A dripping tap in her kitchen has left 72-year-old widow, Linda Gresham, with a bill of over £200 from Homecare. This job would have been fixed by her engineer husband, Norman, however, he died of cancer 12 years ago at the age of 64.

Ms Gresham, who lives in Renfrew - five miles from Glasgow - was not comfortable with tackling the job by herself and relied on her HomeCare agreement with British Gas for help, according to . A monthly fee, ranging from £19 to £28.20 depending on the level of cover, can include , plumbing, home electrics and kitchen appliances. "I was paying £360 a year for insurance that included plumbing issues like this, so was pleased that after 25 years of having the cover I was finally able to use it," said Ms Gresham. "Last August, an engineer came and put in a new tap as part of my plan. I was delighted."

Just one month later, British Gas increased the cost of her cover by 50% - an extra £180 a year for the same service. But Ms Gresham, who was struggling on a basic state pension, opted to downgrade to a more basic "essential" package - to cover her boiler and not plumbing.

However, this still cost an eyewatering £425 a year - far higher than she was paying before. In February, just six months after the new was installed, it started to come loose from the sink.

When Ms Gresham called British Gas HomeCare about the problem, the company told her it would reintroduce her plumbing cover if she was willing to pay a further £15 a month - £180 a year. Ms Gresham took out the additional option halfway through the contract term, meaning it cost her £90.

Ms Gresham agreed to pay the extra price from March. However, for the engineer to sort out the problem, she was told she had to hand over an additional £150. She would be able to claim this back if it was found that the problem was related to the tap installation.

"The engineer was perfectly pleasant but was only inside my home seven minutes just tightening the old fitting," Ms Gresham explained. He confirmed that the problem would not have happened if it had been tightened properly in the first place.

However, when she rang to claim the money back, she was "rudely told" she would not get a refund.

"I was left in tears," she said.

"I was frightened the kitchen might flood if I didn't fix the problem and feel I was panicked into paying all this extra money. But I now feel that I have been exploited just because I am vulnerable and unable to simply repair the tap myself."

have revealed that paying to get a tap fixed should cost no more than £70, and if a repeat visit is needed within 12 months for the same job, any further work should be done for free, This is Money reported.

The Express contacted British Gas and a spokesperson said: "We have reviewed Ms Gresham's case and agree the extra £150 she was asked to pay was an error and we have refunded that amount.

"We are reviewing the concerns she raised regarding her customer service experience."

The utility giant - serving over eight million homes and businesses in Britain - also sent a £50 goodwill gesture for Linda's customer service experience and added a 15% discount to her HomeCare plan.