British Gas sent a bill for £3,000 despite big credit

The final account switched from a credit to a debit, then a partial refund – and finally back into a debit

Last year, the Guardian featured the plight of Fiona Porter, whose British Gas account was showing £1,525 in credit before it was migrated to the company’s new billing platform. She was promised a refund when her house was sold but, instead, received a bill for a similar sum she reluctantly paid. She complained, and the company decided that it, in fact, owed her £2,650. The promised cheque never came. Instead, she received a bill for £3,000.

That’s where I came in. British Gas blamed a faulty meter for the confusion and said an agent had erroneously recorded the £2,650 credit. It refunded her an unexplained £1,201 and declared the account clear.