A woman has taken to Tiktok to share her fury after her mother’s bills rose from £120 to £820 overnight.
Mairéad Stevens, 38, from Surrey, said that her pensioner mother, who works part time as a nurse, “won’t be able to live” with these current charges.
Mairéad was at home on July 28 when her mother, Noreen McEntee, 66, called in distress after receiving a text from her bank informing her that British Gas had removed £540 from her account.
When she called the company to ask for an explanation, she was reportedly told that she was in debt to the company.
Mairéad, who works as an accountant, told NeedToKnow.online: “A female call agent forcefully told my mum that she owed them money and her monthly payments going forward for both would be £820.
"This was a lot more than her usual bill of £60 for gas and £60 for electricity.”
Mairéad travelled to her mother’s and called British Gas again on her behalf.
A gentleman advised her to take an updated meter reading and briefly looked into the issue.
He explained that, from what he could see, British Gas had been underestimating Noreen’s usage in gas and electricity for the last two years.
As a result, they were going to remove another £250 from Noreen's account leaving her "distraught" and unsure how she would meet the costs.
Mairéad said her mother had been completely unaware she was being under charged and had been submitting regular meter readings.
"She [Noreen] was so worried about how she would make this payment going forward and how she would live.
"She is a pensioner but works part time as a nurse for the NHS.
"She just wouldn’t be able to live with this kind of bill on top of everything else.
"We are all hugely concerned going forward as we still don’t know what they are planning to charge her and what her options are with British Gas," Mairéad added.
In a bid to raise awareness for other vulnerable people, Mairéad took to social media to share what happened to them.
Mairéad’s Tiktok video gained more than 900,000 views and 73,000 likes with many viewers being left in shock.
Several viewers described similar experiences and expressed concern over rising bills this winter.
"My mum is exactly the same. Semi-retired NHS nurse living alone I. A tiny bungalow. Payments went from £50 a month combined to £350. I’m so mad," one person commented. [sic]
Another said: "So sorry for your poor mum, the 77% rise in October is making me feel ill, have we all woken up in a parallel universe, it’s shocking."
Commenting about the increase, another person said: "I could never afford that and me and my husband both work full time.”
Another viewer wrote: "How dare they do this to the British public! How do they expect people to live! I’m with Shell and combined my bill was £70 last month."
Since the incident, Mairéad has cancelled the direct debits made from Noreen’s bank to the energy firm.
British Gas has also launched an investigation into what happened to Noreen.
Mairéad plans on making a formal complaint to British Gas after the investigation is completed and would be prepared to flag the incident with Ofgem if the outcome is not satisfactory.
Mairéad said: "My mum is still very shocked at what happened and had no knowledge the bank could help her.
"No pensioner could survive with bills like those, not many families could, I know we certainly couldn’t afford a bill like that.
"Many will have to choose between eating and heating if this carries on.
"I just hope this reaches as many people as possible so that we can prevent the energy company’s stealing money from the vulnerable and hardworking families.
"This was their error but they took her money anyway."
British Gas said: "There has been an outstanding balance on Ms McEntee’s account since December 2021 for gas and electricity. We hadn’t received accurate meter readings for years until December 2021 although we made attempts to collect them. We’ve now arranged a meter reading appointment to confirm her usage and help manage payments."
