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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 27 June 2008

Robert Williamson protests outside the High Court

HIGH COURT PROTEST OVER GAS BILL ‘HELL’

Grandfather, 79, demands compensation over false energy charges

A BATTLING pensioner has launched a one-man campaign outside the High Court in the Strand for thousands of pounds of compensation for “misery” caused by British Gas.
Great-grandfather Robert Williamson, 79, from Archway, has vowed to “picket” the court until the firm agrees to pay up for “three years of bureaucratic blundering” over money he says he didn’t owe.
A self-employed electrician for 53 years until he retired, Mr Williamson says he can’t afford to take legal action inside the courts but hopes to shame the company – who made £571million profit last year while raising prices by 15 per cent – with his protest banner.
British Gas threatened widower Mr Williamson with bailiffs and twice took him to court, both times unsuccessfully, after claiming he had used an estimated £148 worth gas without paying for it.
On one occasion a gasman tried to read the meter at Mr Williamson’s maisonette in Girdlestone Walk and couldn’t get in. Mr Williamson was then fined £50 which he refused to pay. He had spent the day in the Whittington hospital with his son Alex, 53, who was dying from liver disease.
Finally this year an independent verifier checked his meter and confirmed that “not a penny” of gas had been used.
In fact Mr Williamson had always argued that he had personally switched the gas off at the mains following a suspected oven leak in 2005.
British Gas apologised in a letter and admitted to “poor handling” of the account and “regret” that they caused Mr Williamson “such anxiety”.
A letter from customer relations in the manager director’s office acknowledged last week that the company “have failed to resolve this previously in a more sensitive manner particularly in view of your son’s death.”
The company have offered £150 compensation in “recognition of the difficulties we caused you at this difficult time.”
But Mr Williamson described the sum as derisory. “They put me through hell and they should pay for it. What about all the threats and letters, my mobile phone calls, and the hours of my time wasted dealing with this issue?
“I switched off my gas in 2005 and have not used it since. I told them that but they didn’t believe me. I get by on electric heaters, a microwave oven, and the kindness of my neighbour Mary.”
He would have taken his protest to Parliament but with the new restrictions introduced for peace campaigner Brian Haw he decide on the High Court.
“The High Court is a national building. It is the perfect spot to get my message across.”
British Gas claimed that they had tried to read Mr Williamson’s meter at least 12 times over three years when either he wasn’t there or he was there and denied them access.
A spokesman said: “We feel that the compensation offered is a fair and reasonable offer although we are still investigating the issue.
“In the meantime we have cancelled all charges on Mr Williamson’s account.”

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