The energy giant’s consumer arm, Shell Energy Retail, will return and compensate 11,275 customers after it discovered it had sent the wrong prices to users’ meters. This meant these customers were forced to pay more than allowed under the regulator’s price cap at various times since January 2019. Prepaid meter users already pay for their energy at a higher rate and include some of the country’s poorest and most vulnerable households. Shell has agreed to automatically refund overcharged customers the £106,000 they are owed in total, pay £400,000 into Ofgem’s consumer redress fund and make a further £30,970 in extra “goodwill payments” to affected customers. The energy provider will pay a total of £536,970. Customers are expected to receive refunds worth £9.40 each, on average. A Shell Energy spokesman said: “We are truly sorry that errors in updating prepaid meter charges have resulted in some customers being overcharged for some time. As soon as we identified the issue, we started taking steps to fix it and reported it ourselves to Ofgem.” The company said it would write to customers to inform them of the payments. Ofgem said the compensation package “would have been much higher” if Shell had not self-reported the issue and taken steps to address the problem. The regulator also looked at the additional financial hardship the issue may have created for prepaid customers, especially when energy prices have risen to historic highs. The regulator’s director of retail, Neil Lawrence, said: “Ofgem expects suppliers to honor the terms of their contracts with customers, in particular by ensuring they do not pay more than the price cap level. “Households across Britain are already struggling with rising energy bills and the cost of living,” he added. “Overcharging by suppliers can cause additional and unnecessary stress and worry at an already very difficult time for consumers across the UK.” Subscribe to Business Today Get ready for the business day – we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. It is the second time the company has breached the price cap since it was introduced, having been forced in 2019 to compensate 12,000 customers it overcharged when the company was still trading as First Utility. Shell bought the company in 2018. “Ofgem is always prepared to work with suppliers who have failed to comply with their obligations but who have self-declared and are determined to put things right, as Shell has done here,” Lawrence added. “The contributions Shell has made to the redress fund will help support vulnerable consumers with their energy bills.”
