British Gas routinely sends debt collectors to break into customers’ homes and force-fit pay-as-you-go meters, even when they are known to have extreme vulnerabilities, a Times investigation can reveal.
An undercover reporter worked for Arvato, a company used by British Gas to pursue debts, amid rocketing energy prices and more customers falling behind with their bills.
The reporter accompanied debt agents in below-freezing conditions as they worked with a locksmith to break into the home of a single father of three young children and switch it to a prepayment meter. If families with these gas meters cannot afford to top up, their heating is cut off.
On another occasion agents were sent by British Gas with a court warrant to force-fit a meter at
