Stuck with their bills

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Updated:

 

OUR two-year-old house stands on the site of the former village police station. When we moved in, we elected to take our gas and electricity from British Gas and Powergen respectively. Our bills are up-to-date. Last autumn, I received a bill (addressed to the occupier) from British Gas demanding more than £1,700 for electricity. I rang the call centre, but the matter remained unresolved.

A further increased bill was received and I was promised that my calls would be dealt with by a specific named individual who, of course, never got in touch. Further letters elicited further promises, but the 'bill' has now risen to £1,769. ES, Stock, Essex.

Money Mail's Margaret Stone says: IT IS common practice for utility companies to chase up debts from former householders by writing to the new house owners as 'The Occupier' in order to prompt some action.

The theory is that the new owner, shocked by the bill, provides an address where the former owner can be contacted. This is all well and good, but it does require someone to listen carefully to what a customer is saying. When you called British Gas it contacted its Centrica Business Services arm which deals with business accounts to chase it up.

However, it has now transpired that Eastern Electricity, which actually still owned the electricity meter at the police station, never told Business Services that the police station, the responsibility of Essex County, no longer existed - which is why your address kept being targeted.

Eastern Electricity will now have to send out someone to see with their own eyes that the police station doesn't exist. It's a silly story, but worrying for you. You will be getting a letter of apology from British Gas and £50 in compensation.

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