AN OAP has told of his shock when a massive £23,000 gas bill came through his post box.
Charlie Walton, 85, said what made matters worse was British Gas was demanding he pay the five-figure sum in less than a week.
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The widower said what stumped him even more was that the last quarterly bill he paid, in November, said he was £45 in credit.
Plus, the whopping £22,897.48 bill covered a nearly four-year period, and Charlie said he shares his time between his Northumberland home and Spain.
Retired firefighter Charlie told Chronicle Live: “I couldn’t believe it. It was a massive shock.
“I’m on my own now, my wife died, and it’s just a small house. It’s just incredible that I’ve got a bill of that size.
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“It got it on the Saturday and they told me I had got to pay by Friday 26th January. I could have been in Spain at the time and I wouldn’t have seen it.
“Unfortunately it came on Saturday and I couldn’t get in touch with anybody. All I could do was speak to these machines and they couldn’t answer anything. I had to wait until Monday.”
The 85-year-old said his daughter and son-in-law Chris jumped into gear to try to help him as he’s “absolutely hopeless” with phones and the internet.
But, he says it made little difference and more than a week on he still hadn’t heard back from British Gas.
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Son-in-law Chris, 65, said: “The lady tried to explain that there must be a glitch in the system.
“She said that they had suspended that bill while they looked into it. Nobody has been in touch yet.”
The energy giant has today said there had been a mix-up with addresses in the Pegswood neighbourhood.
British Gas told The Sun: “We’re sorry for any upset that this has caused.
“The bill does not relate to Mr Walton’s energy supply and we’re following up with the housing developer to identify the correct address.
“We’ll be reaching out to Mr Walton to apologise for not resolving this sooner and reassure him that he will no longer receive these bills.”
It’s not the first time British Gas customers have been left shocked after receiving a massive bill.
One couple were horrified when they checked their account and saw they’d been slapped with a whopping £117,000 bill.
Kate and Michael Brown say the shocking statement detailed that they had racked up £112,000 in energy costs in a month – which had £5,600 in VAT on top.
The statement read: “Your new balance on 16 Nov 2022 – £117,053.18.”
Elsewhere, a retired couple were left reeling after their British Gas bill tripled – even though they were on holiday.
Pete and Dee Marney had been relaxing in Spain for a whole month, only to return home and see the eye-watering bill.
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The pair say not only were they not in the country, but nobody was staying in their Norfolk home.
Pete said they also had their gas appliances switched off, as they do every time they head away for a break.
Know your rights
Energy watchdog Ofgem says suppliers must offer a range of ways to pay back a debt. One option could be through a prepayment meter.
A supplier can force-fit a prepayment meter by warrant “only after they have taken all reasonable steps to agree payment with you”. It should be a last resort to avoid disconnecting your supply.
Suppliers can’t force-fit a prepayment meter under warrant for people in very vulnerable situations if they don’t won’t one, or charge them for warrant costs on debts.
Nor can they use warrants on people who would find the experience very traumatic
