Shell Energy

johlyn

Having been requested to increase my direct debit to double I have continued to set it at the least required amount and pay off any balance remaining on a monthly basis. This is to prevent the Energy company holding my funds to their benefit. They have now without warning changed my billing date from 12 to 25 monthly which will increase my bill by half. I think energy customers need to be treated better than this especially when prices are at an unprecedented high.

pochase

Welcome to the forum

You are saying they have changed the date without warning, but you are aware that it will be in 11 days, so it seems they have informed you about the change.

CAN A COMPANY CHANGE MY DIRECT DEBIT? 

A company is able to change the amount, frequency or date of your direct debit but it must notify you in advance of any money being debited from your account. This is normally 10 working days to a month before the change. 

If you would be paying the direct debit order they have requested you to pay, nothing would change for you, same amount would be deducted from you bank account, just 13 days later. The above 10 notice days is more likely to protect you should the direct debit deducted earlier, not later. 

If your debit order  is not sufficient to cover your bills during summer you are up for really big bills to make up for in winter. Or if you are referring to bills last winter that would mean your direct debit was already not sufficient for the much lower energy cost.

armistice

hi johlyn,   I'd suggest you change your billing to 'Whole Bill DD monthly' which you can do through the website.  This means you will be charged monthly for the actual energy you have used in the previous month, so no debt or credit building up.

I'm also with Shell and do this. If you don't have a smart meter ensure you submit a meter reading on the same day each month to ensure you get billed correctly.

Hope that helps,

samal

Hi armistice

Did you request Whole Bill DD monthly or is thsi a choice on there web account ?
How does one go about this?
thanks

Andy7856

100% agree with the  comments  above.   I requested variable DD via my online account once the payment had cleared and my balance was £0.   I still get the DD discount also.    What I do also is pay via cash back credit card ahead of any DD payments taken. I dont pay ASDA a fixed amount every month for my variable food shopping so fail to see why a utility service is any different. 

Alnat1

That's ok if you can budget well and afford to pay the huge monthly bills in winter.

If you aren't going to be able to cope with bills maybe 5 x what they are in summer, then it might be best to build up some credit now.