Shell Energy not charging for Gas

MancMan01

Hi all - We were moved to Shell when PurePlanet went bust in 2021....just realised that they've never charged us for Gas supply....only electricity. What on earth should we do? Contact them to inform them of the mistake or try swapping to another supplier in the hope they don't realise when the final meter readings come through? Working out a fair bill to pay is going to be a nightmare...

[Deleted User]

You need to come clean. When you switch suppliers, the new supplier notifies the old supplier that there is a transfer in progress. The new supplier will also require a gas meter reading which its data collector will validate as the closing/opening reading. The old supplier will then have meter reading to bill you against. It will estimate readings for any tariff changes.

I struggle to understand how anyone could fail to notice that they weren’t being charged for gas given the recent press hysteria over the extraordinary increase in gas wholesale prices. 

Mstty

It is entirely up to you but you could start putting some money aside in an interest bearing account to pay for the bill when it arrives.

Start calculating what that bill will be.

When the energy company does present you with a large bill you don't have to pay it all at once it would not be unreasonable to present your income and expenditure and offer a repayment plan up.

You might as well get prepared for that and calculate that all now.

Alnat1

Do you have the closing bill from Pure Planet showing what reading was used for gas? You could compare it to today's reading and at least have some idea how much this is going to cost you.

Qyburn

Would back billing come into play here?

TheMilkmansDad

Qyburn said:

Would back billing come into play here?

I wouldn't of thought so. 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-energy-back-billing-rules#:~:text=What are the back-billing,it was set too low.

Qyburn

Do you think the OP has "behaved obstructively or unreasonably, preventing accurate billing"?  I know a number of posts on here have suggested that the customer needs to apply some diligence to try and persuade the supplier to bill , however I can't see that stated or defined in the actual guidelines.

TheMilkmansDad

Backfilling rules are there (partly) to prevent bill shock. Customer knows they haven't been billed so arguably there will be a large bill, but not bill shock as they are aware it's coming?

Not realising they hadn't been billed for gas for 2 years until recently may be a valid excuse, but, in my understanding, they will still need to pay as it works both ways. Supplier needs to keep the customer up to date; Customer needs to keep the supplier up to date.

It may be best to actually check who is supplying the property Gas in the 1st instance, but ultimately the client needs to contact whoever is supplying them and get it sorted.

I'm sure one of the more knowledgeable posters will offer more insight as it's not my area of speciality!

MWT

TheMilkmansDad said:

It may be best to actually check who is supplying the property Gas in the 1st instance, but ultimately the client needs to contact whoever is supplying them and get it sorted.

The OP needs to start here...

Back-billing rules may be applicable but need to confirm that the account was actually transferred to Shell in the first place...

GunJack

I'm just coming off a situation with shell - leccy been with them since green went under, and finally got my gas transferred from EDF in September (after zog went under and sole to EDF). Shell managed to bill once correctly for gas but it then took until April to get them to bill again and then they got it wrong!! You have to keep pestering them and raise a complaint to get anywhere. I've told them to keep the complaint open to see if they can get tomorrow's bill correct. If they do, think I'm off to octopus....

debitcardmayhem

GunJack said:

I'm just coming off a situation with shell - leccy been with them since green went under, and finally got my gas transferred from EDF in September (after zog went under and sole to EDF). Shell managed to bill once correctly for gas but it then took until April to get them to bill again and then they got it wrong!! You have to keep pestering them and raise a complaint to get anywhere. I've told them to keep the complaint open to see if they can get tomorrow's bill correct. If they do, think I'm off to octopus....

Looking for tentacles or … Hiya Gunny hope you’re well.🍺