Ruinous energy bills

Sir – In April 2023 my Ovo Energy account (report, March 12) went from around £1,000 in credit to nearly £5,000 in debit. It was claimed that, during September and October 2022, I used more than 6,000kw of energy – more than any house in the country uses in an entire calendar year. Actual usage, as shown on my physical meters, suggests it was around 400kw.

It is now almost a year since I asked Ovo to admit the error, but the supplier simply doubles down on the ludicrous figures. The Ombudsman, though sympathetic, proved toothless. It seems I must now go to court to prove that this humble parish priest was not in fact running a blast furnace in the presbytery garden, nor harvesting drugs in the attic.

Internet searches show that mine is anything but an isolated case. Something should be done. How many vulnerable customers simply pay up? Rev Edward Tomlinson

Pembury, Kent

Sir – My 92-year-old mother is in a nursing home. If she is unwell or she hurts herself, the home notifies the family promptly.

A few months ago I received a phone call at 5.45am to say that Mum had been found on the floor of her room, but she was fine.

At 3.15am on Tuesday our phone rang. I answered it, expecting the caller to be the home letting me know about an issue. It was in fact British Gas, which wanted to conduct a “how did we do?” survey following our contact with it regarding an overpayment on Mum’s account.

I am bewildered that British Gas should endeavour to conduct a survey at this time of the morning. Rebecca Ringshall

Dunsfold, Surrey