An elderly woman who suffers with memory issues was sent a letter by her energy provider claiming that her bill was to increase to almost €7,890 a month.
Sylvia Dea, aged 78 and from County Durham in England, was spared the shock of seeing that figure thanks to her son Jon who was appalled when he came to help her with the bills.
He claims he tried to call British Gas immediately, but was disconnected, reports TeessideLive.
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British Gas later responded to Jon and said the bill was an error on their part. Mrs Dea's bill was supposed to be €271.97 per month and she was already in credit by more than €2,594.
A spokesperson for British Gas said: "We’re sorry that we made a mistake when calculating Mrs. Dea’s bill.
“This was quickly corrected and her new monthly payment is €271.97 per month. We have reached out to Mrs. Dea to confirm this, and to apologise for the error.
"We had an opportunity to resolve this sooner when Mrs. Dea’s son called us and are sorry for any distress this may have caused."
Jon said: "If I hadn't discovered that letter and taken that letter away, if you think about that few hours I'm there looking after her, to the number of hours she's there alone.
“If she picked that letter up in a moment of very good clarity and read through it she could have had a massive reaction and no one would have been there to deal with the consequences.
"I consider that personal debt is one of the greatest problems facing our society at the moment, and it doesn't matter if it's family or anybody.
"Any single person who thinks they're in an unaffordable situation hides that because they don't know how to face the truth.
“Then it builds up and it explodes on them, they either break down or you could have tragic circumstances. It worries me not just for my mother's situation, it worries me that anyone could face this."
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