From Credit to Debit and Back: A British Gas Billing Saga
Last year, The Guardian shared the story of Fiona Porter, who encountered issues with her British Gas account. Initially, her account displayed a credit of £1,525, which switched to a debit following the migration to a new billing system. Despite being promised a refund upon the sale of her house, she was instead billed for a roughly equivalent amount, which she paid unwillingly. After lodging a complaint, British Gas acknowledged that they actually owed her £2,650. Although a cheque was promised, it never materialized; instead, a new bill of £3,000 was issued to her.
This is when I got involved. British Gas attributed the billing confusion to a defective meter and admitted that an agent had mistakenly recorded the £2,650 credit. Subsequently, they issued Porter an unexplained refund of £1,201 and declared her account settled.
Escalation to the Energy Ombudsman
Unsatisfied with the resolution, Porter escalated her issue to the energy ombudsman, who directed British Gas to reevaluate five years’ worth of her bills. Astonishingly, a year after her house was sold, the original £2,650 appeared again, this time categorized as a debt.
I approached British Gas once more to clarify this recurrence. They explained that the £2,650 was mistakenly noted as a debt by an agent while following the ombudsman’s recommendations—a similar oversight to the earlier error of recording it as a credit. After correcting this mistake, British Gas confirmed that Porter’s account actually had a credit balance of £424.
If you’re dealing with British Gas, this incident serves as a cautionary tale. The errors in calculation here could embarrass even elementary school arithmetic standards.
We invite readers to send us their experiences, though we cannot respond to each individually. Reach out via email at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or by mail to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include your daytime phone number. Note that submitting and publishing letters are subject to our terms and conditions.
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