British Gas wrongly billed a single mum £9,000 and then tried to stop her withdrawing the £5,400 in credit she had actually built up.
Roxanne Pitteway’s energy use hadn’t changed much when she moved with her four children to Cambridge in 2015.
She paid her bills via direct debit and gave little thought to her energy use, taking a meter reading 17 months previously.
After a rise in the energy price cap, British Gas recommended Roxanne’s monthly payment increase from £250 to £460.
Roxanne, 39, said she went on the company’s live chat to ask if the rise was correct and she was using that much more energy as it “seemed quite a jump”.
According to Roxanne, British Gas asked her to send a meter reading to check and said the direct debit was increasing as she was £9,000 in debt.
She explained: “I said, ‘Wow’, and asked them to check this because it seemed quite a lot and felt like they should have told me beforehand if I was in this much debit.”
British Gas said it was correct, explaining that was why they increased her direct debit.
Roxanne said: “I am a single parent and have four children so it was a bit of a shock and obviously would impact what I would be spending over Christmas and your monthly budget.”
The mum could afford the hit to her pocket, but acknowledged being thousands of pounds in debt and having to pay an extra £200 would be enough to “absolutely destroy some people”.
Still suspecting something was up as there had been no real change in her family’s energy use, Ms Pitteway asked British Gas to double check.
She said: “They came back and said there had been a mistake at their end. [British Gas] told me I had £5,400 in credit.”
When she asked for the money back, Roxanne said British Gas tried to dissuade her, explaining: “I asked for this to be refunded, but they advised me not to as you build up an excess over summer to pay for fuel in winter.”
Roxanne said British Gas asked if she could afford to do that, which she said was possible. She went on to say that the energy giant told her if she did get the money returned then her direct debit would go up to £700.
The £5,462.16 was eventually returned to her on November 26. Roxanne has since switched her energy provider, despite British Gas offering her a better rate to stay with them.
A spokesperson for British Gas owner, Centrica, said: “Mrs Pitteway’s bills were being estimated for some time. When she contacted us on November 19 we took a meter reading, billed her up-to-date and then informed her of the large credit balance.
“Our advisor processed the refund on the same day – this was then received in Mrs Pitteway’s bank account within three to five working days on November 26.”
