A MUM has revealed her terror as she was sent a whopping £2.8m energy bill after a simple mistake.
Hannah Naylor, 31, logged onto her EDF Energy app on Tuesday to find she owed the huge amount on her electricity bill.
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The single mum, who lives “constantly in poverty”, said she would never be in debt that much as her and her son James, 10, live well below their means.
Hannah from Morecambe called the energy provider immediately to ask about the hefty bill and was told they would look into it and call back in two hours.
But miscommunication led to a call-back never being logged and Hannah had to ring again – EDF have since said the bill was so huge because of an incorrect meter reading.
Hannah told The Sun: “We can’t afford to live a nice lifestyle and we don’t. The electricity never goes on.
“I own my house so don’t get any Universal Credits. We are constantly in poverty.
“I use my energy bills as a savings and always pay a little bit more into it. I should be in credit about £1,748.08.”
Hannah, who works for Citizens Advice, is forced to work from home sometimes because of her multiple health problems.
She claims even then, she barely uses any electricity or gas because of money worries.
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Hannah has been with EDF since she moved into her home in 2019 and believes the bill has been racking up since then, although only just appearing.
“I had spent hours scrutinizing [my bills] and going through what looks like has been going on for years,” she added.
Her bills are paid via direct debit which left her extremely worried the amount would try to be taken from her bank account at any moment.
And when she tried accessing her app to double check her usage, all of her bills had been deleted.
An EDF spokesperson said their systems would have prevented such a huge amount ever being collected.
“We have looked into Ms Naylor’s case and we can see that she received a bill of £2,801,286.94 due to an incorrect meter reading being submitted by the customer, which resulted in a bill that was much too high,” the spokesperson added.
“The bill was immediately cancelled and removed from her account; however Ms Naylor’s app will have shown the incorrect bill balance for a short period of time.
“At no point was Ms Naylor charged this amount and our systems and controls would prevent such an amount from ever being collected.
“We’re very sorry for the concern and inconvenience to Ms Naylor, and I can confirm that a corrected bill has been sent to the customer.
“We have spoken with Ms Naylor this morning and explained that the incorrect meter reading also resulted in a higher monthly Direct Debit, this has now been reduced so her ongoing Direct Debit is now £70 a month for electricity, and we have refunded the updated balance on her electricity account of £574.62.”
Hannah insists the mistake wasn’t on her part as she hasn’t submitted a meter reading in months.
If you need to contact your energy supplier the best way to do so is via a webchat on their site – if you don’t have access to this, you can call them.
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