Darlington: Pensioner sent whopping £45,000 bill by Eon | UK News

A pensioner who lives on his own in a one-bedroom flat was left utterly stunned when energy company Eon decided to send him a £45,000 bill.

Paul Lamb, 70, who lives in Darlington, was sent the letter ordering him to pay the whopping fee after a year of issues with his meter which meant his recordings showed through-the-roof energy usage.

His meter was clocking up 1kWh of electric every five minutes, in comparison to most homes which on average use 7.5kWh a day.

Eon has now apologised for the stupid mistake.

Paul said: ‘It’s a crazy amount. I could never afford that as I’m a pensioner.

‘It started at £4,000 and it doubled then trebled and then it eventually went up at the beginning of this year to £44,000.

‘I had complained long before that and told them the meter was faulty, but it’s taken them over a year to come out and replace it.

‘It was faulty for well over a year, going on a year-and-a-half to two years.

‘They replaced it but that was only after the ombudsman had given them a slap on the backside and a £250 fine.’

Paul has been told by Eon that they will wipe the debt but last month he was sent a bill for £4,000 which he says includes some of the usage on the old meter.

A medium-use household would use 7.5kWh a day, according to Ovo, but Paul’s meter would clock the same amount in less than 40 minutes.

The average annual electric bill for a one or two bed house is £403 a year, according to UKPower stats.

A spokesperson for Eon said: ‘We have apologised to Mr Lamb again for the issues he has experienced with his account.

‘We have now removed all incorrect charges from his account, offered a gesture of goodwill and advised Mr Lamb to contact the independent Energy Ombudsman if he feels we have not implemented their original remedies correctly.

‘We hope to fully resolve this matter soon.’

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