There's an article in todays Times by an investigative reporter, who went undercover with the company British Gas uses for debt collection and fitting prepayment meters. Many may not be able to see it as it's behind a paywall, but I'll try to explain.
The company in question, Arvato, are obtaining warrants and force fitting prepayment meters in the homes of vulnerable customers, which is illegal. Anyone with vulnerabilities should be assessed beforehand to ensure they're not placed at risk by "self disconnection", effectively when they are unable to top up tho meter due to financial constraints. But they're doing this daily, and not only apparently revelling in it, but also being paid bonuses for doing so. 😡
I'm sorry, this post is long, but I implore EVERYONE to read it. As a disabled person myself, who is bed bound and very vulnerable, this terrifies me. If I am disconnected I will die, no question. As human beings, however much money we have, this is behaviour that should deeply concern US ALL!! Please, please, please forward this to anyone you know, get it out there, it's so important people know how these energy companies who are "so" concerned about are are behaving. All whilst robbing us blind.
I'm going to post some of it here so you can judge for yourselves, but would encourage those with access to read the whole thing....
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 the home of a young mother with a four-week-old baby. Her bills have risen sevenfold during the cost of living crisis.
According to job notes seen by The Times, other British Gas customers who have had prepayment meters fitted by force in recent weeks include a woman in her fifties described as “severe mental health bipolar”, a woman who “suffers with mobility problems and is partially sighted” and a mother whose “daughter is disabled and has a hoist and [an] electric wheelchair”.
Last month Centrica, the owner of British Gas, said it expects to report a more than sevenfold increase in net profits for last year after benefitting from volatile energy prices.
Last month Grant Shapps wrote to energy companies warning them to stop force-fitting prepayment meters, but the undercover reporter found that British Gas has continued.
Ofgem, the energy regulator, says that forcing customers onto prepayment meters under warrant should only ever be a last resort, and should never occur when customers are “in very vulnerable situations”.
The regulator says that vulnerability can include being of state pension age, having a disability, a mental health condition, being pregnant, or having children under five years old.
Debt collectors working for Arvato, on behalf of British Gas, are incentivised with bonuses when they force-fit prepayment meters, which can encourage them to ignore vulnerabilities.
One agent claimed single mothers were their most common customers, adding: “If every single mum that starts getting a bit teary you’re going to walk away from, you won’t be earning any bonus.”
British Gas agents have continued to remotely switch customers on smart meters to pay-as-you-go settings, despite its parent company saying this would be stopped during the winter.
A manager overseeing debt collectors for British Gas told of manipulating customers by saying the police would kick in their doors and search their homes if they did not comply.
An agent enforcing warrants for British Gas said of his colleagues: “If they go in and they see an elderly lady, they’ll be like, ‘oh an easy job for me.’ ”
When out undercover with a team, the gas engineer got to work, switching the family to a pay-as-you-go smart meter which will cut off their heating if it is not topped up. He explains that a technical issue means the family may well not be sent a top-up card for their new meter. “He won’t be sent a card so he’s going to go off supply,” he says. “It’ll be £10 emergency and then that’s it, he’ll go off supply.” When we entered the home, the radiators were warm. When we leave, they are cold.
During my interview for the role, the Arvato debt collection manager was dismissive about customers claiming to be too vulnerable to have top up meters. “People say all sorts of shit,” he told me. “You’ll hear every excuse you’ve ever heard in life about why they haven’t paid this bill.”
I asked about customers who were over 65, or those with young children at home. “The five year old has got nothing to do with it,” he said, “It wouldn’t stop you.”
The manager also offered tips about how to get into people’s homes without a fight, including threatening that the police would smash in their doors. “I’m not going to break into your house if your wife and kids are there. But what I’m going to try to do is talk your wife into letting me into the house,” he explained.
Before starting as a debt collector, I had four days of video training. Describing the warrant process, the Arvato trainer said: “Honestly, it’s a little bit cheeky. Basically the government says you can’t disconnect residential customers so what we do is we install a prepayment meter and then if they don’t top up they self-disconnect. So we don’t actually disconnect them. It’s a bit of a laughable loophole.”
Asked by one of the new recruits whether we would stop force-fitting a meter on the day in exceptional circumstances, the trainer said: “That person could tell you that their entire family of 50 were in a horrific aeroplane crash and were the sole survivor and we’d still be saying that’s a shame but we are changing your meter.”
In one property, Alfonso did not seem fazed by signs that children were living in the home. Speaking into his phone, he said: “For the benefit of the call recording, no one inside the property, dog has been contained by a dog handler, no risks, no vulnerabilities on site.”
One agent who refused to disconnect a mother with young children, claimed other agents had broken in through people’s windows and stolen from customers. “You have other warrant officers that will just do everything, do absolutely everything,” he said. “If they go in and, it’s a bad thing to say, but they go in and they see like an elderly lady, they’ll be like, oh an easy job for me.”
Centrica announced on January 18 that it was stopping a practice called “remote switches”, or “mode changes”. This involves remotely switching customers with smart meters to pay-as-you-go settings when they are struggling to pay their bills.
The following day I watched one of the debt agents still doing this, by calling a British Gas call centre. The British Gas call operator said: “That’s all done. Mode change has been requested. Any time today the meter will be changed to a pay-as-you-go.”
During my time working for Arvato, I learnt that the agents’ bonuses incentivised them to force-fit meters. When we successfully force-fitted a meter, the agent earned two bonus points, worth almost £4 per job. When the agent I shadowed walked away from the young mother’s home, he only received one bonus point, worth less than £2. The culture was target driven. Agents were scored on their results and sent league tables showing how they were performing compared with others across the country.
During one lunch break with the other debt agents, Alfonso described his experience of the culture in this industry.
“As long as you don’t do anything silly you won’t get in trouble,” he said. “You’ll have to literally like murder someone in this job to get in trouble. You won’t get in trouble.”
[Title edited by MNHQ to correct typo]