Gas bill mix up for blast home

Jul 10 2007 by Angela Wormald, The Journal

A MAN who lost his partner and his home in a gas blast has spoken of his anger after he was handed a £300 gas bill – for the house that blew up.

Joe Cairn’s partner Moira Dickson died in the explosion which destroyed his house in Grey Street, North Shields more than a year ago.

Now, he has been left stunned after the bill arrived demanding money for last year when all that remained was rubble.

Mr Cairns, 65, was badly injured in the explosion 14 months ago and he spent weeks in hospital recovering.

He lost his beloved partner and has since been rebuilding his life without her.

Mr Cairns said: “It’s absolutely shocking. That house is no longer there. It was destroyed in a gas blast and we told the company that last year.”

Mr Cairns has since moved to the Marden estate in North Shields.

Any letters sent to his old address are redirected to Moira's daughter, Dawn Dickson, who still lives in Grey Street.

While he was in hospital last year, Moira’s other daughter, Debra Marouli, paid his outstanding bills.

The final gas and electricity bill for his old house was paid last July and officials at British Gas were told the house no longer existed.

Mr Cairns was shocked to receive two letters from the company demanding £306.89 for gas and electricity used at the now-demolished property.

One letter demanded swift payment to avoid the firm taking further action, and the other said Mr Cairns’ credit rating could be affected.

The letter also warned if the owner did not pay in full within 10 days he could be charged £14 administration costs for the firm writing to him again.

The company said it could also apply for a warrant to disconnect his supply, which in turn would add extra charges on his outstanding balance.

Mr Cairns said: “We paid the last bill and we never heard from them again, I never expected to hear from them again, but now, 14 months later, I've been sent these letters for using gas and electricity at a house that’s been demolished after a gas explosion.

“I've never been in debt and I always pay my bills on time.

“The worst thing is that the letter threatens to tell a credit reference agency which would blacklist me. If I owed this money, I would not mind them sending me the letters. I would just pay the money. But I don’t owe them anything. It’s very distressing.”

Mrs Marouli, of Monkseaton, said: “Joe has been trying to get over what happened. It’s been very difficult and he is trying to pull his life together again. But this has knocked him back another 10 steps.”

A spokesman for British Gas said: “We’re very sorry we’ve caused this upset for Mr Cairns. We had correctly closed down both his gas and electricity accounts following the explosion.

“However, we recently received some new data from the company that owns the meter leading us to believe a new one had been installed at the address, hence a new bill was issued.

“The new bill was issued in the name of the occupier, not to Mr Cairns.

“We have now closed this new account, have apologised directly to Mr Cairns and will ensure the meter owner updates its records correctly this time.”

Health and safety experts have been investigating the cause of the blast.

The results are expected to be released at the inquest into Moira’s death at a later date.