British Gas says customers prefer to go online, but they still have the right to reach a person

British Gas is cutting 1,300 customer-service jobs, about 14% of the roles in that part of the business. Chris O’Shea, the chief executive of its owner Centrica, told the Guardian the company confirmed 500 of the cuts a month earlier and announced 800 more. He said most customers would now rather go online than speak to someone.

The jobs go across 6 UK sites, in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leicester, Stockport and Leeds. British Gas plans to make the cuts over 2 years, through a mix of redundancy and posts left unfilled.

A chatbot cannot fix what goes wrong

Billing is the biggest source of complaints. It made up 56% of the disputes the Energy Ombudsman reviewed in 2025, according to its annual data.

The service accepted 80,256 cases that year, down 14% from 92,938 in 2024. Being charged late for energy used more than a year ago, known as ‘back-billing’, held steady at 3,216 cases. The chief ombudsman, Ed Dodman, said as many as 75% of people who could use the service do not.

A chatbot can read a balance. It cannot decide to waive a charge, correct a wrong bill, fix a faulty meter, agree a payment plan or settle a complaint.

Most customers say they want a person. In a survey of 2,000 UK adults, 83% said they would rather deal with a real person and 4% preferred a chatbot, according to a report from the software company 8x8.

The preference for a person was strongest for urgent or complex problems. No UK region fell below 76% for urgent issues, though acceptance of AI rose a few points for non-urgent matters.

8x8, which sells customer-experience and communications software, commissioned the survey. It was carried out from 24 to 26 February 2025 and published on 16 October 2025. The same report found about 30% of people would be more likely to use a company that cut prices by automating with AI.

Customers have the right to reach a person

Ofgem’s consumer standards have set customer-service rules for suppliers since December 2023. Under Ofgem’s rules, a supplier must:

• let customers get in touch by more than one method, including by phone
• keep its enquiry lines open in the evening and at the weekend
• give priority to customers in a vulnerable situation, or anyone contacting on their behalf
• make contact free for customers who are struggling to pay

The rules mean a customer can still ask for a phone call, not only a chatbot.

British Gas ranks last of the big suppliers for service

British Gas came last of the 6 largest suppliers for customer service in the first quarter of 2026. It scored 2.61 out of 5 between January and March, below the median of 3.26, according to Citizens Advice’s star rating.

The median rose from 3.17 the quarter before. The top-rated suppliers were 100Green at 4.33, Outfox at 4.25 and E.ON Next at 3.71, while TruEnergy sat bottom of the full table at 1.38. Citizens Advice said over half of energy customers are now with companies scoring more than 3 out of 5.

What British Gas says, and what its numbers show

British Gas says the cuts are about customer behaviour, not automation. O’Shea told the Guardian that “AI isn’t driving these particular job reductions” and that the change was “mainly due to changing customer behaviour”. He said:

Over 90% of our customers actually use digital channels in the first instance, and we’ve seen a 20% reduction in customer calls.

O’Shea said the company expects to grow more jobs around its digital interface and have fewer people on the phones. A Centrica spokesman said:

The suggestion these roles are being replaced by AI or new chatbot technology is simply wrong.

The GMB union saw it differently. Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, the union’s national secretary, said British Gas was handing hundreds of human jobs to chatbots:

It’s an absolute disgrace British Gas is slashing hundreds of human jobs and giving them to chatbots.

A digital channel means the app or the website, not only a chatbot. The figures show which channel customers try first, not what they would want when something goes wrong.

The cuts came as Centrica reported higher retail profits. Its retail division made £346 million in the first half of the year, up from £338 million a year earlier, even as the group’s adjusted operating profit fell about 9.5% to £497 million.

What customers can do

Customers who are unhappy with British Gas have a few steps open to them. They can ask to speak to a person, and say if they are struggling to pay or are in a vulnerable situation. Ofgem’s rules give those customers priority.

Putting a complaint in writing is worth doing, because it creates a record. British Gas has 8 weeks to resolve a complaint. After that, or if it sends a letter saying it cannot resolve the complaint, known as a ‘deadlock letter’, the customer can go to the Energy Ombudsman. The service is free, and its decision is binding on the supplier.

In June 2026 the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed it will cut the 8-week wait to 6 weeks, and pass complaints on automatically once the customer agrees, but the change is not yet in force.