Woman gets £200m electricity bill

Lisa Crossley did not believe the amount she was billed for

An electricity firm has apologised to a Nottinghamshire woman who received an electricity bill for more than £202m.

Lisa Crossley, from Arnold, Nottingham, had problems with her meter and raised the issue with Powergen.

But after having a new meter fitted at her two-bedroomed terraced house she was staggered to see the huge bill, which arrived on 12 January.

Powergen spokesman Nick Lakin said the mistake was down to human error and Miss Crossley would get a revised bill.

She first contacted the company because she was concerned she was not paying enough after realising her meter was faulty. She requested a new meter and asked for a revised reading.

But she was amazed to the receive a quarterly bill for £202,020,052.47.

It's a genuine error on our behalf - we've obviously rectified it now Nick Lakin

She said: "It does seem a bit unusual. It's only a two-bedroomed terrace house.

"You'd think there would be some computer check, or person check or something that they could do that would identify bills of this size.

"There was no way I could have paid that and when I phoned up they did tell me not to pay it. But that was never an option - it was not going to get paid."

Powergen spokesman Nick Larkin said: "It was a small error on our side but it produced a very big number and the first thing I would like to do is apologise to Miss Crossley for what happened.

"It's a genuine error on our behalf - we've obviously rectified it now. She'll be receiving a new bill later this week and hopefully that sets it at rest."

Powergen has had to contact 86 other customers, who also received multi-million pound bills, to reassure them and apologise.

The company has asked anyone who does have billing problems to contact them.