Shell energy

Popsycle

In March I switched suplier to Shell Energy (then First Utility) and received a good quote through MSE cheap energy club. I switched and was happy with the service. However today I recieved an e-mail saying my monthly payments would rise by 90%.
I am a duel fuel user and when filling in the form to switch I based my details on usage over the past 12 months plus a bit extra.
I know that companies like to even out the payments so extra payments in summer even out over the winter but even so the rise seemed rather excessive.
My point is, looking at this with a cynical eye, was I deliberately quoted low to draw me in knowing the adjustment would be made 3 months into the contract. Looking back now it was considerably lower than the current provider so perhaps I should have smelt a rat!
After challenging Shell they agreed to reduce my payments so the increase was a little under 50% - still a fairly hefty hike. And why wasn't it raised to this in the first place?

jbuchanangb

As you know your 12 moths energy usage, and presumably you know the Shell Energy tariffs, you can calculate how much your energy will cost per year. Divide by 12, and that is what you should expect to pay monthly. If you have paid for a few months below what you have calculated as the proper monthly amount, then it is reasonable that the energy company might set a new monthly amount a bit higher so that you can catch up. Don't confuse your monthly payment with what you pay for your energy, that won't change for the duration of your fixed term contract.

dogshome

Assume you have had a bill

This will show the use/cost of both the Elec & Gas - Work out the numbers to see what you have individually spent on each fuel compared to your D/D.


For Shell to demand extra cash, either the Gas or Elec account will be in debt.
If it's the Elec Shell probably have a case as yearly use remains regular with a small uplift in winter as the light go on earlier
If it's the Gas, argue with Shell as in Summer/Autumn your gas use will drop dramatically with the D/D payment quickly wiping out any debt.


Give Shell monthly meter reads to get monthly bills, which will show the real Debit/Credit status of the account

F1Fan

I've just had a similar letter. They are going to put it up in August by £7 a month, but my account has always been in credit since it started in March. I keep speadsheets of all my previous years and know that I will never use the new monthly amount, the last company I was with reduced the monthly payment!

Doesn't seem right when your account is in credit. Any ideas what I should do? Thanks.

D_M_E

Ask Shell if you can change payment to full bill by DD on receipt of the bill - this would, I think, mean they take payment from your bank about 14 days after they send the bill.

Any credit still on the account would be used against the next bill and so on until it's all used up.

If you do ask them about this and decide to go ahead, MAKE SURE you send them regular meter readings on either the last or first day of every month in order to get an accurate bill.

Make sure you save your current DD payment in a savings account so you have it ready to shift to your current account the day before the bill says they will take it.

EDIT: if you have had an Estimated bill, get on and give them an accurate reading and, if you feel like it, back it up by emailing them pictures of the actual readings on the day you took them and ask for an amended accurate bill based on actual readings.
Also consider adding an extra amount, say 30% for example, to what goes in the savings so you have a little extra for periods such as when profligate visitors come to stay.

F1Fan

Thank you D_M_E. I will get in touch with them.

matelodave

Are you giving them regular meter readings and checking that your bills or on-line account is actually using the readings. Even when my smart meter was actually smart, SSE's billing cycle was around three month behind although they just warned me that I was underpaying rather than just cranking up my DD like Scottish Power used to try on.

If they are using estimated figures - get the bill/statement corrected

I, like most people, use lots more energy in the winter than I do in the summer and some suppliers (not all) seem to want to bounce the DD up and down like a yo-you to reflect the last two or three months worth of consumption whereas it really does average out over the 12 month cycle.

Do as suggested and tell Shell what is going on, especially if you've got your own consumption records and insist that they readjust the DD back to it's proper level. I'm sure that if you are keeping your own records you should be able to work out almost exactly what you should be paying for it to balance at the end of the period.