British Gas has agreed to a £20 million payout and will compensate customers who had prepayment meters installed without their consent, regulator Ofgem has announced following an investigation. The watchdog concluded that British Gas failed in its duty to protect vulnerable customers by forcibly fitting these energy meters into people’s homes in previous years. The energy supplier is now set to compensate those affected between 2018 and 2021, building on payments already made to customers impacted during 2022-23. As part of the agreement, British Gas will also write off up to £70 million in energy debt for vulnerable customers. Individuals due compensation will be contacted by British Gas and do not need to take action. Ofgem , which launched an investigation and changed the rules after the industry-wide practice was publicly exposed, said its probe into five-year-long policies and procedures had been one of the most complex in its history.…