A frugal life is an easy life!

When paid by direct debit, a pensioner friend of the website was paying £40 per month for their gas supply.

Back in August 2009, their six monthly statement showed they were in credit, but as we hear all to often, it "will level itself out over the year."
They were advised to check they were on the lowest tariff - which they were, paying by the "cheapest method of direct debit" - which they were.
Imagine their shock at being presented with a new monthly payment plan that would increase their monthly direct debit to £125 a month!

On contacting the company, they were informed that they now owed the gas supplier more than £550 - from being in credit four months earlier.

Within two weeks, their request to have a card meter installed to pay for their gas and collect the so called arrears was honoured.
Our pensioner friend now pays £20 per week for their gas supply, having £13 per week taken from this amount for their arrears.
During the cold winter months, our pensioners are advised to "not worry about the expense and put their heating on and keep warm" - how are a company allowed to get away with increases that are more than treble what they were before?

In October 2008 the energy watchdog ruled that companies must lower their charges before the end of March 2009, after they were increased by more than 40% for the year (the time of the year when more energy is used).

In March 2009, energy companies did lower their prices, but not by much, one company only lowered its prices by 10% if the customer took out a long term contract for joint gas and electricity supply - taking into account the previous rises of over 40% this left their customers more than 30% out of pocket.

It appears from our friend's experiences, the gas suppliers have simply held off the increases until winter 2009.
Can a gas supplier justify an increase of more than treble the monthly direct debit charge?
I doubt it very much, as our pensioner friend only has their heating on for two hours in a morning and two hours in an evening, as they live alone.

It is a shameful way to treat people - or is this just an isolated case?

ADDITIONAL:

It appears that this is not just an isolated case!
Another pensioner friend of the website, who is with a different gas company to the one referred to above, has seen the amount that their gas company demand in monthly direct debit payments, shoot up.

They were paying £45 per month, it has now been increased to £113 per month.
Yet again, this is disgraceful!