Couple Who Didn't Get Gas Bills for 18 Years Are Shocked to See What They Owe

A British couple had lived in their home for eighteen years and paid all their bills except gas. In June this year, the couple was shocked to learn what they owed for the eighteen years of gas they had spent.

Lee Haynes and his partner, Jo Woodley, moved into their home in Tamworth, Staffs, in the early 2000s. After they moved in, they began trying to source their different utility suppliers so they could pay them.

After a while, the couple began receiving bills for all their utilities, yet they have yet to find out who supplied their gas and never paid for it. Now, the couple are facing a complicated situation.

Woodley and Haynes were shocked when a gas bill finally arrived at their home this year, and the invoice informed them of how much they owed from 2005 until 2023. The couple are horrified at the amount.

How Did Woodley and Haynes Look for Their Gas Supplier?

In 2006, a year after moving into their home, Haynes and Woodley received a letter from the National Grid and their housing association saying it was unclear who was supplying the couple's gas.

Haynes anticipated they would one day receive a hefty bill if they did not find out who they should pay for their gas. For this reason, Haynes and Woodley did everything they could to find out how to pay for their gas.

The couple was thrown into turmoil when they received a follow-up letter from Cadent about their gas supply.

However, it was to no avail. Eventually, the ombudsman told the couple to keep the paperwork they had accumulated during their search and stop trying to find out who their gas supplier was.

For eighteen years, this is what the couple did. However, in March this year, everything changed for them. In March, the couple received a letter from the gas distributor, Cadent, asking to come and check the supply on the property.

The couple agreed to have someone come and check their gas supply. Three months later, the couple was thrown into turmoil when they received a follow-up letter from Cadent about their gas supply.

What Did Haynes and Woodley Owe?

Three months after Cadent checked the gas supply on Haynes and Woodley's property, they received another letter that contained an invoice. The invoice had bills from 2005 until 2023 and totaled £10,824.87.

The invoice stated the couple had 30 days to pay. Haynes shared: "I just don't understand. The 1986 Gas Act says they can recover costs if I'm at fault, but I'm not." He added that they didn't add it in their calendar to try to find their gas supplier each year and instead just went on living there as they were advised.

Haynes shared that he did everything he could because he didn't want to let the problem go. After two years of trying, he was told there was nothing more he could do and that he should wait to hear from someone.

Haynes felt it would be okay to be billed if he hadn't tried to do things by the book, but said he had and felt like there should be a shared responsibility for the incident as nobody had ever reached out to them. He lamented:

"It's unbelievable - my worst fears about this have now come true."

Since the couple has shared their experience, Cadent has also shared a statement addressing what happened with the couple. A spokesperson said that although they were not gas suppliers, part of their gas transportation license obliged them to investigate and recover the costs of gas used "outside [their] supplier contract."

Haynes and Woodley still have no idea how they should have been paying their gas bill for the past eighteen years. They have now signed up with a significant energy firm to avoid anything of this sort happening to them again in the future.

Cadent confirmed they could not share information about individual situations but had a specialist team to assist customers required to pay their gas bills.

While Woodley and Haynes were shocked at the size of their gas bill, one man experienced similar with his medical bills. However, his girlfriend reduced the account from a four-digit number to only $26. Her boyfriend was still not happy. Find out how she did it here.