Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

Northern_Wanderer

MWT said:

On a side note, the Government payments should not result in people building up large credit balances as the normal DD will be reduced by the amount of the Government payment (£66/67).

I'm not sure many will be able to afford to build up huge credits come October

MWT

Northern_Wanderer said:

MWT said:

On a side note, the Government payments should not result in people building up large credit balances as the normal DD will be reduced by the amount of the Government payment (£66/67).

I'm not sure many will be able to afford to build up huge credits come October

That is a different problem of course, and if they are on a 'fixed' DD and don't already have a large credit balance by October they have not been paying enough in over the summer, and it is then going to be a pretty rough winter...

masonic

MWT said:

masonic said:

... my direct debit (already set at a fraction of Octupus' recommended amount)...

...Octopus has removed the option to change these at the click of a link, so now it will be necessary to email or phone customer services, with time being of the essence if a payment is to be changed ahead of the amount being taken....

Those two things may well be related, as Octopus have not removed the ability to change payments from all customers...

... but variable DD is still a good choice for those who can cope with the high winter bills.

On a side note, the Government payments should not result in people building up large credit balances as the normal DD will be reduced by the amount of the Government payment (£66/67).

That's interesting, although it is only for this month's payment that I wasn't given the option to change it online, and nothing has changed in the way I am managing my account (I always keep enough credit to cover my next bill). If suppliers will be automatically cutting fixed DDs by the amount of the Government payment, then it is swings and roundabouts for those 6 months, I'm planning to stick around longer than that.

SJMALBA

masonic said:

A question for those of you on variable direct debit: how does this work in practice? Does it take whatever is needed to zero your account balance each month, or does it take the value of energy used each month, maintaining your credit balance if you have one?

It looks like they are making it increasingly difficult to skip payments when you have built up credit, perhaps in response to those struggling to pay for what they use.

Meter readings are submitted, this generates the charges, which, after validation, are applied to your account, resulting in a debit balance; a bill is generated, with a DD taken for the full amount of the bill 2 weeks after the bill date, restoring the account balance to zero. You would not normally have a credit balance at any point.

SJMALBA

Regarding charges for other methods of payment:-

Ally_E.

masonic said:

Dolor said:

masonic said:

Thanks both, it sounds like I should move across to this.

I am having one of my dim days: it could be the sun; my age or both. Please explain to me how variable DD payments are better than a fixed DD payment?

Octopus hasn’t failed in 4 years to pre-notify me that it will be taking a DD payment on my agreed date; it has never argued when I have adjusted my DD amount, and any credit is 100% protected. 

Why the rush to variable payments?

There are a number of reasons. The first is that I've been through two SoLR processes and both times I had difficulty getting back the credit I was owed. One of these required the Energy Ombudsman to award it to me 6 months after my account was set up with the gaining supplier. The second reason is that the government support scheme is going to cover a significant part of my bills over the winter, meaning that my direct debit (already set at a fraction of Octupus' recommended amount) is going to lead me to build up a large credit balance. The third reason is that I can get cashback by paying by card, so my preference is to keep my account topped up this way and not pay anything by direct debit, although my current cashback offer is coming to an end soon so is of little bearing going forward.

As to what has prompted me to 'rush to variable payments', Octopus has removed the option to change these at the click of a link, so now it will be necessary to email or phone customer services, with time being of the essence if a payment is to be changed ahead of the amount being taken.

Cashback is a really good point that I haven't thought of, I get air miles with my CC spending so this would be better for me plus can keep my credit in a savings account earning interest in warmer months. 

tlcgrantham

Many of us use a Santander 123 current account for direct debits which pays 2% cashback on energy direct debits.

masonic

Ally_E. said:

masonic said:

Dolor said:

masonic said:

Thanks both, it sounds like I should move across to this.

I am having one of my dim days: it could be the sun; my age or both. Please explain to me how variable DD payments are better than a fixed DD payment?

Octopus hasn’t failed in 4 years to pre-notify me that it will be taking a DD payment on my agreed date; it has never argued when I have adjusted my DD amount, and any credit is 100% protected. 

Why the rush to variable payments?

There are a number of reasons. The first is that I've been through two SoLR processes and both times I had difficulty getting back the credit I was owed. One of these required the Energy Ombudsman to award it to me 6 months after my account was set up with the gaining supplier. The second reason is that the government support scheme is going to cover a significant part of my bills over the winter, meaning that my direct debit (already set at a fraction of Octupus' recommended amount) is going to lead me to build up a large credit balance. The third reason is that I can get cashback by paying by card, so my preference is to keep my account topped up this way and not pay anything by direct debit, although my current cashback offer is coming to an end soon so is of little bearing going forward.

As to what has prompted me to 'rush to variable payments', Octopus has removed the option to change these at the click of a link, so now it will be necessary to email or phone customer services, with time being of the essence if a payment is to be changed ahead of the amount being taken.

Cashback is a really good point that I haven't thought of, I get air miles with my CC spending so this would be better for me plus can keep my credit in a savings account earning interest in warmer months. 

I should add that I was using my Chase debit card and getting 1% cashback, so I'm not 100% sure if CC are accepted. Previous suppliers have been debit card only, never tried with Octopus.

tlcgrantham said:

Many of us use a Santander 123 current account for direct debits which pays 2% cashback on energy direct debits.

This is a good option if your bills are large enough to offset the fee. For me, my annual cashback on energy would be about £10, if I added in council tax, broadband and water (all currently go on card for cashback), I could get that up to about £30, but the annual fee even for lite is £24, so hardly worth doing. When I finally end up on a SVT tariff mid-next year my energy bills will probably quadruple, so then it could be worth re-exploring.

tlcgrantham

My energy cashback is likely to be around £30 per annum, Council tax £20, Water £20, tv broadband, mobile £15. So well worth it.

masonic

tlcgrantham said:

My energy cashback is likely to be around £30 per annum, Council tax £20, Water £20, tv broadband, mobile £15. So well worth it.

I'll enjoy my relatively low bills, and you enjoy your cashback