When people move into sheltered accommodation it is usually in pursuit of security and a bit of peace and quiet. They don't expect to find themselves plunged into a nightmare which causes them distress and anxiety and makes one of them ill with high blood pressure.

Yet that is the situation in which Jim and Vera Yeatman have found themselves, apparently thanks to the incompetence of npower, which has been bombarding them with bills and letters about charges for electricity which they have not used.

This huge company has, according to the watchdog organisation, treated the Yeatmans disgustingly. Energy Watch has condemned npower for "causing harassment and fear" by threatening the couple with legal action and disconnection for bills for which they are not responsible.

Like many big bureaucratic companies, npower seems to have found it hard to turn reassuring promises made after countless telephone calls by the Yeatmans into firm action. Mr Yeatman says he has been told "Leave it to us, we'll sort it out" but still the bills and letters have kept coming over electricity consumption which, it transpires, related to a neighbour's home. And when the couple asked for someone from the company to come round to discuss the problem with them face to face, they were refused.

On this evidence, npower needs to do a great deal to improve its customer relations. Let's hope this is an isolated case and that other people aren't suffering similarly because of the incompetence and indifference of a company which seems unable to correct a simple mistake.