AN ENERGY company has said sorry for sending a demand for almost £2,000 to a former customer who had severed ties with them more than 15 months earlier.

David Hall was stunned to receive a debt collection letter from a firm acting on behalf of First: Utility - an energy provider he no longer used after moving house in September 2013.

The 60-year-old said the firm had previously apologised - and paid him compensation - for another matter, when they tried to charge him £157 for electric and gas used in the three months after he had moved out of the house in Wrose.

Recently-widowed Mr Hall, now of Steeton where E.ON has been his provider since day one, said his dealings with First: Utility had left him feeling "tortured". Now, with help from the Telegraph & Argus, Bradford Bulls fan Mr Hall has received an apology and a signed Bulls shirt.

Speaking before the situation was resolved, Mr Hall said: "I think they are torturing an ex-customer. I am trying to cope with bereavement and then they are putting something I thought was closed on me.

"I am not confident that when I go out that I will come home to a property with no gas and electric. I thought it was all resolved. But now they say I will either be disconnected or put on a pre-payment meter, or I can pay them £1,986.

"First Utility have had nothing to do with the new property."

He added: "It is the last thing I need. I had 37-and-a-half years with my wife. This was our dream, handy for walks and a ride up to Skipton."

He said they just wanted to spend the rest of their lives relaxing and enjoying days out.

Mr Hall, a former gas engineer, swapped provider to E.ON as soon as he moved house. He rang First: Utility to give his final readings and thought that was the end of it.

But last January he received a demand from First: Utility for £157 for Plumpton Lea for the previous October, November and December - after he had moved out of the property.

"I rang them and they acknowledged that they actually owed me money and also offered me £30 compensation," said Mr Hall, who received about £300 as a result of direct debit overpayment.

Mr Hall again thought his dealings with First Utility were over - until he received the debt firm's letter this week.

A spokesman for First: Utility said: "Unfortunately Mr Hall's forwarding address was erroneously linked to the new account on his old property, resulting in a bill for energy he clearly wasn't responsible for.

"We would like to apologise to Mr Hall for this mistake and any inconvenience caused as a result. We have now addressed this issue and updated the present occupant's details and Mr Hall will receive no further correspondence about it.

"By way of compensation we've arranged a Bradford Bulls-signed rugby league shirt through our sponsorship of the rugby Super League, as we know he's a big fan."

An spokesman for energy regulator Ofgem said: "We are concerned to hear about the problems Mr Hall has been experiencing. Energy companies need to get customer service right.

"Customers have a right to reliable bills sent in a timely manner and must not be misled, pressured or scared into making payments they cannot afford. We monitor suppliers’ performance and take action where there is evidence they don’t meet expected standards, as we have done most recently against npower and Scottish Power."