A Newcastle mum-of-four was left without electricity for fourteen hours after being forced onto a prepayment meter by British Gas.
The mum, who has a blind and non-verbal seven-year-old son, was forced to change mode from credit to prepayment without warning due to electricity arrears.
Citizens Advice Newcastle, who helped the vulnerable woman, said she was unable to top-up as her card did not work and her home was left without electricity supply from 7am to 9pm as a full meter change was required to reconnect her supply.
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The woman was moved despite a complaint being raised, and her home being registered for the Priority Service Register due to multiple vulnerabilities.
It comes after an investigation into British Gas showed agents working on its behalf forcing their way into homes to fit devices - despite signs children and disabled people were living there.
Following The Times investigation, British Gas has suspended the use of court warrants to force the installation of prepayments.
Ofgem, the energy regulator, also announced it is launching an urgent investigation into British Gas following allegations.
Citizens Advice has been calling for a moratorium on forcibly moving people to traditional prepayment meters, and on switching smart meters to prepay mode, in an attempt to recover debt.
Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: “The rotten core of debt collection practice in the energy sector has now been exposed for all to see. But this isn’t a case of one bad apple.
“The rules are clear but they haven’t been followed. That’s why we’ve been calling for a ban on forced installations since last summer, when the scale of the problem began to emerge.
“It should not have taken this long but we welcome Ofgem’s announcement. We now need robust new protections.
"And suppliers must conduct an immediate review to make sure no one’s been left on a prepayment meter when it isn't safe for them.”
A spokesman for Centrica 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."
