A grandmother who has lived in her Brighton home for 55 years is refusing to pay her energy bills until she can pay for them in person again.
Pat Arrend, from Moulsecoomb, is taking a stand against British Gas after she was forced to settle her bills online – claiming it has compromised her independence.
The 84-year-old fears she may be cut off and has racked up £1,400 in debts after being informed early last year that British Gas was going paperless.
She said: “I can’t be the only person of my age in Brighton going through this.
When you reach a certain age you become a non-entity, but this non-entity will be heard.”
Early last year, British Gas told Pat that she would still be able to receive paper bills and pay in person after breaking the news about the move to online payments.
But, the mother-of-two said: “From that date I received no bills, and I just kept waiting and waiting.”
A few months later, Pat received a letter from British Gas to inform her she owed £500, despite having received no bills.
Pat says that prior to this she has never “owed them a penny” and always paid promptly, receiving her bills quarterly and visiting her local post office in person to settle her bills.
Now she is being told she owes £1,400 to British Gas, and she has been receiving letters from the company’s solicitors.
Despite trying to resolve the problem, by explaining that she will pay when she receives a paper bill, Pat says she has made no headway.
“It has been an absolute waste of time”, she said. “I spoke to them, and my son spoke to them. We’ve had two people [verbally] promise that I could have paper bills, but nothing has happened.”
Pat emphasises that she is able and happy to pay her bills but wants to do so “on my own terms”.
She is unable to pay her bills online without her children’s help and feels that relying on them to help her pay bills limits her independence.
“They [British Gas] rely on us having a contact who can help us do online payments”, she said.
“It’s not only about my independence, but my privacy.”
Pat’s daughter Nicki adds that with the high number of scams and incidents of online fraud, it doesn’t always feel safe to pay online.
“She doesn’t want to be making big payments online or over the phone – how do you know who you’re talking to?”, she said.
“They say don’t give your details out but then expect people to pay online.”
Pat has also spoken to the solicitors, working on behalf of British Gas, but has been unable to resolve the issue this way either.
“When I spoke to them, I said I’ve got no intention of spending a penny until it has been sorted.
“I found it quite unnerving because the solicitors asked if I lived alone which made me worry who I was talking to.”
Concerningly, the solicitors also asked Pat if she kept any medication in the fridge, which has led her to believe they may be “thinking of cutting me off”.
The grandmother, who has lived in her current house for 55 years, said the dispute has “caused stress” and disrupted her sleep.
“I have no intention of paying the solicitors because British Gas created this problem”, she said.
“They’re just walking all over people, and it’s not on.”
British Gas provided a statement after the publication of this story: “We’ve spoken with Ms Arrend to apologise and have reassured her that she is now getting paper bills through the post. We remain in touch and will be offering a goodwill gesture in light of her experience.”
Share this: