A COUPLE were horrified when they checked their British Gas account and saw they’d been slapped with a whopping £117,000 bill.
Kate and Michael Brown say the shocking statement detailed that they had racked up £112,000 in energy costs in a month – which had £5,600 in VAT on top.
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The statement read: “Your new balance on 16 Nov 2022 – £117,053.18.”
Kate, 41, said she was anxiously awaiting their statement as she was expecting it would have jumped up in price as they heated their Hampshire home while the temperatures dropped.
But the mum said her eyes widened when she saw the six-digit figure typed out on the page.
She told The Sun Online: “I was shocked – I was holding my breath already.
“I said that is not right. I called [British Gas] and said ‘I don’t think it’s £117,000’ and he said ‘oh no’.
“It’s ridiculous.”
Kate rushed to tell Michael, adding: “He was pretty shocked – disbelieving that such a large scale company can let these kinds of things happen.”
The parents-of-seven said they had shifted to British Gas after their last company went bust more than a year ago.
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But, they say they have had problems ever since.
One of their last issues was a stark contrast to now – they were told their account was £900 in credit.
But, after quizzing the British Gas, they say they were told the company hadn’t logged their gas usage.
Speaking of the night the bill arrived, Kate said: “I was already a bit fed up. I was already on the phone for more than an hour just trying to find out what the bill would be.”
She was shocked that the company could send a bill that was that high without it having “raised alarms”.
When Kate called British Gas the next morning they acknowledged it was an “accidental error”.
It’s a bit frustrating, they’re not really being very careful.
Michael Brown
Michael, 46, admitted they have a large house, and budget about £600-700 a month for power and gas.
They expected it may rise to £900 this winter – but the jump of more than £116,000 was not what they imagined.
Michael added: “Obviously that’s not real.”
“It’s a bit frustrating, they’re not really being very careful.
“And people are already stressing about getting their bills.”
Michael also happens to work as a software test engineer, so can see how they made the error – but “there’s not excuse for the failing.”
British Gas said in a statement: “We’re sorry that Mrs Brown’s bill wasn’t right.
“This was due to a meter reading not updating correctly.
“We have since resolved this with Mrs Brown and provided a revised statement.”
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