An administrative error by British Gas is responsible for destroying the credit rating of a London-based property manager.
Self-employed property manager Sean Powell is the latest Brit to fall victim to the complicated administration systems favoured by large corporations.
Last year, through no fault of his own, he saw his credit report reduced to tatters and his once-successful business put at risk all because of an administration error made by utilities giant British Gas.
Powell’s debacle started in March last year when, to his surprise, he received a £300 ($530) gas bill. While for many homeowners this wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary, Mr Powell’s central London flat is heated solely by oil. There isn’t a single gas meter, appliance or connection in the property and, according to the managing agent, there never has been.
Baffled by the bill, Powell wrote to British Gas explaining the error. However, they did nothing to rectify the situation and soon he was faced with a barrage of demands for payment from his supposed gas provider and debt collectors acting on their behalf.
Powell responded to British Gas with a number of letters and phone calls but the bill was still not withdrawn.
The situation deteriorated to such that Mr Powell was left expecting a court summons from the provider. Confident that he would win any such action he waited to receive a court date so that he could clear the business up once and for all. However, none arrived.
Instead, British Gas took action that was far more detrimental to his livelihood, they placed a default notice on his credit record.
Rather bizarrely this was for non-payment of £73 rather than the £300 earlier letters had demanded.
As the utilities provider made no attempt to notify Powell of this amendment to his once perfect credit record, the first he knew that there was anything wrong was when he started getting turned down for loans.
Speaking to the Guardian, Powell commented: "As a regular property buyer, I have been meticulous over the last 14 years in keeping my credit record clean. When it happened for a second time, I got my credit files and, sure enough, there was a default notice saying I had not paid my gas bill.
"I'm at the end of my tether. The property market is absolutely flat and at a time when I need to raise money most, I've been scuppered through the incompetence of a company I don't even use. If wasn't so serious, it would be farcical."
On identifying the error Powell contacted British Gas’s debt recovery department and eventually, after a number of appeals, the default notice was removed from his credit file.
"The loans that I was originally turned down for have at least been resurrected, which is something, but it hasn't exactly helped my reputation with the building society. Also, I haven't been told whether British Gas still want to rummage through my wardrobes to make sure I'm not hiding the meter somewhere," Powell said.
British Gas have now acknowledged, and apologised for the error which, according to a spoke’s person, occurred after the National Grid mistakenly notified them there was a gas supply linked to Mr Powell’s flat. They have however yet to explain why nothing was done to resolve the situation earlier.
Powell is now applying for financial compensation from the utilities provider.
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