By The Energy Know How Team, Sharon Smith, Lynn Clarkson and Madiya Shokat
We first met Mr O in March 2026 at the social supermarket in Rotherham, where he previously volunteered and now attends because he cannot afford enough food.
During a general conversation about saving energy, he mentioned arrears on his British Gas account. We emailed him a link to the British Gas Energy Trust so he could apply for support. Later that day, Mr O replied asking for help to complete the application, which we agreed to provide. We then arranged a further meeting for the following week.
Mr O is a tenant of Rotherham Council and had always had prepayment meters for his energy, he limited his consumption to what he could afford whilst maintaining a debt repayment on his electricity. Back in December 2024 his gas meter was replaced with a new meter which he assumed would offer the same prepayment facility however although it appears from the photograph, to be a prepayment meter, it is not in prepayment mode, and his in-house display confirms this.
Mr O has attempted to get this sorted and made a few calls to British Gas. Mr O has several health issues including a disability which makes using the telephone very difficult for him and he cannot always get his message across clearly – his speech difficulties means that face to face contact is easier. He also has a hole in his heart and suffers from anxiety which is being exacerbated by his current situation.
As a result of the meter not being set up (and still not working) in prepayment mode, Mr O now has gas arrears of over £1200.00 which he cannot afford to pay.
He receives Universal Credit but gets no additional money for his health issues as he is considered fit enough to work. He receives less than £350 per month for his Universal Credit Allowance after rent and water – due to a court order and water arrears – are deducted from which to pay his energy bills, food and all other household expenditure.
He has had financial difficulties before but worked hard to clear these and had only water arrears and electric until this issue with his gas.
He is receiving phone calls almost every day about his outstanding balance and this is impacting on his anxiety. He has asked the operatives at British Gas to remove the gas supply to stop the calls, this cannot be an acceptable resolution.
We have undertaken the following actions to try and help improve Mr O’s situation: –
- We have applied on his behalf to British Gas energy trust for help to clear his gas arrears and are awaiting a decision on this which could take 6-8 weeks.
- We have also applied to Yorkshire Water Community trust fund to ask for his remaining water arrears to be cleared which would stop the deduction for water arrears and give him an extra £20.00 per month on which to live. He currently has only £30.00 per week for food and if he needs any clothing or shoes, this must also come from this food budget so he cannot afford both.
- We have applied to the center for sustainable energy to request some free top up vouchers that he can use on his electricity prepayment meter to alleviate a little pressure on his financial situation and am awaiting their decision.
- A formal complaint has been made to British Gas and we have asked them to explain why the meter was not set up in prepayment mode and why after several requests it still hasn’t been done. We have also asked them to refrain from contacting Mr O until the outcome of his British Gas Energy Trust application is known.
He has tried to switch to an alternative provider to get a prepayment meter that works so he can ration his usage to what he can afford – this switching request has been declined, and he cannot currently afford a repayment plan.
He is on the priority services register and has multiple health issues, and his health is deteriorating because of this situation.
Due to our support:
- The center for sustainable energy granted 3 x £49.00 top up vouchers to enable him top up his electricity meter and take a little pressure off his finances
- Yorkshire Water trust cleared his arrears of £80 allowing the deductions to stop from his universal credit for water arrears
- British Gas gave £200.00 as a ‘goodwill gesture’ however this was deducted from his gas arrears, and they then proceeded to send his debt to a debt collection agency causing him more stress, This was recalled after our intervention.
- British Gas Energy Trust paid off his arrears of £1,104.00 on 30th May 2026.
All that is left to sort is to request (again) that Mr O’s prepayment meter be put into prepayment mode to allow him to top up his gas going forward and to prevent this situation from arising again. British Gas have been emailed this request, and we are awaiting their response.