‘Ridiculous’ bills sent out in error

Warwick district councillor Bill Gifford has recently helped two elderly people claim back money from E.ON that was mistakenly demanded of them.

One of the residents had been asked to pay £3,766 and then a further £88 from a debt collection agency.

The other resident was asked to pay £12,905 - and because she was a direct debit customer, the amount was automatically deducted from her account, causing her to become overdrawn.

Cllr Gifford said: “The gentleman paid because he had a real fear of being but off and not having any heat in his home.

“If he had not come to me, then that money that belongs to him would be sitting in the company’s accounts.”

Cllr Gifford added: “Companies like E.ON should be using exceptional reports so that bills that are clearly ridiculous are not going out to customers.”

A spokeswoman for E.ON said the company had a system in place that aimed to pick up on unusually high bills and that normally, repeated efforts are made to contact the customer before such a bill is sent out.

She also urged anyone who did receive an unusually high bill to get in touch.