A customer who was one of the thousands switched to a new supplier when their energy companies collapsed last year was shocked to be told by British Gas that their new bill would be almost £5,000 a month.
The customer, posting online under the name rem0tely explained they had been switched to British Gas and was setting up a new direct debit when the estimated monthly cost was sent through.
Posting on Reddit the BG customer wrote: "I started setting up my direct debit for British Gas after being switched to them.
"And this was what they proposed my payments should be, I live in a three-bed terrace house."
They shared an image showing a 'plan overview' from British Gas sent to their phone.
It reads: "Your first payment of £4824.16 will be taken on 1st December 2021.
"Then a further 9 regular monthly payments of £4824.16 will be taken on 1st of each month thereafter."
The app gave the customer an option to change the date their direct debit would be taken.
It projects a total energy usage for the house of close to £50,000.
Users were stunned by the 'bill', reports BirminghamLive.
Ghost replied: "Imagine if this was a quote they gave you over the phone. “Yes I have your quote here, might I suggest you sit down first”"
"This is what parents see when you leave the upstairs lights on," Fuzz Wuzzle said.
"Yeah your neighbour has tapped your leckie and is running a farm next door," joked Bal.
Cat Eyes said: "Last person or meter reader probably gave a duff read and it'll think you've clocked your meter cos your read was lower. Ring them and ask them to check the reads, else your first bill will probably be mental and it'll be harder to fix."
A spokesman for British Gas said: "It looks like there has been a mistake in the data that has been shared with us via Ofgem’s Supplier of Last Resort Process.
"We’ve previously flagged this issue to Ofgem and we’ve already put additional processes in place to ensure our system picks up any anomalies.
"To clarify, personal projections are a future forecast rather than a bill, this customer hasn’t been charged that amount incorrectly."
