British Gas mixes up energy meters in new Shropshire housing development
A billing and data handling error at a new UK housing estate highlights systemic risks in utility registration for new-build properties, leaving residents facing incorrect charges and penalty fees.
Residents in a new housing development in Shropshire are being billed for each other’s energy after British Gas incorrectly registered their newly installed meters. The utility company has confirmed that the meters for all the homes it supplies on the estate have been mixed up, assigning them to different addresses.
One resident reported that British Gas initially sent energy bills to the estate developer instead of the homeowner, despite receiving the correct details seven months ago. When the resident attempted to set up a direct debit, the company mistakenly sent their bank details to the developer and continued to bill the wrong party.
The resident was subsequently billed for a meter with a different reference number. After cancelling the direct debit to avoid paying for another household’s energy, British Gas increased the resident’s tariff by 19 per cent, citing the forfeiture of a direct debit discount.
Approximately half a dozen occupied properties on the still-under-construction estate are affected by the error. Because the current charges are based on estimates, and the properties range from two-bedroom social housing to five-bedroom houses, some residents face the risk of significant overcharging.
British Gas acknowledged the issue, stating that energy meters for new-build properties can sometimes be registered incorrectly when a plot number is assigned to the wrong address following construction. The company noted that the resident’s meter has now been correctly assigned and that corrections are being made to the national database for neighboring properties.
Despite these corrections, the resident remains caught in a billing dispute three months after first contacting the company. British Gas has closed the formal complaint regarding the meter mix-up, though it did offer compensation for the data breach involving the misplaced bank details.
The incident underscores the operational vulnerabilities utility providers face when integrating new housing developments into national billing systems. For consumers and regulators, it highlights how administrative errors in the energy sector can quickly escalate into data privacy breaches and unjustified financial penalties, including a threatened £13 surcharge for disputed overdue payments.
