Last week British Gas tried to break into my house, damaging my locks in the process, and I thought it was a failed break-in. A hand-delivered letter, addressed to an unknown person, stated it had a warrant to force entry and to change the meter to pay-as-you-go. It said this person owes over £1,000.
I am not a British Gas customer – I’m with SSE – and have never been one at this address. I have been harassed for two years over this and have told them countless times my name, that I am not a customer and the person they are chasing no longer lives here.
SSE installed the meter and has told me British Gas is not allowed to touch its property. It’s harassment and criminal damage but I seem powerless. FW, London
It’s a very big step to break into someone’s home, so you’d think British Gas would be doubly sure it had the right house/account holder – but clearly no one decided to check it properly, which is disgraceful.
In fairness to the company, it moved fast to put things right after we raised your case. It sent someone to assess the door and has carried out repairs. It has offered to compensate you for the distress caused. (I would not have accepted less than £600).
“We’re very sorry for the series of errors,” it says. “The mistakes started because of incorrect details in our system. We’ve now corrected these and apologised. We’re keeping in touch so that we can resolve his concerns in full.”
It said it will discuss appropriate compensation.
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