Pensioner stunned after receiving £45,000 electricity bill for his one-bedroom flat

Paul Lamb, 70, had concerns something wasn't right when meter readings showed his tiny flat was using 1kWh of electric every five minutes and his worst fears were confirmed when he opened the bill

A pensioner couldn't believe what he was reading after opening his electric bill to discover he was being charged almost £45,000.

Paul Lamb, who lives in a one-bed flat in Darlington, County Durham, says things got out of control after having a meter fitted. The 70-year-old was told his sheltered accommodation was using 1kWh of electric every five minutes - despite an average UK home using 7.5kWh a day.

Despite complaining to provider Eon a number of times, his readings continued to show abnormally high usage and his worst fears were confirmed when he opened the letter. The former military man says he demanded the company fix the faulty meter but claims it took a year for someone to come round.

Eon have since apologised to the customer following his complaints but the man says it should never have got that far. Speaking to the Northern Echo, Mr Lamb was left on edge by the demand and was forced to get in touch with the ombudsman to get to the bottom of it. “It’s a crazy amount. I could never afford that - I'm a pensioner," he said. “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," he went on to say after the matter was eventually dealt with. "They replaced it but that was only after the ombudsman had given them a slap on the backside and a £250 fine.” Eon apologised before removed all “incorrect” charges. A spokesperson for the firm said: “We have apologised to Mr Lamb again today 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.”

According to the industry watchdog, households could be asked to pay an extra £17 a year on their energy bills to help prevent suppliers going bust. "We know that households across the country are struggling with wider cost of living challenges, including energy, so any decision to add costs to the price cap is not one we take lightly," said Tim Jarvis, director general for markets at Ofgem.

"However, the scale of unrecoverable debt and the potential risk of suppliers leaving the market or going bust, which passes on even greater costs to households, means we must look at all the regulatory options available to us." Any rise in bills would not take place until April next year, they said.