A Staffordshire couple, Lee Haynes, 44, and partner Jo Woodley, 45, were hit with an unexpected bill of nearly 11,000 pounds, representing 18 years' worth of gas at their home. They assert that they made exhaustive attempts to ascertain the party responsible for the gas supply and how the payments should be handled when they moved into the house in 2005.
However, the confusion surrounding the responsibility for the gas supply left them without a clear solution, and they eventually abandoned their inquiries. Fast forward nearly two decades, and the couple is now facing a substantial bill of 10,824.87 pounds (Rs 10,88,883), adding more to the ongoing dilemma they've endured since settling into their Staffordshire home nearly twenty years ago.
According to The Metro News, when the couple moved into their home in 2005, they immediately tried to sort out all of the household bills but weren't able to figure out who sourced their gas. Letters from the National Grid and their housing association, both dated in 2006, confirm their struggles.
Lee, a school site worker, said, "It's unbelievable-my worst fears about this have now come true."
"It was very strange. After a few months, we had bills for everything but not gas. I was worried about suddenly getting a big bill, so I tried really hard to find out who was supplying our gas," he said.
"The guy from the housing association tried all the suppliers they work with and said he didn't know what to do. When the ombudsman said just to keep the paperwork and leave it, that's exactly what we did."
The couple was stunned when they received a letter from gas distributor Cadent in March requesting to inspect their property. Three months later, Cadent sent them a bill for 10,824.87 pounds.
