Following an article by the Times which suggested failures in processes and policies by a third-party contractor, British Gas has suspended all warrant activity and will complete a thorough, and prompt, investigation.
Commenting, Centrica Chief Executive Officer Chris O’Shea said, “Protecting vulnerable customers is an absolute priority and we have clear processes and policies to ensure we manage customer debt carefully and safely. The allegations around our third-party contractor Arvato are unacceptable and we immediately suspended their warrant activity.
“Having recently reviewed our internal processes to support our prepayment customers as well as creating a new £10 million fund to support those prepayment customers who need help the most, I am extremely disappointed that this has occurred. As a result, on Wednesday morning, we took a further decision to suspend all our prepayment warrant activity at least until the end of the winter.
“More broadly, there are clearly significant challenges around affordability and unfortunately, we don't see that changing anytime soon. We need to strike a balance between managing spiralling bad debt and being aware that there are those who refuse to pay and those who cannot pay. We think Government, industry and the regulator need to come together to agree a long-term plan to address this and ultimately create an energy market that is sustainable.”
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