Centrica‘s Group Chief Executive, Chris O’Shea, has said a social tariff for vulnerable households would be a “step in the right direction”.
The comments came as part of an announcement regarding prepayment meters, where British Gas stated they will stop using contractors to fit prepayment meters under court warrant.
It unveiled plans for a series of improvements to the way it deals with the fitting of prepayment meters under warrant, following a detailed investigation overseen by independent regulatory compliance consultancy, Promontory Financial Services.
This action includes commitment to Ofgem’s voluntary Code of Practice on prepayment installations under warrant. This code includes:
- Not carrying out involuntary installations for the highest risk customers, including over 85s;
- Re-assessing cases once a customer has repaid debts owed and changing from PPM to credit;
- Introducing the use of body cameras by employees carrying out this work when operating in the homes of customers.
Chris O’Shea, Centrica’s Group Chief Executive, said:
I was deeply concerned when I saw the way some of our prepayment customers were treated earlier this year. 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 and to apologise to anyone involved in cases where our actions fell short of the high standards we set ourselves.
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. We’re already implementing those changes and I hope the action we are taking to improve our approach shows our commitment to doing everything we can to support our vulnerable customers.
But the increased cost of food, rising interest rates, higher rent and the impact of the energy crisis on consumer bills means that there is a substantial number of people who will continue to struggle with paying bills for the foreseeable future. The introduction of a social tariff for energy would be a significant step in the right direction. The funding of it will be a policy decision for Government but if we can get this right, and deal with the root cause of the affordability crisis, some of the difficult issues around fitting prepayment meters should no longer be necessary.
