The utility has said that it is committed to honouring its contracts with suppliers and customers, saying the conclusion of government schemes, such as the carbon emission reduction target (Cert), has hit installation numbers.
A British Gas spokesperson said: “At the end of last year Government obligations changed, resulting in ‘free’ insulation offers being withdrawn for many households. This has impacted demand for installer contracted services for these products.”
“ECO commenced on 1 January and we will continue to contract with the many organisations we work with to deliver the obligations under the new scheme.”
The Insulation Industry Forum (IIF) backed these claims, saying that when energy suppliers met their Cert insulation obligation, they no longer had a mandate to continue with installations and therefore stopped, creating an installation hiatus ahead of the energy company obligation (Eco).
The IIF added that all of the major suppliers had done something like this when they met their insulation targets, and British Gas was just being “picked on” for being the latest company to do so.
It added that the wider problem is a lack of support from the government, with the lack of a transition plan from Cert to Eco so far costing the industry 4,200 jobs.