Your problems: an electric bill is putting my exotic pets in danger

We own an exotic pets and aquarium shop in Merseyside, and we have an issue regarding British Gas. It has said it will take our electricity meter out of the shop as there is an outstanding bill for about £150,000. Vodafone usually pays this as there is a Vodafone mast on our building, but they have not paid. We are worried for our animals and we have expressed this to British Gas but it said that it is still going to take the electricity meter out.

You contacted me on 23 June after receiving a letter from British Gas intended for your landlord, who is the account holder. You feared your stock of tropical fish, reptiles and other pets would die if the electricity supply to your shop was cut off.

You told me your energy usage is included as part of your rent, but that Vodafone pays the landlord for its mast’s considerable usage separately after the landlord shares the bills from British Gas. Vodafone told me it has not received a bill since June 2024, and that it has paid everything sent to it until that date. It is working to liaise with the landlord and estimate its share of the outstanding bills and expedite payment.

I immediately called British Gas and asked it to show forbearance. It confirmed that it does not want to become a mass murderer so will not cancel the account until the situation is resolved.

The next part of your problem is more complicated, because it requires your landlord’s participation. To avoid this situation reoccurring you could arrange to have a dedicated electricity supply for your shop in your name, but you need the permission of your landlord to do this. Likewise Vodafone is willing to pay for its electricity usage, but British Gas can only deal with the account holder, your landlord, and cannot communicate with Vodafone direct.

There is absolutely no suggestion that your landlord has done anything wrong, but so far no one has been able to make contact with him. So if you are the landlord, please contact me through the email address below. Thousands of lives depend on you.

I am unable to see the balance on my student loan account. The last information I have is from 5 April 2023 and I have been trying to resolve this with Student Loans Company (SLC) since August that year. SLC told me then that it would take 28 days to sort out. I kept being told there is an issue with HMRC information and that there was a “suppression” on my account. I then received my balance via a message from SLC, not the online system, and a statement in October that included information up until April 2023.

Nearly two years on, I still cannot see my balance and I’ve had no further statements. I contacted SLC this March and was told my problem needed to be referred to SLC’s back office team. A recent call to SLC led to an unhelpful adviser who says it is HMRC’s fault, there is nothing SLC can do and they cannot provide a timescale for resolution.

I have called HMRC and they say everything bar my latest payment of £1,425 from my second employer in the tax year has been sent to SLC – which doesn’t tie in with SLC saying it is awaiting data.

I know I have made payments of around £4,000 since my last statement, but I have no idea what my balance is. Please can you help?

Two years is surely long enough to correct most account problems, but SLC told me that “due to internal process failure, the account was not referred for investigation, so the issue remained”.

I asked it to sort out the problem now, provide your outstanding balance and its interest rate calculations. SLC apologised profusely, blaming the problem on a “technical issue preventing the balance from being displayed”. In these circumstances when you contact its advisers, they should – but didn’t – provide you with the information you need.

SLC has offered you £200 in compensation and quickly provided a balance, but there were no calculations and you still couldn’t access your account online. After a few days, it said your account had been fixed. It is awaiting the latest information about your payments, due from HMRC on 4 July. SLC will then update the information in your account and you should be able to see everything online on 24 July.

Email your problems to Jill Insley at your.problems@observer.co.uk