayment meters should no longer be necessary,” he added.
Centrica shares fell 0.2% to 113.25p.