GREEN to SHELL ENERGY - ENERGY BILL INCREASE FROM £130 to £311 month

Seahorse6

We were switched from Green to Shell in October. I am a member of MSE Energy Club so took the advice to do nothing and wait and see.  Normally I switch every year to get best rates. We had to wait until just before Christmas for first bill was £560!  Kept contacting them but they didn't have enough data to tell us monthly payment..   We had been in credit with Green £140 it was carried over. Our monthly bill with Green was £130 month but with Shell it immediately went up up to £220 a month we were put on Flexible 6 Variable, no option or choice they said it is their cheapest tariff.  Why did it go up by so much under the price cap!   Our useage is the same in fact slight less than same time last year and year before with Avro. Yesterday had email from Shell telling us from April 1st we will go on Flexible 7, again it is their cheapest tariff. We will have increase of £1294 per year that is a monthly bill of £311!!!!   We are a retired couple in a 4 bedroomed older house but only 2 of us.   This is criminal we cannot afford to pay this. What can we do?

jimjames

You need to check your meter readings and the actual unit rates. The monthly DD means nothing in isolation.

EssexHebridean

Remember you switched in October - so exactly the time the cap increased last time, so had you stayed with Green you would still have seen a increase around that time. In fact, I’d hazards guess, if you look back at correspondence you will likely find something from Green notifying you of upcoming price increases. 

As said above - make sure that the meter readings being used by Shell are accurate and also if you’re not on a smart meter you may want to give them readings one often than once a month for a little while to let them get to grips with your actual use. 

I’d also guess you might have been underpaying with Green, at least a little, as for a monthly DD figure of £130 the credit figure you mention is not as high as you’d ideally carry into the coldest period of the year - Shell may well have picked up on this, too. 

Seahorse6

Thank you both - We were on a very good rate with both Avro and Green reason why I compare and switch every year!  I hadn't taken into account the imminent rate rise with Green that would have taken place had we not been switched to Shell.  I have checked unit rates spent all morning yesterday doing comparisons between Green and previous year Avro against Shell, the Unit rate almost doubled from Green to Shell. We have been sending 2 monthly readings (not smart) since they took over. I have asked friends and family what they pay monthly daughter who is in modern 2 bed home with 2 children only pays £60 a month going up to £120 a month and other daughter currently pays £155.   In latest bill our Shell have upped our projected Gas useage from 12000 Kwh to 22,000 Kwh - cannot see why as useage for gas has not changed for 2 years.

MWT

Seahorse6 said:

In latest bill our Shell have upped our projected Gas useage from 12000 Kwh to 22,000 Kwh - cannot see why as useage for gas has not changed for 2 years.

Comparing your DD to other people's DD is pointless, but spotting that your estimated gas usage has almost doubled is very helpful.

Challenge that with Shell as if your actual use has not increased over the last 12 months then there is no justification for that and adjusting it down will of course reduce your monthly DD...

EssexHebridean

There you go then - contact Shell and ask why they’ve suddenly increased your projection. Most likely it’s because you joined them directly ahead of the expensive winter period so their systems have inaccurately assessed your use over the last few months as representative of the year  - ridiculous that they wouldn’t take this into account but far from the first time this has happened. 

There’s no point in comparing your DD figures with anyone else’s by the way - my gas DD is only £10 a month but that’s of no relevance to you as it’s because we’re super-low users and not representative in the least of 99% of households with a gas supply! Compare use, by all means, but even that won’t tell you much if you all live in very difference housing types. 

[Deleted User]

EssexHebridean said:

There’s no point in comparing your DD figures with anyone else’s by the way - my gas DD is only £10 a month but that’s of no relevance to you as it’s because we’re super-low users and not representative in the least of 99% of households with a gas supply! Compare use, by all means, but even that won’t tell you much if you all live in very difference housing types. 

EDF tried increasing my DD from £60 to £324 a month even though my average usage even in the winter is £55 a month. I think a computer must generate these figures as their agent couldn't understand the huge jump.