Jade Olton was with her four-week-old baby when a team of debt collectors knocked on her door with a warrant to force fit a prepayment meter for British Gas. It was below freezing outside and when the mother-of-four answered, one of the debt collectors told her she had left her key in the door. “With four kids I’m not with it,” she said.
During this winter, as energy prices have spiralled, Jade, 25, and her partner Jack, 27, who works in construction, have found it impossible to pay their bills in full.
They had paid their bills with People’s Energy but the supplier went bust in 2021. British Gas was appointed to take over their account and their power bills rose from £54 to £364 per month — an almost sevenfold increase.
• Ofgem orders energy firms to stop force-fitting prepayment meters
By the time the debt collectors arrived last month with a warrant to force entry, the couple had run up a £649 debt at their one-bedroom flat.
Olton was one of the British Gas customers to whom I was sent to switch to a pay-as-you-go meter last month while working undercover as an energy debt collector. She was at home with three of her children, aged two, one, and less than one month old. Her seven-year-old son was at school. During the visit, she became emotional and apologised for falling behind, saying she would have switched off the heating if it weren’t for her children.
When I returned to her home and told her I was a reporter, she said she wanted to speak out so people understood how poorly some customers were being treated.
She said her “heart went” when she saw how much her energy bills had risen after being switched to British Gas. “It was such a dramatic increase,” she said. “I have a very tight budget. I couldn’t even pay £100.”
While they could not cover the full bills each month, Olton said they still made regular payments to British Gas of up to £70 per month.
“At first when prices started rising we started keeping the heating off,” she said. “I thought, if we can turn it off, turn it off. If we’re cold, wrap up. We didn’t put the heating on until night time when it was the absolute coldest.
“But the kids, their hands. After the school run because it was so cold outside, we would come home and they weren’t able to warm up enough. Then we started getting black mould above the front door. That was a turning point and I thought, I’m going to put my heating on regardless.”
At one point, Olton contacted British Gas and asked for a top-up meter but did not complete the request. She was pregnant and in hospital at the time. She said she did not realise it could cut off her heating completely. She and her partner started to get letters saying they could face court action and a warrant to force fit a prepayment meter.
Arvato, which collects debts for British Gas, sent a collector to their home last year and the agent left a “letter of intent”, giving notice that the case could go to court for a warrant application. At the time Olton was heavily pregnant.
After giving birth before Christmas, Olton was back at hospital six days later because her one-year-old was having seizures. A few days later she went to a food bank for the first time and said she felt mired in guilt.
That week the debt collectors arrived. The team leader decided the job could not proceed.
The officer was more sympathetic to vulnerable customers than others. After we left, he said he made a note on her account that she had a newborn baby. He feared that someone else would be sent back to proceed with the job.
After the visit, Olton used her British Gas app to start a payment arrangement. On being contacted by The Times, British Gas emailed Olton and said it might be able to offer her support, such as a grant.