Weekly Intelligence Roundup - 16th May 2026

Here is what changed for UK consumers this week, and what it means for the disputes we help people fight.

British Gas to pay £70m for prepayment-meter mistreatment 2018-2021

Ofgem confirmed on 15th May 2026 that British Gas will write off up to £70 million of energy debt for vulnerable customers and pay £20 million into Ofgem's Voluntary Redress Fund. That is on top of the £22.4 million British Gas already paid out for 2022-2023.

Compensation is paid in tiers depending on harm:

• £40-£60 for process or data issues
• £250 for insufficient debt support
• £250 for unfair treatment
• £500 where vulnerability was not considered
• £1,000 for inappropriate meter installation

You do not need to apply. British Gas must contact every affected customer and pay them by 30th June 2027. If you were forced onto a prepayment meter by British Gas between 2018 and 2021 and you have not heard from them in the next few months, call them. If you don't get a sensible answer, this is exactly the kind of case we built EvenStance to help with.

Ofgem also issued permanent bans on forced prepayment installations for three groups: people over 75, households with children under 2, and households where someone needs continuous energy for medical reasons. If any of those describe you, or someone you support, and you are facing a forced prepayment installation right now, those bans matter, quote them at the supplier.

The FCA's three signals this week point in the same direction

On 13th May the FCA confirmed two new senior appointments, both pointing towards heavier use of data and AI: Simon Walls as permanent Executive Director, Markets, and Johan Sekora as Chief Operating Officer, joining from Stockholm with a focus on technology and financial crime.

On 14th May FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi used the Financial Crime Conference to confirm:

• 5,000+ intelligence records will be shared via the Police National Database by June 2026
• A new Financial Crime Detection Programme using advanced and network analytics
• Participation in I-SCAN, a global database of unauthorised-firm alerts
• An AI Lab TechSprint to help investors spot scams

He noted that investment fraud victims lose an average of over £25,000 per case.

On 15th May the FCA, Bank of England and HM Treasury issued a joint statement on frontier AI models and cyber resilience, setting out what boards and senior managers must understand and how firms must strengthen vulnerability management, third-party risk and automated defences.

Why this matters to you: when a regulated firm tells you "we did everything we reasonably could" after a data breach or service outage, these are the standards they need to be measured against. We use them.

Three new FCA scam warnings: Market Options, DRAGOFUND, COREVEST

All three were added to the FCA warning list on 15th May 2026. All three list prestigious-sounding London addresses that almost any due-diligence check would recognise as red flags:

• Market Options (marketsoption.com): 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf. Likely a binary-options / FX / CFD operation.
• DRAGOFUND (dragofund.com): 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, one of the UK's best-known mass virtual-office addresses. Domain name strongly suggests a crypto-fund pitch.
• COREVEST (corevests.com): 128 City Road, another mass virtual-office address. Name is suspiciously close to a legitimate US firm.

If you have paid money to any of these, your fastest route to recovery is your card provider: chargeback under Visa or Mastercard rules, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act if you paid £100-£30,000 by credit card, and APP fraud reimbursement through your bank if you paid by faster payment. We can help you frame all three.

Ofcom Q4 2025: complaints rose for the first time since 2023

Published on 11th May 2026, Ofcom's Q4 2025 complaint data shows the first increase since 2023. Per 100,000 customers:

Broadband: Vodafone 11, TalkTalk 10, EE 8, BT 8, Sky 7, Plusnet 5, Virgin Media 5. 52% of Vodafone broadband complaints came down to faults, service and provisioning.

Mobile: O2 7, Sky Mobile 5, iD Mobile 3, Vodafone 2, Three / EE / Tesco Mobile 1 each. 35% of O2 complaints were about contracts, driven by mid-contract price rises.

Pay TV: EE topped the table. 32% were switching-provider issues.

Landline: EE and NOW Broadband joint top. NOW's complaints were 50% about faults.

What to do with this: if you have been on the phone to Vodafone or NOW about a broken broadband line for weeks, or to O2 about a sudden mid-contract price hike, you are not on your own. The Ofcom numbers are your ammunition. After eight weeks without resolution you can escalate to CISAS or Ombudsman Services: Communications for free.

Consumer Duty: forbearance is supervisory, not optional

The FCA's blog of 14th May reminded firms that under the Consumer Duty they must:

• Proactively monitor outcomes for customers approaching difficulty
• Make it easy to ask for help and access forbearance
• Communicate clearly about payment difficulties and policy terms
• Keep checking products are still suitable as circumstances change

The blog explicitly cites PS24/2, the FCA's policy statement on protections for borrowers in financial difficulty across consumer credit and mortgages. If your lender refuses a payment plan, ignores your vulnerability, or pushes you into a worse product without exploring alternatives, you have grounds to complain, escalate to FOS, and quote PS24/2 as the standard.

Product recalls this week

Which? published or updated 8 recalls in the week of 15th May:

• 3D Printed Dragon Fidget Toy Y1522-BlackGold (eBay), choking
• Yaheetech Barrel Chair 592191 Grey and Yaheetech Velvet Sofa Bed 615825 Modern Grey, fire risk, fails UK flammability
• Build-A-Bear Heartwarming Hugs Bear 2 model 434464, choking from detachable zipper
• Babysense MaxView Baby Monitor VBM55RX (Amazon), battery overheating
• Dunelm Novelty Doorstops (27 designs), asbestos in sand filling
• BHS Lyocell & Plush Mattress Enhancers, fire risk
• Hobbycraft 3D Pen Kit 3666085950462, burns

The Dunelm asbestos doorstops are the standout. If you own one, follow Dunelm's disposal instructions with gloves and a mask, and keep your receipt, your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Protection Act 1987 are both engaged.

And one to watch: CP26/9

The FCA / FOS consultation paper on modernising the redress system closed on 11th May. The policy statement is expected later in 2026. The proposals are far-reaching, a possible 10-year time limit on complaints, a new complaint-registration stage, a redesigned mass redress event framework, and a re-think of how the "fair and reasonable" test works. We will write this up properly when the policy statement lands.

Sources: Ofgem, FCA, Ofcom (via ISPreview), Citizens Advice, MSE, Which?. This is general information and is not legal advice. If you want help with a specific dispute, log in and tell Frank what happened.