Watchdog urges UK energy suppliers to use only accredited bailiffs

ECB chair says allegations against firm working for British Gas underline need for debt collection overhaul

The new bailiffs watchdog has urged UK energy suppliers to overhaul their debt collection practices, after British Gas apologised over the forced installation of prepayment meters.

Catherine Brown, the chair of the recently established Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB), is writing to the chief executives of the utilities after it was alleged that a company working for British Gas, Arvato Financial Solutions, had broken into vulnerable customers’ homes.