Grandad ‘nearly had heart attack’ after he’s hit with electricity bill over £40k

A granddad "nearly had a heart attack" after being horrified to see that his electricity bill had skyrocketed to over £40,000.

Peter Chambers had made the discovery after checking on his smart meter every morning, usually seeing small increases of 50p.

However, the 64-year-old was shocked with a far larger sum of money when he woke up to see his daily electrical bill clock in at £42,241.44.

The grandfather-of-four quickly rang up EDF to report the error after being astonished by the incredibly swift increase in billing, with Peter saying the usual total of his bill is around £30, rather than the astronomical sum that would cost him tens of thousands.

Peter is still waiting on a replacement device five months after reporting the stiff increase in his electric bill.

The grandad, from Suffolk, said: "I was thinking about dialling 999 because I had a pain in my chest – I nearly had a heart attack! I looked at that and thought 'how am I going to prove I don’t use that much?

"They're going to think I've got a cannabis farm in my loft!"

The distressed grandad first noticed the incredibly hefty bill in December last year after taking a quick peek at his smart meter, as he does most mornings.

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Peter said: "I do check it every day without fail, because I just like to see if it’s charged me for what I've used or what I haven't used. My total bill for the whole month is only £32, and I'm used to seeing between 30p and 50p tops."

He immediately rang EDF to report the complaint, saying: "They go 'no your readings are fine this end, you must have faulty display'.

"For my peace of mind they did a fresh bill up to that day so I could see there was an error on the display. I saw a news bulletin about some lady with British Gas who got an incorrect reading; it’s the same meter, and they're all useless!"

Peter has yet to receive a replacement for the device which he now keeps switched off.

EDF have been contacted for comment.

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