• The woman and her companion had been hiking in the Low Tatra Mountains

By Ed Holt

Published: 11:26 AM EDT, March 16, 2024 | Updated: 04:03 EDT, March 17, 2024

WHEN Kath Talbot bought her cottage in Stone, Staffordshire, in January 2022, she couldn't have prepared for the two-year ordeal with her energy bills that was to follow.

Retired Kath, 75, moved from Scottish Power, the existing supplier for the property, to Octopus Energy, her energy company of choice, as soon as she moved in.

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An account was quickly set up with Octopus and she started paying the company for her gas and electricity bills without any problems.

That was until she received a huge bill for almost £2,000 from Scottish Power a year later in January 2023.

Kath immediately contacted Scottish Power and told them she had changed suppliers a year ago and didn't owe them any money, even sending copies of her bank statements showing her payments to Octopus as proof.

But after months of back and forth, Scottish Power continued to insist it was in arrears and continued to send increasing bills, culminating in a demand for £2,989.

After a year of this and with no resolution in sight, Kath finally contacted Sun Money and asked us to help liaise with Scottish Power on her behalf.

She said at the time: “I am extremely frustrated and just don't know what else to do.

“I've called, sent emails and spent hours on their chat lines with no success.

“I'm so afraid that I could end up in court, something I really don't have to think about at the age of 75.”

When Sun Money spoke to both companies, it emerged that Kath found herself in an extraordinary – and thankfully rare – situation where she was charged for two separate meters.

When she tried to switch to Octopus Energy two years ago, a 'mix-up' resulted in the wrong energy meter being linked to her account.

This meant that it had effectively been paying the bill for a different address to Octopus Energy since February 4, 2022, while Scottish Power had remained a supplier for its own property.

As a result, she had been indebted to Scottish Power for almost two years, which could have had devastating consequences for her credit rating.

Octopus Energy acknowledged to Sun Money that an “erroneous transfer” had occurred when Kath attempted to transfer to them.

An incorrect transfer occurs when a switch to a new supplier does not proceed correctly or occurs without the customer's permission.

In Kath's case, the transfer did not go smoothly because the incorrect address details were present in the industry database used by energy companies.

So another address was transferred to Octopus Energy and Kath set up a direct debit to pay this bill.

Scottish Power was unaware that it had requested a switch to another provider.

Kath cannot now be moved to Octopus until her debt with Scottish Power has been repaid.

So to make up for the mix-up, Octopus has credited her account with £2,989 so she can pay off her debt to Scottish Power and start over.

This is more than the £2,650 Kath was actually owed by Octopus Energy for paying for the wrong meter.

Once her account with Scottish Power has been settled, Octopus will arrange the transfer.

A spokesperson for Octopus said: “We are pleased to say that we have spoken to Kath and agreed a resolution with her.

“We will be closely monitoring Kath's account until the transition is complete. Once done, Kath can continue with us.”

Kath said: “I don't think the issue would have been resolved if Sun Money had not been involved. Thank you very much for your help.”

Sun Money has requested that the late payment be removed from Kath's credit file.

Our Squeeze Team has recovered £162,646 for readers so far.

What can I do if I think my energy bill is incorrect?

If you're unhappy with your energy bill, the first thing you need to do is make sure you're paying for the right property.

Please check that the serial number on your energy meter matches the serial number on your account as this is a common cause of mix-ups.

Also make sure you take photos of your meter readings and write them down each time you call your supplier.

It is best to follow up any complaints in writing, placing the word 'complaint' in the subject line of your email or letter.

Check your supplier's website for the correct email or address before shipping.

Energy companies have eight weeks to respond to a complaint with a decision, so don't give them a reason to delay.

If your company does not respond within this period or if you are not satisfied with the response, you can submit your complaint to the Energy Ombudsman.

The ombudsman will make a decision based on the evidence provided by you and the company. If you accept this, your supplier has 28 days to comply.

What if my bills were wrong?

If it turns out that you have been wrongly labeled as a debtor, you should ensure that your credit file is not affected.

Ask the company you are dealing with to have any late payments or missed payments removed from your credit file as a matter of urgency.

You can also contact credit agencies and ask them to issue a “notice of correction.”

This is where you make a note on your credit file visible to lenders, explaining the context surrounding any missed payments.

The main credit reporting agencies are Experian, Transunion or Equifax. Go directly to it to add any comments to your credit report.

You can check your credit reports for free by signing up for free with Experian, ClearScore for Equifax, and Credit Karma for Transunion.

Do you have a money problem that needs to be solved? Get in touch by emailing money@the-sun.co.uk.

Moreover, you can join us Sun Money chats and tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories.

ANTHONY MARTIAL will be given the chance to return to France when his contract with Manchester United expires this summer.

Former clubs Monaco and Marseille are interested in the 28-year-old attacker, who is currently injured.

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United do not intend to exercise a 12-month option to extend his contract.

That means Martial will be a free agent next summer, while United will free up some much-needed space on their wage bill.

Martial had hoped to end his eight-year stay on a high but has now been sidelined until April with a groin problem.

Marseille, Fenerbahçe and Saudi Arabia clubs were all eyeing a move in January, but his injury ruled out a move.

The France international joined United on a £44.5 million contract.

In the past four injury-hit seasons, he has scored just 12 Prem goals in 93 appearances.

That total includes just one goal in thirteen Premier League appearances during the current season.

In all competitions, Martial has scored just twice and provided a further two assists.

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United have already been linked with a potential replacement for the Frenchman.

Erik ten Hag is reportedly looking forward to a reunion with Ajax striker Brian Brobbey.

Restrictions due to FFP rules prevented January action for the Dutch striker, but the Red Devils were able to make a splash in the summer.

Brobbey made his Ajax debut from Ten Hag in 2020 and has scored seventeen goals so far this season.

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The family of a boy who disappeared three years ago believe he was chased away by ‘feather-footed’ men capable of killing.

Tristan Frank, 14, went missing near the remote community of Balgo, close to the WA/NT border, on December 3, 2020, while traveling with family to a funeral.

At a hearing at the WA Coroner’s Court on Friday, some members of the local community believed he could have been hidden in the sand dunes of the nearby Tanami Desert.

Members of Tristan’s family agreed that he may have been taken by the “featherfoot” men – powerful spirits that some in the culture believe move without being seen or heard and can cause death.

Tristan was traveling between NT and WA of his grandparents who had dropped him off at Balgo to catch up with his brother. He spent the night talking and smoking cannabis, but the next morning he mysteriously disappeared.

In the opening statement of Friday’s inquest, coroner’s counsel addressed for the first time what Tristan’s family and friends thought could have happened to him.

‘Many family members expressed their spiritual beliefs in this [Tristan] “He may have been taken by ‘feather-footed’ men who made him invisible and hid him in the lands outside the city,” the coroner’s counsel said. according to the ABC.

According to counsel, it was considered normal for the extended family to care for each other’s children – and so Tristan’s grandparents felt comfortable when he asked to stay overnight in Balgo during the trio’s journey from Nyirripi to Noonkanbah as they continued their journey .

The next day, December 5, when the funeral was canceled, his grandparents tried to call him several times but were unable to contact him before going back to pick him up.

Tristan’s brother said he looked “happy and smiling,” and his aunt, who was the last to see him, also had no reason to believe anything was wrong.

When his grandparents returned, no one they spoke to had seen Tristan or knew where he was, so they called the police on December 6 to report him missing.

Police launched a cross-border search across thousands of kilometers of desert and dirt roads in an attempt to find him, but to no avail.

Despite installing stop-motion cameras in nearby caves in the hope of spotting him, along with using aircraft, drones and infrared technology, Tristan was never found.

The community even invited a ‘maban’ to track him down; traditional healers sometimes tried to communicate and reason with spirits.

The local community began discussing Tristan in the weeks following his disappearance, with many believing that the ‘ferrymen’ had hid him in the Tanami Desert.

The board of coroners spoke to a survival expert who said the chances of Tristan surviving more than two days were extremely slim.

‘Dr. Paul Luckin … opined that this was the case in this case [he] got lost in the Balgo area, where the temperature had reached 42 to 45 degrees Celsius without rain, he estimated someone as [Tristan] could have succumbed to the circumstances within one or two days,” the counsel said.

It was also noted that Balgo was not Tristan’s traditional lands that might have influenced his ability to utilize local survival skills.

Six weeks after his disappearance, Senior Sergeant Charlie Moylan, head of Balgo police station, said there were no leads for his unit to follow.

“No information has been received from outside the community that the missing boy has been seen or that he is elsewhere,” he said.

It is believed that in the absence of a breakthrough, Tristan could have left the community and hitchhiked, became disoriented and lost, or was exposed to foul play.

He was never found.

The mystery behind Tristan’s disappearance has also deepened, in part because his family declined to comment publicly on the situation.

The coroner will now decide whether there is sufficient evidence available to determine whether Tristan died.

There can’t be many footballers who have gone from playing for a military team to the cover of Vogue in just a few months.

But that’s just one of the ways South Korean striker Cho Gue-sung’s life has changed in the past year.

Last year was quite a year for Cho. He joined Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, one of Korea’s top teams, in 2020, but it took some time for him to find his feet. He had been a defensive midfielder until a few years earlier, moving forward to take better advantage of his 188cm height and pace, but he was still relatively young in this position.

As Korean players sometimes do, he used his mandatory military service as a kind of reset and to help improve his physical condition. He joined Gimcheon Sangmu – a team made up of military service players who were in the second tier at the time – on loan from Jeonbuk, where he rediscovered his form and started scoring goals again, helping them gain promotion.

He also earned a call-up to the national team and by the second half of the year he had returned to his parent club, finishing as co-top scorer in the K League 1 (level with Joo Min-kyu) and establishing himself as one of the key strikers for South Korea as the World Cup in Qatar approached.

But even then, he was relatively understated – “insignificant,” in his own words, known mostly to Korean football fans but not to many outside of it.

But then the World Cup came and everything was different.

“There have been so many changes in the past year,” says Cho, 25 The Athletics now with much understatement. “But I enjoyed it.”

In Qatar, Cho was included in the South Korean squad for their second match, against Ghana, and scored twice despite his team losing 3–2. But it was during the first match against Uruguay – in which he played just 16 minutes as a substitute – when the madness began.

Then people started noticing that he was, for lack of a more elegant expression, smoking hot. Images of him sitting on the sidelines and warming up have been circulating rapidly on social media, proving that even if the internet isn’t good at anything else, it spreads images of very attractive people.

TikTok was flooded with clips celebrating his beauty, videos of Cho doing such insanely challenging things as walking along the edge of a football field and sitting with his arms crossed. It didn’t seem to matter what he did; the internet seemed to find even its most banal activities devastatingly sexy.

Before the tournament, he had about 20,000 Instagram followers. That rose to around 1.6 million during the World Cup, and then peaked at around 2.7 million. It didn’t seem to matter that he barely posted on it; all the images of his broad shoulders and razor cheekbones were worth following.

The story was that he had to turn off his phone for most of the tournament because handling notifications had become a full-time job, although Cho downplays that. “It’s a bit of an exaggeration,” he says. “I already turned off my notifications (before the World Cup) so I could concentrate on the tournament.”

There was a danger that sudden celebrity and sex symbol status could disrupt his focus, but Cho claims that the only pressure was self-imposed.

“There were no obstacles during the World Cup. I just focused on football. I usually don’t care about people’s high expectations, but I put a lot of pressure on myself, which became a bit of a burden.”

Cho further enamored the watching crowd by curtly telling Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo that he didn’t leave the pitch quickly enough when he was substituted in their final group match.

South Korea advanced through the groups, but was eliminated in the eighth finals, losing 4-1 to Brazil. Their World Cup was over, but things were just getting started for Cho.

He became only the fifth man and the second athlete to ever appear on the cover of Vogue Korea, photographed in moody black and white, with a football in his hand, but carelessly forgetting to put on a shirt. His celebrity skyrocketed.

He was sought out for TV appearances and was a guest on a Korean show called I Live Alone, which is designed to look behind the scenes of a celebrity’s life and is apparently not as bleak as the title suggests, and also in the popular quiz show You Quiz on the Blok.

He reached the level of celebrity where his personal grooming choices made waves. In September, photos of his hair in cornrows sparked a lengthy internet debate. A poll ranked him as the second most sought-after Korean male celebrity after actor Song Kang. And of course, speculation about his personal life increased, with a spike in stories linking him to various models and celebrities during and after the World Cup.

Cho seemed to handle this relatively well, even if he found it quite alarming at times. South Korea played a number of matches in Great Britain in September and he could not escape the attention there either.

“Since I became more famous, many people have recognized me. People even recognized me when I traveled to London with the national team – that was really surprising.”

It’s not surprising that he’s being spotted around the house, but it sounds like he’s “causing a small riot in the area of ​​a local coffee shop” even when he tries to go out in disguise. “When I’m back in Korea, I wear a hat and a mask, but people still recognize me,” he says. “One time people started chasing me on the street. That was crazy.”

Thirsty citizens weren’t the only people chasing him. After his goals for Jeonbuk and his performances in Qatar, offers poured in from people who wanted him for his goals and not his looks.

However, Cho took his time. “In the winter transfer period there were many offers from many different clubs, but I waited until the summer. There were several unofficial offers, from England and Scotland. But once I made my decision, I stuck with it.”

Leicester City, Watford and Celtic were said to be among the many interested teams, but ultimately he made the perhaps somewhat surprising choice to sign for Midtjylland in Denmark, who picked him up for a relatively modest £2.6 million ($3.27 million) . .

It’s tempting to wonder if he chose Denmark because, after his explosion of celebrity and his inability to walk down the street without causing an incident at home, it’s a little more subdued in terms of attention.

However, he says that wasn’t a factor. “I wasn’t afraid of the media attention, but I just wanted to concentrate on football. I wanted a club where I would start in every match. I was sure that Midtjylland could offer me that. Midtjylland was the most interested, that’s why I chose them.”

Luckily, he knows a few people who have been in similar situations and can give him advice on how to deal with the sudden fame. No matter how famous Cho becomes for his looks, he is unlikely to achieve the godlike status of his international captain Son Heung-min.

Cho has also benefited from a mentor: another compatriot who became an icon in South Korea and faced the delicate decision of choosing the right club when he moved to Europe.

“Park Ji-sung is the director of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, my old club,” says Cho. “He didn’t give me advice on how to deal with fame, but he gave me a lot of advice about moving to Europe, about building a new life there. He told me to choose a team where I knew I would play, because that’s what he did when he moved to PSV.”

It looks like Cho made a smart choice. Midtjylland are top of the Danish Superliga as it continues through the winter, having scored eight goals in 16 league games.

Who knows if his football achievements will ever fully match his level of fame, but Cho doesn’t seem to think about it too much.

“I think about how I live my daily life and how I am happy now, instead of looking to the future. I haven’t thought about that yet.”

(Top photo: Eric Verhoeven/Socrates/Getty Images)

The Australia captain hoped Maxwell could recover in time to play their final league match against Bangladesh in Pune on November 11.

Mumbai, November 7: Australian skipper Pat Cummins has no hesitation in rating Glenn Maxwell’s magnificent double hundred against Afghanistan as the biggest knock in ODI history, allowing everyone to enjoy their own ‘I was there’ moment.

Maxwell scored an unbeaten 201 off 128 balls with the help of 10 sixes and 21 boundaries to pull Australia out of the doldrums at 91 for 7 and added 202 runs with his skipper to end the match with more than three overs to spare. “I mean (all the innings) I’ve ever seen. it’s probably the best ODI innings ever. We just talk about it, all the players, and we decided this is one of those days where you just say, ‘I was there in the stadium the day Glenn Maxwell chased that total single-handedly,'” Cummins said of Maxwell’s statements. knock that single-handedly took Australia to the semi-finals.

The Australia captain hoped Maxwell could recover in time to play their final league match against Bangladesh in Pune on November 11.

“I’m sure he (Maxwell) is doing well. He had colic, but I think that’s where you saw how much he loves playing for Australia and doing whatever he can to play. So I’m sure it will be fine,” Cummins said.

Cummins admitted he signaled the next batter – No. 10 Adam Zampa – to join him in the middle after Maxwell, who was struggling with terrible cramps in his right leg, fell to the ground.

Maxwell braved a cramping leg and even refused singles with more than 50 runs needed. But the Australian physiotherapist’s advice to Maxwell ‘to get back on his feet or it could get worse’ worked wonders,” Cummins revealed.

‘I thought he was leaving. So I kind of signaled for Zamps (Adam Zampa) to come over here because yeah, he (Maxwell) literally couldn’t move and then I think the physio was obviously there. He more or less convinced Maxi that if he got out, he might be worse off. So try hanging out there, getting up, and that’s probably your best bet. The reason for this is that if someone goes into withdrawal because of cramps, there is a chance that they will not be able to go back and continue as the pain may only get worse.

“Because once you go out, you’re going to get so much cramp, but there’s no guarantee you’re going to come out again,” Cummins further revealed about the message to Maxwell, who ended the match with a six to reach 201 and not off just 128 balls . with 21 fours and 10 sixes.

By Freddy Pawle for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 01:31 EST, November 6, 2023 | Updated: 01:43 EST, November 6, 2023

 

 

Dramatic footage captured the moment a man suspected of killing his girlfriend opened fire on an Illinois State Trooper during a traffic stop – after which the officer heroically chased him down and rammed him with his cruiser.

Cristobal Santana, 37, was caught on a dashcam camera firing a hail of bullets at Officer Dakotah ‘Kody’ Chapman-Green before pistol-whipping the wounded officer.

Santana was initially able to flee the scene and became involved in a daring police chase, with the gunman also suspected of killing his girlfriend, 37-year-old special education teacher Adrianna Lopez, in Chicago last week.

But despite Chapman-Green suffering a brain haemorrhage and skull fractures, the brave officer stormed back into his vehicle and tracked down the gunman himself.

In a staggering motion, the officer mowed down Sanatana at high speed to end the incident suddenly, sending the suspect flying through the air and leaving him sprawled across the road.

Before the shooting occurred, Santana was wanted by authorities in connection with Lopez’s alleged murder on October 22.

Two days later, he was pulled over while driving through Springfield, Illinois, with dashcam footage showing the moment Santana was pulled over by Chapman-Green.

The two are seen talking when the suspect slowly emerges from his car and appears to try to hide the fact that he has a gun.

Chapman-Green clocks the gun and starts to retreat, but couldn’t gain any real distance before Santana opened fire.

He shoots the officer several times as he tries to flee the hail of bullets, before emerging from the side of his vehicle to pursue Chapman-Green on foot.

Stunning surveillance camera footage shows Chapman-Green running for his life as a manic Santana continues to unleash a volley of bullets.

Despite being hit multiple times in the legs, the officer did not give up on the situation and chased Santana into a parking lot, where Santana viciously hit him with the gun. New York Post reports.

Eventually, the suspect returns to his car and jumps back in before driving away, as an injured Chapman-Green staggers back into view.

While many would have called for help and been rushed to hospital, Chapman-Green continued to drive in his vehicle and assisted his fellow officers as they became involved in a high-speed chase.

Santana’s final arrest occurred at approximately 1:58 a.m., just over three hours after the roadside shooting erupted on October 24 around 10:47 p.m.

Following his exploits, Chapman-Green was rushed to hospital where he was treated for a brain haemorrhage and skull fractures.

He was pictured unconscious in his hospital bed with black eyes and bruises on his face, with a soldier’s hat on his bed and a sign from a local kindergarten class that read, “You are our hero!”

The state trooper is still recovering from his injuries, but his fiancée Maddy Kinsel confirmed he is recovering well.

She told me Staatsblad-Registerr: “He still has a long road ahead of him, but God was with him that night and protected him from the worst.”

His father Jim Green also said his son was doing well. He added, “He loves being a trooper and he will never stop being a trooper.” He has one speed, and that is to go.’

Meanwhile, Santana was also hospitalized after being attacked by the police cruiser, and subsequently taken into custody.

He faces five criminal charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery on a police officer and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

The suspect is accused of fatally shooting his Pre-K teacher girlfriend Lopez 10 times in the chest outside her Chicago home.

The teacher’s family told the police Chicago Tribune she had recently filed for a protective order against Santana due to his alleged tendency to become violent.

Police have not yet formally named him as a suspect and say the investigation is still ongoing.