Inverness woman receives £3124 gas and electricity bill - when it should have been £185
An Inverness woman is urging people to check their energy bills are correct after being invoiced for more than £3000 when the right amount should have been £185.
Fiona MacAllister received the invoice from Scottish Gas as an executor of her late father’s estate.
After she challenged it, the mistake was acknowledged but it was only after she contacted the Inverness Courier that the situation was finally resolved and she received an apology.
She is now wants it to serve as a warning and is urging people to check their bills especially if it seems unusually high.
“I wanted to share my story, because I am fearful that many Scottish Gas consumers may be sent wrong energy bills, and unwittingly just pay it in belief that the energy company is always right,” said Ms MacAllister, of Culduthel.
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The saga began after her father died in January and she started dealing with his affairs.
She said although Scottish Gas was notified about the death there was no response for about four months while other organisations did reply.
When the first invoice for the combined gas and electricity usage arrived in April, it was addressed to her father and was for £3676 for the periods from October to April.
Ms MacAllister said after contacting Scottish Gas, this was corrected to £2068 which was paid.
She expected the final invoice for gas and electricity usage in the two-bedroom property in Nairn to be small, given it had remained empty.
But when it arrived, she was horrified to see it amounted to £3124.71.
“What a fright,” Ms MacAllister. “Not only was this a shock, but extremely stressful.”
She said that telephoning the energy companies could be very difficult but she managed to speak to someone at Scottish Gas and after holding the line and many apologies from the staff member, it was recalculated to £185 - a difference of £2939.
She said the explanation given to her was that the mistake had occurred following a change to a new billing system.
“I would like to warn other homeowners to beware of mistakes like this,” she said.
“If you have elderly parents or relatives who don’t regularly check their bills please help them.”
Ms McAllister said it was not the first time, there had been a questionable bill.
She recalled her late mother, who had lived in the house for more than 40 years with the same regular gas usage, previously receiving an unusually high bill.
“Despite my pleas to query it, she paid it,” Ms MacAllister said.
“Please everyone, do not just believe these unusually high bills, check your usage, read your meters, and query it if you think its wrong.
“If you have elderly parents, or relatives who don’t regularly check their bills please help them. them’’.
Following the intervention of the Inverness Courier, Scottish Gas contacted Ms MacAllister to apologise and write off the remaining balance.
It a statement last night, it said it was sorry the recent bill received was incorrect.
“This was quickly cancelled, and we sent an updated bill showing the correct final balance,” it said.
“This is now resolved, we’ve spoken with Mrs MacAllister to apologise, and have written off the remaining balance as know that this has been a difficult time for her.”
