British Gas sends shocking £14k bill to pub

Another licensee was shocked to receive a huge electricity bill after British Gas claimed he had been underpaying for four years.

Tim Gittins licensee of the Travellers Rest in Exeter, Devon, was stunned when he received a bill for £13,835.

It follows a report in last week's Publican​ about licensee who had been incorrectly charged £200,000 for six months of water.

British Gas said it had under billed the Travellers Rest - leased from the Heavitree Brewery - and it now wanted Tim to pay it back.

The under-billing came to light when the pub's old meter was replaced with a new one - ironically to provide more accurate bills.

British Gas said it had been incorrectly charging the night rate during the day and the day rate at night. But as the meter has now been removed, the licensee has no way of verifying this.

He said: "I've told them I'm not going to pay it and if they want to take me to court then by all means.

"I'm not the only one - there's got to be people who are in the same situation as me.

Gittins added: "If someone came into my pub and I undercharged them I can't go back to them six months later and say 'I've undercharged you so I'll add it to your bill'."

To compound his anger British Gas said a letter was sent out prior to the bill to warn him that a mistake had been made but Tim never received it.

A British Gas spokesman said: "British Gas is very sorry for the inconvenience and stress caused to Mr Gittins. The meter has two sets of readings, one for day use and one for night use, which have been transposed in calculating the customer's bills. The result is that he has been undercharged for the energy used over the past three years.

"We have not yet had the opportunity to discuss the options for repayment of the outstanding amount in detail with the customer, however as a gesture of goodwill, we will be offering to write off an element of the monies owed and arranging for repayment over a period of time."