Kent family charged £80k in error after EDF sent £1m electricity bill

It was quite amusing, until it actually happened,' says customer, after being left 75,000 overdrawn

A family of four were told they owed nearly 1m to EDF for a year's electricity and had 80,000 taken by direct debit, despite telling the company it was clearly incorrect.

The payment, which put Richard Baron and his family more than 75,000 over their overdraft limit, was refunded by their bank's fraud team before any serious damage was done. However, after cancelling their direct debit, they were put on a higher tariff with the energy provider.