Is overcharging by British Gas a deliberate policy to take more cash from customers?
M.S. writes: You wrote recently about overcharging by British Gas. The experience of the reader whose letter you published is similar to my own and I believe this may be a policy by the company to try to extract money from consumers. My belief is that you have exposed what may only be the tip of the iceberg.
THE reader whose letter you describe received demands for more than £20,000.
It turned out that he had been paying estimated bills until finally British Gas produced a bill based on a real meter reading.
The reading was lower than the previous estimates, but instead of accepting that he had used less gas, the company just assumed that he had used so much that the meter had gone all the way to 99999 and then started at zero again. This is exactly what has happened to you. After a meter reading in April, you received an amazing nine letters in one day, including a confusing series of bills and credit notes.
The bottom line was that according to British Gas, you had suddenly used gas equal to 25 years of normal consumption so would you please cough up £23,196.
British Gas told me: ‘A system error meant that we sent a number of incorrect bills to Mr S by mistake.’
The mistake was corrected after you complained and contacted me. British Gas has apologised for not properly acknowledging your complaint.
The outcome is that your bill has been cut to just over £300 and you have accepted £50 as a gesture of goodwill. British Gas is also looking into fitting a smart meter at your home which it says will generate more accurate bills.