Shell threatning me with debt collectors.

piperm87

I moved into my current property 30th Oct 2020 and joined British Gas for our energy, the previous supplier was Shell Energy but the swap over didn't occur until the 19th November 2000 - unbeknown to me at the time (alot going on with house moving etc). Anyway i did the meter readgs on the 19th Nov as requested by BG and thought nothing more about it.

Last week i had a letter from MIL debt collectors writing on behalf of Shell Energy saying i owe £566 for the usage between 30th Oct and 18th Nov 2020. I've done some digging and spoken to both suppliers and it turns out that for some reason when i was doing the Electric meter reads for BG they wern't submitting on the app - the gas ones were and they are fine but the electric ones were estimated from between 18th Nov and 2nd June 2021 which was when we were upgraded to smart meters. I've looked on my British Gas account as its still accessible and my actual read on 2nd june (69920) is actually lower than the estimated read on 18th October (70726).

I've spoken with Shell and they have asked for my opening meter reads, meter reads with BG and also a photo of our meters to prove they are the same. The problem is its been that long i dont have my opening meter reads anymore and because our meter were swapped in 2020 i can't provide them with the meter numbers either as they are different now.

I dont have an issue with paying Shell Energy for any usage we used between 30th Oct and 18th Nov as its fair but i justify paying them £566 for 19 days usage due to incorrect meter reads. They are currently looking into it as are british gas but im wondering if anyone on here has had any similar experiences in the past or if there's any useful tips i can take to use against them

Many Thanks

Matt Piper

tetrarch

I have had an extremely similar situation to yours. Electric only, but with Shell Energy just the same

My situation was a house move in Dec 2019 and some disputed values because a previous houseowner had put in the wrong values and these disputed readings (which I did retain photographic proof of) led to 2 years of back-and-forth with Shell

I transferred to Bulb only a month after buying the house and this transfer was done with incorrect values as well. I uploaded my proof to both suppliers and left it with Shell to sort out. This led to nearly a year of radio silence apart from an outstanding disputed bill.

The level of hassle from Shell then ramped up a notch, with their ABYSMAL customer services calling several times a week, rarely answering when I picked up and having to explain the same situation over and over again.

After several botched attempts on their part I raised a complaint about the service and the hassle. Their complaint staff were excellent - the difference was astonishing. However, they still failed to resolve the problem and we entered another quiet phase.

Roll on to late 2022 and the hassling began again with threats of legal action, several revised bills, a new gas bill (this was a real surprise as we don't have mains gas in my area) and the ghost calling and text messages etc

I raised yet another complaint and then the customer service went up a notch again. This time, after several goes around, I had my bill written down to the values that I had originally quoted and a £220 bill was reduced to £20

My advice to you is be persistent. If you have the same ghosting that I experienced then I would not hesitate in raising a formal complaint as the personnel there are in a different league

Regards

Tet

piperm87

Thanks, i have already put a complaint in as i was unhappy with it taking so long for them to get through to me expecting so much info after 2 1/2 years. Also, the fact i've not had any corrispondance with them and they have gone straight to debt collectors instead of trying to contact me in the first instance annoyed me - i've never had any issues with managing my money before and have never been introuble financially or been chased by debt collectors before so it was a real shock to the system when i opened the letter!

They have called off the debt collectors for 8 weeks and they are apparantly investgating the matter now as a part of the complaint and i've been advised to just sit and wait whilst they do their internal enquiries. It's still not very good and doens't give me much peace of mind as i know they'll be back

[Deleted User]

piperm87 said:

Thanks, i have already put a complaint in as i was unhappy with it taking so long for them to get through to me expecting so much info after 2 1/2 years. Also, the fact i've not had any corrispondance with them and they have gone straight to debt collectors instead of trying to contact me in the first instance annoyed me - i've never had any issues with managing my money before and have never been introuble financially or been chased by debt collectors before so it was a real shock to the system when i opened the letter!

They have called off the debt collectors for 8 weeks and they are apparantly investgating the matter now as a part of the complaint and i've been advised to just sit and wait whilst they do their internal enquiries. It's still not very good and doens't give me much peace of mind as i know they'll be back

The Statute of Limitations allows for a debt to be pursued through the Courts for up to 6 years in England. 

Raxiel

It won't help with a photo, but for the meter number - when your meter was swapped, there should have been a card or sticker on the backboard or new meter that lists both the new and old meter serial numbers and readings at the time of the swap.

macman

Debt collectors can simply be ignored, they have no powers of entry. They are not bailiffs.

fatbelly

Don't forget there is an ombudsman but you do have to raise a complaint first and give them 8 weeks to respond

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/complain-now

t0rt0ise

What you should have done is open an account with Shell on 30th November as the current supplier, give them opening reads, and then move to British Gas. You need to pay for energy used until 18th November so you will have to look at past bills, work out what you think you would have used in that period and offer to pay it. The error is yours so go easy with the complaints or they will dig their heels in.

Mobtr

Could you forward Shell a bill showing the final reading from the old meter. Your new supplier must have changed the initial reading if the final one was lower. They might accept that. After you changed supplier over a year they don’t dispute the reading & can just change it. 

tetrarch

piperm87 said:

Thanks, i have already put a complaint in as i was unhappy with it taking so long for them to get through to me expecting so much info after 2 1/2 years. Also, the fact i've not had any corrispondance with them and they have gone straight to debt collectors instead of trying to contact me in the first instance annoyed me - i've never had any issues with managing my money before and have never been introuble financially or been chased by debt collectors before so it was a real shock to the system when i opened the letter!

I would suggest that the email exchanges with British Gas IS some sort of contemperaneous proof and should be offered to Shell as evidence

Regards and good luck

Tet

piperm87

Its under investgiation now and its been a week since i last heard anything.  I know its my !!!!!! up and i accept that and i'm more than happy to pay for the energy i used but i think £566 for 18 days usage due to a meter read error is abit too much really but i'll pursue it and see where we end up either way.

i've already passed conversations on to shell from BG and also the proof of our meter reads from when we had the smart meter installed but justhave to pay the waiting game now,