A MUM has told how she was stunned to receive an electric bill for more than £3,000 after British Gas FORGOT to charge her for more than two years.
Julia Shields, from Bristol, usually pays the energy giant around £130 a month for supplying gas and electricity.
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But earlier this month she received a bill requesting an eye-watering £3264.20 dating back to October 2021, when the company took over supply from People’s Energy after it went bust.
The 45-year-old said: “I opened the letter and couldn’t believe the figure I was staring at. We usually pay just a fraction of that, so I just thought it was an admin error and put it on the side, thinking I’d call up when I had time.”
A couple of days later Julia rang British Gas, and was told there was no mistake.
She continued: “They told me that I did owe them thousands of pounds because they hadn’t charged us for electricity for the whole time they’d been supplying us.
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“I was terrified about how on earth I’d find that kind of money. It dated back two-and-half-years. It’s hard enough feeding a large family in the current climate, yet alone finding extra to pay off that kind of debt.
“They admitted on the phone it was their mistake and asked me to set up a payment plan. I declined to do that as it didn’t feel right that I should be landed with a massive debt because of someone else’s mistake.
“We’d given them readings and even had someone round to check the meter. We didn’t notice the bill was only for gas, we just received a bill with the British Gas header at the top and paid the amount.”
The worried mum scoured the internet for rules and found out that according to energy watchdog Ofgem’s website, if you haven’t received an accurate gas or electricity bill for over a year, you might not have to pay for all the energy you’ve used.
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Ofgem’s website states: “Under back billing rules your supplier cannot usually send you a bill for energy you used 12 months ago.
“The back billing rules don’t apply if the supplier sent you a bill before the year had passed and you didn’t pay.”
Get help to pay for your energy bills
IT’S definitely worth signing up for British Gas’ PeakSave or OVO’s Power Move schemes if you can, but you can make bigger savings through other means.
Writer Julia, who is mum to spray renderer Will, 20, Ally, 16, Eric, 13 and ten-year-old Ted, said this was the first bill she received.
She has now written a complaint to British Gas, outlining the Ofgem ruling, and is awaiting a response.
A British Gas spokesperson told The Sun: “We have contacted Mr Shields to reassure him that the bill, which includes previously unbilled electricity, will be recalculated using back billing rules.
“We appreciate this has been frustrating and we’ll remain in touch with them while we update their account.”
An Ofgem spokesperson said: “Suppliers must comply with tough rules to protect vulnerable households, including repayment plans. While suppliers can issue a catch-up bill if customers have been undercharged – they cannot recover charges that are older than 12 months.
“If a customer is unhappy with the service they’ve received about their billing, they can make a complaint with the Energy Ombudsman. More advice is available on the Ofgem and Citizens Advice websites.”
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It comes as British Gas extended an initiative offering customers half price electricity.
The energy supplier pushed back the close date of its “Peak Save” scheme from today until March 31.
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