They threatened to force entry to my home with "police", "dog handlers" and "locksmiths" if I didn't pay up. They said they would fit a pre-payment meter, pre-loaded with the debt that wasn't mine.
I used the Data Protection Act to find out why British Gas had my details. It turned out that a representative of an offshore company (Camarin Holdings Ltd) ran via a UK dormant company (Bindi London Ltd) by Mrs Leyla Hamed and Mr Tony Hamed told British Gas that I occupied their multi-million pound office building, after they had originally received bills for electricity. This was not true, but British Gas fell for it without further investigation.
For a year, I battled against British gas but got nowhere. They just kept up with their threats. I then sought the help of a solicitor who dealt with British Gas on my behalf. Their threats intensified. The solicitor recommended I seek an injunction against British Gas to prevent them continuing debt collection activities against a disputed debt. British Gas still did not investigate the dispute, but rather just set about preparing a defence for court.
Now two years after British Gas' initial demand, my request for an injunction was heard at court. British Gas said they were entitled to pursue me because I definitely owed them money. They successfully defended against my request for an injunction and I was ordered to pay their legal fees of £10,814 as well as around £9,000 of my own.
After the court case, I made a second Data Protection Act request for data from British Gas and found several contradictions with their statements to court. Their manager Suzanne O'Calaghan had noted that their claim of indebtedness "is not clear cut" (at court they stated it was definite). Also that my "debt" had been written off sometime before the court case, but then re-instated in time for it, presumably so that British Gas could claim I owed it at the time.
British Gas' solicitors ramped up their threats and sent a demand for payment, which they said they would reduce by half (to just under £8,000) if I paid quickly and kept it secret. I tweeted their letter and made contact with British Gas' then Managing Director of Business @StephenBeynon via twitter.
After several public twitter exchanges with @StephenBeynon, he agreed to investigate matters. It was now over three years since British Gas first contacted me.
After his investigation, he emailed me to say British Gas still thought I was liable, but that they had chosen not to pursue me further for "Commercial Reasons". He would not explain further, but said a solicitors letter would explain it. That never arrived and @StephenBeynon blocked me on twitter.
Later on, I was able to acquire documents from Leyla and Tony Hamed, the directors of Bindi London Ltd who had originally told British Gas that I occupied their office building. Not only did Mr Hamed admit that their property was empty when they had told British Gas that I occupied it, they also admitted they had a bill from British Gas for £15,049.48 for historical electricity usage, dated around the same time that @StephenBeynon had told me British Gas had chosen not to pursue me for "commercial reasons".
So it appears that British Gas did finally work out that I was never their customer, although they chose not to admit that. Perhaps because it directly contradicts what they stated under oath at court.
I await an apology from British Gas and repayment of my legal costs. I ask from time to time, but they don't respond. In the meantime, I use my twitter account to highlight that my story is not at all unique and that many suffer false debt collection from British Gas.
If you feel that British Gas have not acted fairly in this and you are a British Gas customer, you can show your dissatisfaction (and perhaps save some money!) by switching supplier. Millions have switched from British Gas. And maybe follow this story on twitter :-)
Thanks for reading.
