Shell Energy to pay £390,000 after overcharging ex First Utility customers

Industry regulator Ofgem called on the company, which rebranded from First Utility in March 2019, to refund and compensate the customers affected, and pay an additional £200,000 to the watchdog's consumer redress fund.

Ofgem found that the utilities firm overcharged on its default tariffs after the price cap was introduced in January 2019, in order to help the UK's 11 million customers on poor-value default tariffs.

The regulator's price cap monitoring found that, between January and March 2019, Shell Energy Retail overcharged around 12,000 electricity and gas customer accounts by £100,736 collectively.

To rectify its failings, Shell Energy Retail has agreed to refund customers by re-crediting their accounts, and pay additional compensation.

Around 6,200 Shell Energy Retail customer accounts were on tariffs that were not compliant with the price cap, meaning they were paying above the regulated level for their gas or electricity.

Shell has said it will refund these customers, as well as paying them an additional £10 each.