UK couple slapped with ₹11 lakh gas bill after not paying for 18 years

A UK couple has been slapped with a bill of nearly £11,000 (approximately ₹11 lakh) after not paying the gas bill for almost two decades. Yes, you read that right. As per reports, after the duo received the hefty bill, they urge that they tried to find who their gas supplier was when they first moved into their home in Tamworth near Birmingham in 2005.

As per BBC, Lee Haynes, 44, and Jo Woodley, 45, claim that as soon as they moved into their new house, they sorted out all the utility bill payments but they hit a wall when it came to gas. They even reached out to various organisations, including National Grid to help them find the suppliers, however, everyone struggled with it. When Haynes and Woodley did not hear anything from their supplier they gave up asking.

Documents from their housing association and National Grid, both dated 2006, attest to difficulties in determining the gas supplier. After contacting the utilities ombudsman, the couple claims that the representative told them to hold off on contacting them until the supplier reached out.

"It was very strange. After a few months we had bills for everything but not gas. I was worried about suddenly getting a big bill – so I tried really hard to find out who was supplying our gas. The guy from the housing association tried all the suppliers they work with and said he didn’t know what to do. When the ombudsman said just to keep the paperwork and leave it that’s exactly what we did," Lee said to The Metro.

When a letter requesting an inspection of the property arrived in March from gas wholesalers Cadent, the couple was taken aback. Cadent sent them a charge for £10,824.87 three months later. The couple still doesn't know who has been providing their gas for the past 18 years, despite receiving an official invoice last month that gave them 30 days to pay the enormous amount, reports The Metro.