British Gas says I missed £375 bill payment, but I haven’t – now my credit score has crashed: SALLY SORTS IT

British Gas says I missed a £375 bill payment in May, but I haven’t. I can’t seem to get anyone at the company to help me.

There is never a manager available, and the firm never comes back to me or does anything it promises. 

This has been going on for weeks and has caused my credit score to crash from 999 to 452, meaning I had an application for finance turned down on a new van – the first time I have been rejected for a loan in 50 years.

I am being chased by debt collection agency BW Legal, who are threatening legal action. I complained in July but got nowhere. 

The straw that broke the camel’s back was a phone call from BG’s complaints department today asking me for proof of payment. But I have already sent this four times.

J.G., Ringwood, Hants.

Threats: A reader has struggled to get any help from British Gas after it claimed they hadn’t paid a bill called in a debt collection agency

Sally Hamilton replies: I stepped in to ask BG to get to the bottom of the alleged missed payment as quickly as possible so you could get your finance deal back on track.

It didn’t take long for it to finally locate the £375 payment.

It turns out you had set up a standing order for it, an arrangement the firm does not accept. You also used an incorrect reference number, which meant

BG couldn’t match it to your energy account. But I am stumped as to why this oversight was not spotted and rectified during the endless calls you made after the payment went missing in May.

On my intervention, the money was quickly credited to your account and BG said the marker on your credit file would be removed within 48 hours.

BG apologised for not sorting this out sooner and, as a goodwill gesture, paid off the £414.81 balance on your account.

You said you could not put into words how grateful you were for my help in resolving a complaint in a matter of hours that you had expended serious energy over in the past three months.

As it turns out, we both celebrated prematurely.

You checked your Experian credit rating again and, to your horror, it was still showing a black mark for the missed payment.

I made contact again with BG, which apologised on establishing there had been a delay to the updating of your credit record. But it insisted it was now resolved. Let’s hope this time the promise isn’t just hot air.

• Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email sally@dailymail.co.uk — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.