British Gas commits £10 million for targeted prepayment customer support

18 January 2023

Energy crisis

British Gas Increases Prepayment Support with £10 Million

British Gas has reviewed its pre-payment meter policies and is introducing further support for prepayment customers. Citizens Advice research recently highlighted that some people on prepayment meters are currently self-disconnecting and not seeking help.

"We know that some prepayment customers are self-disconnecting and not coming forward for help, so we have reviewed our policies to do more to target support at this group."

Chris O’Shea, CEO of Centrica, parent company of British Gas

British Gas has a good track record for supporting vulnerable customers having established the UK’s largest voluntary customer support package in 2022. It is now committing £10 million of customer support for vulnerable prepayment customers together with the introduction of new policies to ensure help gets to those who need it most. Prepayment customers do not need to contact British Gas to apply for this – those who are eligible and need help will be identified and provided with this support.

British Gas is announcing four new commitments for pre-payment customers:

£10 million support: Discretionary support like non-repayable credit up to £250 on the prepayment meters for those struggling with energy costs. British Gas will identify those who would most benefit for this and there is no need for customers to apply.
Extra vulnerability checks: Enhanced processes around assessing and identifying vulnerabilities to ensure support is targeted where it is needed, and self-disconnections are identified.
No remote switches: A commitment to not remotely switch customers to prepayment meters this winter unless the customer requests it.
Smart pre-payment meters: Ensuring those who are struggling with energy costs have smart prepayment meters to make sure any issues are identified quickly, and support provided.

British Gas has a £50m voluntary support package in place and has already committed to contributing 10 percent of energy supply profits to the British Gas Energy Support Fund for the duration of the energy crisis, backdated to the start of 2022. The £18 million British Gas Energy Support fund has been providing grants up to £1,500 to those in need since the start of the crisis.

Chris O’Shea, Chief Executive of Centrica, parent company of British Gas said: “We know that some prepayment customers are self-disconnecting and not coming forward for help, so we have reviewed our policies to do more to target support at this group. As a responsible business we are doing all we can to support our customers during this crisis – our work with the British Gas Energy Trust provides grants and money advice services.

“As well as helping our customers with much needed cash grants, I’m really proud of how our teams are giving expert advice and support at this busy time to help guide people through this crisis. Our call centres are helping around a million energy customers each month with their bills and our engineers are in homes every day advising customers on how to be more energy efficient and make savings.”

NOTES

British Gas support for customers during the energy crisis:

£25 million additional investment to support vulnerable customers announced in November 2022. The £10 million targeting PPM and vulnerable announced today comes from this donation.
£18 million to the British Gas Energy Support Fund to provide grants up to £1,500 to help with energy costs (the largest cash support fund for energy customers).
£6m annual donation to the British Gas Energy Trust to provide grants, energy efficiency measures, fuel vouchers and advice to all energy consumers.
A £1 million boost with the British Gas Energy Trust to fund additional money advice centres – these have been mapped to where need is greatest to ensure help is targeted. These advice centres provide each visitor with an average of an £950 added to their yearly income – improving their finances in the longer term.
Partnership with the Post Office to offer face to face money and energy advice in local branches – ensuring everyone can access help and support – with 18 new locations this January.
A £25 million investment in customer service to handle a 50% increase in calls with 700 additional UK based customer service agents hired over the summer to support our customers through the crisis.
Doubling the size of Emergency credit top ups so our customers can add more to their meters if they aren’t able to top up.
Energy saving advice from expertly trained engineers – our engineers visit hundreds of homes every day installing smart meters and boilers and provide energy efficiency advice to help our customers save.
We’re supporting nearly 3 million customers on British Gas’ Priority Services Register, which receives around 5,000 calls each week.
In addition to the support provided by British Gas Energy Trust, we also give £90 million in Warm Homes Discount payments to those eligible for the £150 payment towards their bills.

About British Gas

British Gas is Britain’s leading supplier of energy and services and the country’s biggest retailer of zero carbon electricity. We are part of Centrica, a leading energy services and solutions provider founded on a 200-year heritage of serving our customers. Through brands such as British Gas and Bord Gais, we are the UK’s biggest retailer of zero carbon electricity and supply energy and services to around 10 million households across the UK and Ireland, supported by over 7,000 trained engineers and technicians. We also offer a range of innovative products and services, including Hive and our on-demand digital trades service, Local Heroes. Centrica’s strategy and operations are driven by our purpose: ‘helping you live sustainably, simply and affordably’. To learn more, please visit our People and Planet Plan and our Annual Report.