STAY-AT-HOME dad Dox Doherty says he’s suffered sleepless nights after British Gas mistakenly broke into his house in a huge billing blunder.
The 38-year-old from Durham isn’t a British Gas customer but the energy giant still forced entry into his property.
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Dox claims a representative from British Gas, flanked by two debt collectors, picked the lock of his flat last Wednesday.
He and his wife spotted the workers walking away from their property, and went over to ask them what was going on.
The couple were told that British Gas was trying to install a prepayment meter because it believed the customer at the address owed the energy firm money.
If you are in debt to your energy company and can’t – or won’t – pay your bill, a supplier is allowed to install a prepayment meter in your house.
That is in order to prevent you from running up a bigger debt.
But their flat had been incorrectly logged as the address for a completely different person – who was the one in debt with the company.
Mr Doherty said: “We just don’t feel safe at all, knowing someone out there can get in so easily.
“You hear a car go and you’re at the window, seeing if it’s them again.
“We’re just so on edge and can’t relax at all.”
The property is currently rented out by Dox to tenants but it’s part of a large building which he owns and lives in.
He lives in half the property which his wife and two kids, while the other part is split into flats.
British Gas told The Sun that it wrote to Dox’s flat’s address in May telling him that it had applied for a warrant to change the meter, Dox claimed he received no warning.
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It comes as the number of households facing debt collectors knocking on their doors is soaring.
Citizens Advice has warned the number of customers being contacted by debt collectors on behalf of energy suppliers has increased by a third last year.
More and more households could be at risk from a knock at the door from bailiffs, as six million households now owe their energy supplier.
Dox said he and his wife tried to get through to British Gas for days after the incident for more information on what had happened.
“On Wednesday, my wife spent four hours on the phone on hold that day and didn’t get answers.
“On Thursday, she was on hold for another six hours until they [British Gas] told her they would call her back with more information on Friday.
“But she never got a call back, and spent four hours on Friday chasing it up.”
Finally, a British Gas customer service helper explained that their address had been logged in error for a separate British Gas customers’ account, and that they had fixed the error.
The couple were offered £100 in compensation.
“That wouldn’t even cover one month’s energy bill, it is an absolute insult,” Dox said.
“What happens if it happens another time?”
British Gas said: “We’ve spoken to Mr and Mrs Docherty to tell her we are very sorry for what has happened.
“There was an address mix-up of the flats and this led to a visit that was meant for another household.
“We’ve amended our records to ensure this doesn’t happen again and will be offering them compensation for the distress this has caused.”
An Energy Ombudsman spokesperson said: “In this case, it appears the supplier applied for a warrant at the wrong address.
“This appears to be a system/human error and is an obvious shortfall.”
Your bailiff rights explained
Ofgem warned energy suppliers back in 2018 that they must only install prepayment meters by force to recover debt as a last resort.
That was following a report that some suppliers were using this tactic more often.
If a customer doesn’t agree to having a prepayment meter supplied, the supplier will need to obtain a warrant from court to enter the customer’s property.
There’s also fixed rules on the times they would ever be allowed to enter your home – they can’t come in between 9pm and 6am.
Just keep in mind that if you decide not to let a bailiff in, they could take things from outside your home like your car, to repay the debts you may owe.
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