It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

linz

CKhalvashi said:

linz said:

basketcase said:

Nargleblast said:

Shell Energy have kept my DD the same and added the government discount to my credit balance. I am now over £500 in credit. My bills run mid month to mid month, so I won't know until mid November what a month at the new prices looks like. They suggest I increase my DD from £200 to £304. I think not.

Looking carefully at the latest bill dated mid September, it states they do not have a full year of data to be able to accurately predict my usage based on last year. In that case they have used their magic formula - my house size, my postcode and the time of year! In other words, they have based their estimates on nothing to do with the way I actually use energy at all.

Lesson - If you have been with your supplier for less than a year, take their estimates with a pinch of salt. If you have a credit balance, sit tight and refuse to increase your DD until you feel it is the right thing to do. You might find next month they're telling you to increase it by a lower amount, or even leave it the same. Just monitor your usage and watch and wait.

An almost identical situation to mine, though my bills run 6th-5th.

I think they also based their earlier estimates on the fact that, when I was moved to them from Pure Energy, it took them so long to sort it out that my entire usage from Oct  to April was lumped in April.  So I assume that'd send their estimates out somewhat.

That may well explain why, in the early days, I noticed that I'd been advised to up it to nearly double (going into summer!) then was told to increase by c £50 round the time of the first rise, but by the time I logged on again a few hours later, the amount had changed again!

In fairness, a couple of months ago they did say I could drop it - but that was just as it was announced that the charges were going to rocket.  Now it's recommended I change it to £223, taking into account the £66 and, by the look of it, my credit!

Like you, I think not...

Same as you both. Was £518 in credit, now £580+ but they're still encouraging me to increase DD from £58 to £81 🙄

We are getting the same (albeit with a smaller credit balance).

I will manually adjust as required but will not leave huge amounts in credit on the account from principle.

It says they will add this to the account so if they still take the full DD (possibly with the exception of the first days), then this will surely be a mistaken DD taken?

Our usage will go nowhere near the DD (currently £128) + £66, but they physically won't let it be set to lower on their site. A call may be in order in this event.

It's ridiculous isn't it ? I'm moving house shortly so i'll be ditching them anyway (then comes the challenge of getting my credit back!). The house i'm moving into has British Gas and as there'll be a couple of weeks overlap from moving out of rental & into this new one, I don't think I have a choice but to go with BG there and remain with Shell til the tenancy end date. Perhaps i will look at putting some of the Shell credit into the new BG account when i've got it.

mumtoomany

@YorksLass, i would complain about the poorly picked shopping. I have several times in the past when we used have deliveries. Tesco and Asda have both refunded with no bother, and been very apologetic, HTH, mumtoomany.xx

Floss

Brambling said:

I'm with Octupus (via M&S) and they emailed at the weekend to advise me my DD which is usually just under the £70 will be £2 this month it goes out on the 8th. I was hoping they were going to add the government money to my credit each month and still take the usual DD from me.

You could stash the money & pay a lump sum later in the year?

joedenise

I'm with EDF and they are taking the normal DD and then refunding the £66/£67 back to bank account.  I'm planning on keeping that money aside and will use it to pay the bill later if necessary.  My next bill isn't due to until December so necessary the lump sum will be paid then.

CKhalvashi

linz said:

CKhalvashi said:

linz said:

basketcase said:

Nargleblast said:

Shell Energy have kept my DD the same and added the government discount to my credit balance. I am now over £500 in credit. My bills run mid month to mid month, so I won't know until mid November what a month at the new prices looks like. They suggest I increase my DD from £200 to £304. I think not.

Looking carefully at the latest bill dated mid September, it states they do not have a full year of data to be able to accurately predict my usage based on last year. In that case they have used their magic formula - my house size, my postcode and the time of year! In other words, they have based their estimates on nothing to do with the way I actually use energy at all.

Lesson - If you have been with your supplier for less than a year, take their estimates with a pinch of salt. If you have a credit balance, sit tight and refuse to increase your DD until you feel it is the right thing to do. You might find next month they're telling you to increase it by a lower amount, or even leave it the same. Just monitor your usage and watch and wait.

An almost identical situation to mine, though my bills run 6th-5th.

I think they also based their earlier estimates on the fact that, when I was moved to them from Pure Energy, it took them so long to sort it out that my entire usage from Oct  to April was lumped in April.  So I assume that'd send their estimates out somewhat.

That may well explain why, in the early days, I noticed that I'd been advised to up it to nearly double (going into summer!) then was told to increase by c £50 round the time of the first rise, but by the time I logged on again a few hours later, the amount had changed again!

In fairness, a couple of months ago they did say I could drop it - but that was just as it was announced that the charges were going to rocket.  Now it's recommended I change it to £223, taking into account the £66 and, by the look of it, my credit!

Like you, I think not...

Same as you both. Was £518 in credit, now £580+ but they're still encouraging me to increase DD from £58 to £81 🙄

We are getting the same (albeit with a smaller credit balance).

I will manually adjust as required but will not leave huge amounts in credit on the account from principle.

It says they will add this to the account so if they still take the full DD (possibly with the exception of the first days), then this will surely be a mistaken DD taken?

Our usage will go nowhere near the DD (currently £128) + £66, but they physically won't let it be set to lower on their site. A call may be in order in this event.

It's ridiculous isn't it ? I'm moving house shortly so i'll be ditching them anyway (then comes the challenge of getting my credit back!). The house i'm moving into has British Gas and as there'll be a couple of weeks overlap from moving out of rental & into this new one, I don't think I have a choice but to go with BG there and remain with Shell til the tenancy end date. Perhaps i will look at putting some of the Shell credit into the new BG account when i've got it.

At the prices for gas/electricity it's cheaper over the winter to book a £10 flight, book a double private room in a hostel in Poland/Romania etc for a few weeks, take a laptop and 4-5 changes of clothes and work remotely from there. If (probably when) OH gets sent out of base this winter, you know what will be happening

I agree though that many companies are difficult to get credit back from, which is likely to cause more problems for you moving than us staying put.

CKhalvashi

CKhalvashi said:

linz said:

CKhalvashi said:

linz said:

basketcase said:

Nargleblast said:

Shell Energy have kept my DD the same and added the government discount to my credit balance. I am now over £500 in credit. My bills run mid month to mid month, so I won't know until mid November what a month at the new prices looks like. They suggest I increase my DD from £200 to £304. I think not.

Looking carefully at the latest bill dated mid September, it states they do not have a full year of data to be able to accurately predict my usage based on last year. In that case they have used their magic formula - my house size, my postcode and the time of year! In other words, they have based their estimates on nothing to do with the way I actually use energy at all.

Lesson - If you have been with your supplier for less than a year, take their estimates with a pinch of salt. If you have a credit balance, sit tight and refuse to increase your DD until you feel it is the right thing to do. You might find next month they're telling you to increase it by a lower amount, or even leave it the same. Just monitor your usage and watch and wait.

An almost identical situation to mine, though my bills run 6th-5th.

I think they also based their earlier estimates on the fact that, when I was moved to them from Pure Energy, it took them so long to sort it out that my entire usage from Oct  to April was lumped in April.  So I assume that'd send their estimates out somewhat.

That may well explain why, in the early days, I noticed that I'd been advised to up it to nearly double (going into summer!) then was told to increase by c £50 round the time of the first rise, but by the time I logged on again a few hours later, the amount had changed again!

In fairness, a couple of months ago they did say I could drop it - but that was just as it was announced that the charges were going to rocket.  Now it's recommended I change it to £223, taking into account the £66 and, by the look of it, my credit!

Like you, I think not...

Same as you both. Was £518 in credit, now £580+ but they're still encouraging me to increase DD from £58 to £81 🙄

We are getting the same (albeit with a smaller credit balance).

I will manually adjust as required but will not leave huge amounts in credit on the account from principle.

It says they will add this to the account so if they still take the full DD (possibly with the exception of the first days), then this will surely be a mistaken DD taken?

Our usage will go nowhere near the DD (currently £128) + £66, but they physically won't let it be set to lower on their site. A call may be in order in this event.

It's ridiculous isn't it ? I'm moving house shortly so i'll be ditching them anyway (then comes the challenge of getting my credit back!). The house i'm moving into has British Gas and as there'll be a couple of weeks overlap from moving out of rental & into this new one, I don't think I have a choice but to go with BG there and remain with Shell til the tenancy end date. Perhaps i will look at putting some of the Shell credit into the new BG account when i've got it.

At the prices for gas/electricity it's cheaper over the winter to book a £10 flight, book a double private room in a hostel in Poland/Romania etc for a few weeks, take a laptop and 4-5 changes of clothes and work remotely from there. If (probably when) OH gets sent out of base this winter, you know what will be happening

I agree though that many companies are difficult to get credit back from, which is likely to cause more problems for you moving than us staying put.

Just in addition, the terms are here. It may be worth moving your payment date to later in the month (which I'll do manually when this month's payment has gone).

https://help.shellenergy.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/8410515236497-How-the-Energy-Bills-Support-Scheme-works-

If you pay by monthly Direct Debit

You’ll automatically receive the discount as a reduction to your monthly payment.

For example, if your monthly Direct Debit amount is £200, we’ll deduct £66 in October and November, then £67 from December to March. This leaves you £134 to pay for the first two months, then £133 for the remaining four months. 

If your monthly Direct Debit is collected three working days after the discount is applied, you’ll see £66/67 deducted from your payment.

If your monthly Direct Debit amount is collected more than three working days before the discount is applied, you’ll see £66/67 deducted from your payment the following month.

London_1

I rang Shell Energy eventually and got through to a very pleasant lady who agreed with me that it was daft to increase my DD by £5.00 cosidering how much I am in credit plus the £102 that will be going in for the next five months after this weeks payment.
 
So mine will stay at £36.00 per month for the time being. I did have a fixed rate last year for two years, so I'm OK until August 2023 and my yearly bill is normally around £600-£650 a year for duel fuel

 I am very careful with my usage, and although I cook with electric (gas is only for CH)

I use my Remoska to cook with plus M'wave plus my slow cooker, and my kettle is only a 1 litre one .

My washing machine is only on once a week at most,  and then on an eco wash for 30 minutes

 I rarely if ever iron, and dry my hair natually so my electricity is fairly low .

My gas CH is only on for an hour a day when its cold as my house is very well insulated (had it done several years ago ) and my boiler for the CH is an 'A' rated one as well as my fridge freezer

I  have done everything I can think of to lower my bills and it seems to be working so far  fingers crossed 

JackieO xx

YoungBlueEyes

I remember reading on the energy board a while ago about paying by DD or paying as the bill came.  Someone pointed out that while the overpayments and slightly increased DDs are annoying, and the 'better in my pocket than theirs' thing is valid, remember that a bank balance in the black is what keeps these companies afloat.  It's only £2 to you, but it's lots of £2's to them, and keeps them from going under.  Then when they need bailing out (eg Bulb) the rescue package puts far more than £2 on everyone's bill.....

Wednesday2000

We got an email saying we are now £218 in credit, but we haven't had any discount or refund yet. They just took out the usual amount, which is well over what we are using. This is OVO.

linz

YoungBlueEyes said:

I remember reading on the energy board a while ago about paying by DD or paying as the bill came.  Someone pointed out that while the overpayments and slightly increased DDs are annoying, and the 'better in my pocket than theirs' thing is valid, remember that a bank balance in the black is what keeps these companies afloat.  It's only £2 to you, but it's lots of £2's to them, and keeps them from going under.  Then when they need bailing out (eg Bulb) the rescue package puts far more than £2 on everyone's bill.....

I'm seriously thinking about this. I think I read the post that you're quoting. The only thing putting me off is how much dearer it is to do compared to paying by DD. I do this already with my water bill as they wanted to charge me £28 a month whereas I only actually use about £18 !