A gran whose home was broken into by a power company over an unpaid electricity bill has welcomed calls to stop the practice. Energy firms have been asked by industry regulator Ofgem to halt the forced installation of pre-payment meters.
It follows revelations that a debt firm acting for British Gas were raiding the homes of vulnerable customers. In September, Tracey Miller, 48, found her home in Macmerry, East Lothian, had been entered while she was out and her SSE electricity meter replaced with a more expensive pre-payment one.
She said: “The decision by Ofgem is long overdue. To know that someone has been in your home when you have been out is a terrible feeling. It was a very stressful experience for me at the time but I was able to cope with it.
"But there are a lot of people out there who are clearly more vulnerable and they shouldn’t be put through something like this. No one should. It is a sick thing to break into someone’s home without them knowing.”
Tracey, 48, is on a low income and has the lung condition emphysema. She owed SSE £690 and had reached an agreement to pay the sum in weekly amounts.
But the forced entry still went ahead. As a result of the Sunday Mail story, SSE has since paid Tracey £262 compensation, which includes cash to replace refrigerated food ruined due to the meter switch.
The forced entry on August 12 happened while Tracey was living with a friend after the water tank in her house burst. The Sunday Mail was first to reveal the growing practice of forced entry last October as customers struggled with bills due to huge price hikes.
Ofgem has asked all suppliers to review the use of court warrants to enter the homes of customers in arrears. The regulator does not have the power to enforce a total ban.
Last week, it was revealed agents working on behalf of British Gas had forced their way into the home of a single dad of three to install a prepayment meter. British Gas has since suspended the forced installation of the meters.
In the first 10 months of last year, 4501 warrants were granted to power firms to forcibly enter homes compared with 3064 for 2021. In December, Energy Action Scotland and the Poverty Alliance asked the Scottish Government to meet the judiciary to review the practice.
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