Shell Energy Retail, the oil giant’s consumer business, will pay £537,000 after a series of operational errors led to more than 11,000 households paying more than the price cap between January 2019 and September 2022. The total amount to be refunded to customers is £106,000, while Shell will also pay £400,000 to Ofgem’s voluntary consumer recovery fund and £30,970 in goodwill payments to affected customers. The blunder comes as millions of households face a push into poverty due to soaring energy bills and a wider cost-of-living crisis. Meanwhile, Shell posted record profits of $11.5bn (£9.7bn) for the second quarter alone as it cashed in on a boom in wholesale oil and gas prices. Ofgem is set to confirm the new price cap for October tomorrow, with bills expected to top £3,500. The regulator said it had decided not to take formal enforcement action against Shell, adding that the fine would have been significantly higher if the company had not reported and resolved the issue in time. A Shell Energy spokesman said: “We sincerely regret that prepayment meter price update errors 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 overcharge, which averages £9.40 per customer, will be refunded along with a goodwill gesture. We will be writing to customers to let them know.”
