A woman has been left furious claiming her pensioner mother was unknowingly going to be charged more than £800 in bills by British Gas – and says she "won't be able to live" with current charges. Mairéad Stevens, 38, was at home on 28 July when she received a concerning phone call from her mum, Noreen McEntee, 66.
Noreen claims to have received a worrying text from her bank advising that British Gas had removed £570 from her account. When she called British Gas to clarify why she had been charged so much, she was reportedly told that she was in debt to the company.
"A female call agent forcefully told my mum that she owed them money and her monthly payments going forward for both would be £820," Mairéad claims, after having gone viral on TikTok with her story. This was a lot more than her usual bill of £60 for gas and £60 for electricity.
"After hearing what had happened, I travelled to my mum’s house and called British Gas again on her behalf. I spoke to a gentleman this time and he took an updated meter reading from me and briefly looked into the issue.
"From what he could see, he said that British Gas had been underestimating my mother’s usage in gas and electric for the last two years. My mum was completely unaware of this and was submitting meter readings regularly."
Mairéad, who works as an accountant, claims to have been informed by the man taking the reading that British Gas were going to remove another £250 from her mother’s account. Not knowing how she was going to pay the rising bills, Noreen was left "distraught".
Mairéad said: "She 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.”
Since the incident, Mairéad has been in touch with her mum’s bank who have cancelled the direct debits from the energy firm. British Gas has also launched an investigation into what happened to Noreen, however Mairéad now wants to raise awareness on the matter to try and help other vulnerable people.
In a bid to share what happened to her mum, the daughter took to social media to explain the situation. Since posting on Tiktok, Mairéad’s video has gained more than 900,000 views and 73,000 likes.
Many viewers were left in shock after hearing what had happened to Noreen. One person 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."
"My mum is exactly the same. Semi-retired NHS nurse living alone in a tiny bungalow. Payments went from £50 a month combined to £350. I’m so mad," someone else commented. Another person wrote: "My gas company out of the blue they took an extra £400 from me, they reason is they have been taking the gas reading wrong the past 9months. So angry."
"I could never afford that and me and my husband both work full time," added another person.
One user wrote: "No one should be charged this for gas and electric! I hope you get it sorted."
"It's a very worrying time for people in the UK. It's looks like a bleak winter for most and mental health issues will soar as a result," said someone else. 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."
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."
Mairéad plans on making a formal complaint to British Gas after the investigation is completed. She said if she feels that the outcome is "unsatisfactory" then she will be flagging the issue to Ofgem.
Jam Press contacted British Gas for comment. They replied saying: "Ms McEntee’s situation sounds difficult and we’re getting in touch to find out a bit more so we can see how we can help her"
