UK citizen who lives half the year in Spain stunned by £23k British Gas bill
An 85-year-old man has spoken of his shock after receiving a massive energy bill for just under £23,000 from British Gas - despite him spending much of his time living abroad.
Charlie Walton lives on his own in Pegswood, Northumberland, and spends half of the year in Spain. The dad-of-two couldn't believe his eyes when he received an electricity bill through the door for £22,897.48.
British Gas told him that he had to pay the sum in less than one week. He said he received the letter on Saturday, January 20 and the figure needed to be paid by Friday, January 26. But Charlie had paid all of his quarterly bills and the last one, issued on November 13, said he was £45.52 in credit. He couldn't understand why the bill was dated between June 27, 2020 and January 12, 2024.
Retired firefighter Charlie said: "I couldn't believe it. It was a massive shock. I'm on my own now, my wife died, and it's just a small house. It's just incredible that I've got a bill of that size. It got it on the Saturday and they told me I had got to pay by Friday 26th January. I could have been in Spain at the time and I wouldn't have seen it.
"Unfortunately it came on Saturday and I couldn't get in touch with anybody. All I could do was speak to these machines and they couldn't answer anything. I had to wait until Monday. I was quite concerned. I'm 85 and there's not a lot I can do. It's just as well I have got my son-in-law and my daughter to help me out because I'm absolutely hopeless on the phone and the internet.
"My son-in-law Chris tried to get in touch but they wouldn't really take a lot of notice of him. We spoke to them together on Tuesday but we haven't heard anything since. I have had no real explanation as to what they're doing and it's almost been a week now."
Charlie asked his son-in-law Chris Berriman, 65, to help him to contact British Gas (Newcastle Chronicle)
Charlie asked his son-in-law Chris Berriman, 65, to help him to contact British Gas. The pair are concerned, following the Post Office scandal, that this could be happening to a lot of British Gas customers and they want to raise awareness of the issue. Earlier this month, Chronicle Live told how Keir Waugh, 38, was struggling to sleep after British Gas sent him a series of bills totalling more than £20,000.
Chris, who lives in Felton, Northumberland, said: "Charlie has a home in Spain so he spends six months of the year abroad and he turns everything off when he leaves. He was very upset and he was worried about his credit rating as the bill had to be paid in a week. When he got the bill through it was from 2020 to the present day. But he's been paying direct debits since 2020!"
The retired company director said British Gas told them on the phone that Charlie had been switched to a new banking department.
Chris, who is married to Charlie's daughter Nicky, 56, said: "The lady tried to explain that there must be a glitch in the system. She said that they had suspended that bill while they looked into it. Nobody has been in touch yet.
"When I read about the man in Whitley Bay I thought this needs to be highlighted. Following on from what happened at the Post Office, you don't want this happening to anybody. Is this going to happen to someone else? We don't want an older person living on their own to be sent another gas bill like that. It's going to frighten the life out of them. Charlie added: "I'm very concerned as you can see what's been happening with the Post (Office). It's frightening."
British Gas told Chronicle Live that the bill was sent to the wrong address. A spokesperson for the energy provider said: "We’re sorry for any upset that this has caused. The bill does not relate to Mr Walton’s energy supply and we’re following up with the housing developer to identify the correct address. We’ll be reaching out to Mr Walton to apologise for not resolving this sooner and reassure him that he will no longer receive these bills."
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