Proactive Investors - Executives of Centrica PLC and regulator Ofgem will be dragged in front of MPs next week to give evidence over the forced fitting of pre-payment metres in vulnerable households.
Chris O’Shea and Johnathan Brearley, Centrica and Ofgem chief executives respectively, will testify to the justice and business select committees, alongside third-party debt collectors, after British Gas was found to be sending operatives to force fit the metres in some households.
MPs will grill the pair over British Gas’s aggressive debt collection strategy, according to the Times, as more households have struggled to make payments due to higher energy costs.
Conservative MP Bob Neill told the Times, which first revealed the break-ins last month, that he was eager to discuss the laws designed to protect customers.
British energy suppliers were exposed to around £1.9bn worth of debt in December, as customers failed to make payments, according to Cornwall Insight.
Court approvals for forced pre-payment meter fittings were up 25% on 2019, meanwhile, allowing debt collectors to enter homes.
An Ofgem investigation will not be completed until March with Brearley telling suppliers last month to compensate targeted customers and “not to wait for the outcome” of its probe.
Ofgem also banned the forced fitting of pre-payment meters after the revelations by the Times, while reiterating that suppliers could not try to claim assets worth over £150 when collecting debt.