Today, Ofgem prohibited the forced installation of prepayment energy metres in the residences of individuals aged 85 and older.

The use of body cameras in response to outrage over agents breaking into residences with warrants to install them.

Every supplier in England, Scotland, and Wales have signed a code of conduct.

It comes after companies, including British Gas, dispatched debt collectors to forcibly install the devices in the homes of individuals unable to pay their bills.

Every supplier in England, Scotland, and Wales have signed a code of conduct outlining explicit procedures for protecting vulnerable customers. The energy regulator announced that employees must now don body cameras.

The new regulations impose stricter supervision on installed PPMs under a warrant or remotely switched without consent. 

Jonathan Brearley, the chief executive of the regulatory agency, stated: ‘Ofgem’s new voluntary code of practice is a minimum standard that outlines the steps that all suppliers must take before switching to a Pre Payment Meter. ‘If and when involuntary Pre Payment Meters are used, it must be a last resort, and vulnerable customers will be given the extra care and consideration they deserve, above and beyond the regulations already in place, by suppliers – something that has not always been the case.

This new code of practice stipulates that PPMs should never be installed for certain individuals and that the energy requirements of high-risk groups must be protected with greater care.

Shapps responded to Ofgem‘s new code of conduct: “Families must never again face such mistreatment.”

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps applauded Ofgem’s new code of practice prohibiting the forced installation of prepayment metres in the residences of individuals aged 85 and older.

He tweeted, “This is a step in the correct direction; I welcome the sector’s agreement to provide restitution to those who have been wronged – a crucial step I’ve been requesting.”

Now Ofgem and suppliers must turn these words into action to ensure that struggling families are never again subjected to such mistreatment.

Suppliers must make at least ten attempts to contact a customer and then conduct a site welfare visit’ before installing a PPM.

British Gas was forcing vulnerable customers, such as the disabled and the mentally ill, to convert to pay-as-you-go metres or have their gas turned off. 

According to reports, suppliers will require representatives installing metres to wear cameras or audio equipment, and they will not be permitted to install metres for customers over 85 or those with terminal illnesses.

Those forced to switch to a prepayment meter – either by court order or remotely – will receive an initial credit of £30 to mitigate the risk of losing power.

Suppliers have also been instructed to identify instances of faulty metre installation, return affected customers to their previous tariff, and provide compensation.

According to the code, forced installations will also be considered a last resort. Mr Brearley expects suppliers to handle their most vulnerable customers, like their family members.

Under sanction, firms were temporarily prohibited from installing prepayment energy metres. 

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps was ‘horrified’ by allegations about British Gas sending debt collectors to break into homes and force-fit pay-as-you-go metres on ‘vulnerable’ customers.

Mr Shapps indicated that the government would investigate a “systemic failure” by meeting with the firm’s parent company, Centrica. 

If customers have not paid their bills, energy companies can obtain court warrants giving them the right to enter residents’ residences and install prepayment metres. Customers must then resupply to continue receiving gas; if they fail to do so, they risk having their heating turned off.

A newspaper undercover reporter worked for debt collector Arvato Financial Solutions and accompanied agents who used court warrants to install these metres in customers’ residences forcefully.

Once a prepayment metre is installed, the gas must be paid to be activated. The bank account is then debited regularly, and the gas supply is shut off if there is insufficient credit to cover the cost of the gas.