The 77-year-old who’s taken British Gas, BT and her council to court… and WON! 

If you meet Rosalinde Bond at her local bridge club, you probably won’t notice anything special.

But this elegantly dressed 5ft 7in great grandmother from Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire, is far from your average 77 year old.

Over the past year, Rosalinde has taken some of Britain’s biggest companies and her council to court… and she won every time.

Firstly, she was paid £203 in compensation from BT after it accidentally cut off her landline.

She was subsequently awarded £658 by Warwickshire County Council after her husband, David, 79, was fined £30 for parking in a restricted area that was not properly signposted.

And now, in her proudest achievement to date, she’s netted £883 from British Gas’s HomeCare boiler repair program for shoddy service.

“When I first complained I felt like British Gas thought I was a little old lady they could stomp into the ground,” says the eight-year-old grandmother.

“But I won, and I felt like the scales were balanced.”

Of course British Gas HomeCare, BT and Warwickshire County Council may not have known that Rosalinde was a lawyer before she retired in 2011.

Still, her wins are a remarkable testament to the power of complaining and fighting when you know a big company is wrong.

Rosalinde’s battle with British Gas began last winter.

When the couple’s gas water heater unexpectedly failed on November 22, 2021, Rosalinde and David were relieved to have HomeCare coverage from the energy company.

The couple, who live in a three-bedroom bungalow, paid £235 a year for a subscription that entitled them to annual boiler service – and the cost of any emergency repairs.

However, when they needed the policy most, it failed to deliver. It took HomeCare eight days to send a technician.

When the man finally arrived, he was late and drove an unmarked van, which made Rosalinde wary.

She later learned that he was a freelance engineer contracted out by HomeCare.

The technician temporarily fixed the problem, but the next morning the heating was off again, leaving the couple out in the cold for another ten days as they waited for a follow-up appointment.

On some days the temperature outside dropped to just a few degrees Celsius and it was freezing at night.

The delays were particularly stressful as David has terminal colon cancer and relies on hot water to keep his medical equipment sterile.

Concerned about her husband’s well-being, Rosalinde finally decided to turn to an independent gas engineer.

During his visit, he noticed a crack in the heat shield – an essential safety feature on boilers that prevents damage to other components. The mechanic told Rosalinde that the boiler was so dangerous that it could have set their house on fire.

She immediately agreed to have a new one installed at her own expense. But the endless delays, poor communication and poor service from HomeCare left Rosalinde ready to fight British Gas for compensation.

“I had tried to reach out several times, but it did everything it could to avoid the situation,” she says.

The pair complained but were dissatisfied when they were offered a goodwill payment of £324.

Then Rosalinde’s fighting spirit really took over. “No company or individual will ever intimidate us,” she says. As a former lawyer, she is well aware of her consumer rights.

She worked in the legal profession for 40 years, specializing in contract law and consumer affairs, and ran her own law firm.

So she took the company to court for her problems.

Even before the boiler broke down, the couple felt they were getting little value for their money from HomeCare.

Their annual service was often delayed and Rosalinde says they once waited 15 months for an appointment.

After the case was taken to Nuneaton County Court in Warwickshire, a judge agreed that there had been a breach of contract.

On September 9, Rosalinde won back the cost of around two years of their HomeCare cover costs, along with the couple’s legal fees – a total of £883.

But Rosalinde accepts that the fight against big firms is not for the faint hearted. In total, the trial took just under nine months and she used her legal knowledge to prepare all of her own evidence.

Had the couple lost, they would have had to pay their own court costs of £290. But Rosalinde insists it was worth it.

“These big companies shouldn’t get away with such poor service,” she says. “The only reason they do that is because 99 percent of their customers don’t know how to complain effectively.”

Consumer champion Martyn James agrees: “Rosalinde and David’s story is a great reminder of what can happen when customers argue.

“Often when you complain to companies, they reach out with token gestures that don’t reflect the actual damage caused.

“But the mere threat of legal action can lead companies to offer better compensation.”

For most customers, the first port of call should be an official complaint to your service provider.

If you receive an unsatisfactory answer, you can prosecute companies through an independent ombudsman, such as the Financial Markets Ombudsman.

Most complaints are resolved by the Financial Ombudsman within 90 days.

However, Rosalinde says payouts are usually more lucrative through the courts.

Her golden rules for filing complaints include: always keep receipts, write directly to companies if things go wrong, and familiarize yourself with consumer law – which she says is generally easy to understand.

She also insists that anyone can represent themselves in court, so don’t be put off thinking you have to hire expensive lawyers.

Low-income earners, such as those living solely on state pensions, are also exempt from paying court fees. Anyone who chooses to sue a company, regardless of income, will not have to pay the defendants’ attorney fees, even if they lose the case.

This applies to all cases where the value of the payout is less than £10,000 — or £5,000 in Scotland.

More than seven million households are covered by HomeCare, which offers four types of packages at different cost levels.

It is currently involved in an advertising blitz as the colder weather bites.

Money Mail previously reported that customers had to wait months for emergency repairs.

A British Gas spokesman said: “We accept the court’s ruling, which was clear that this was not a case of negligence. However, we understand that there were some shortcomings in our service and have apologized to Ms Bond.”

h.kelly@dailymail.co.uk