Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

masonic

Telegraph_Sam said:

Today for once the market rates E = 11.42 have undercut what I have been quoted. This must be the nature of the beast. Are the rates applied with a 24 hour time lag?

...

I wait to see just how Octopus converts daily charges without smart meter readings into a monthly charge.

It seems you are in a cheaper region than me. Today's rate will apply to usage (or deemed usage) today. If you don't give regular meter readings then Octopus will no doubt apportion your usage between readings according to a typical customer profile.

masonic

Telegraph_Sam said:

Accepted. That is why I was doing the historical mimicking.

The trouble with this approach is you won't be comparing like with like. You really need to look over a longish period and compare with fixed tariffs that were available at the start of that period, which would have been significantly cheaper than those available today. I think the forecasts on the demo site would be a more accurate comparison, because although they are flawed they are based on the same data as the currently available competitor tariffs.

Telegraph_Sam

Are you experts able to see into the future - say today what tomorrow's rates will be??? 

masonic

Telegraph_Sam said:

Are you experts able to see into the future - say today what tomorrow's rates will be??? 

I can tell you exactly what my rates will be tomorrow. I'm guessing yours will be in the region of 13.1p.

niktheguru

My take on tracker is that if you are looking for the cheapest fixed or variable rate on the market this definitely isn't it. There are many other firms that are cheaper. Like Sam says the customer services can be debatable, but most of us are on the ball with our energy and can overcome most problems.


On the other hand, if you wish to stay with octopus (or the so called big 6) and you don't have an EV or battery at home, then tracker seems like a decent punt, particularly over the summer when prices may be less than in the winter months. Given there's no exit fee its worth a try and see how you get on, worst case scenario you leave and go fix somewhere else later.

Telegraph_Sam

My conclusion from doing my own number crunching over admittedly a limited time scale is that Tracker seems to be overall as cheap as any of the alternative fixed rate deals** that I would be happy with (considering exit fees, customer service etc) and cheaper than most. Certainly going by their quote and by actual prices recently. Short term research justified by there being only 24 hours in a day and I am not aiming at 100% scientific statistical "proof".. If it turns out to be the wrong bet in practice then I am not tied in.
** I have yet to find any that stand out as options.

nadsat

I've just run a couple of comparisons using the Octopus Flexible tariff (obviously you can't compare the tracker) and there are only a few small savings from small suppliers on offer for dual fuel at our London address right now. When I took the tracker on, direct debits went down by £70 a month from previous Octopus deal (we are a high consumption household) and I'm aiming to keep it that way. Currently the tracker looks similar in costs to Octopus Flexible but it will probably come down in the next few months. 

Telegraph_Sam

Fair comparison.  I get the same results as before: Flexible Octopus £65 / month as against £72  for Fixed and Super Green. Compared with £56.80 / mth for the Tracker. Even allowing for estimates being estimates this has got to be interesting.

masonic

nadsat said:

I've just run a couple of comparisons using the Octopus Flexible tariff (obviously you can't compare the tracker) and there are only a few small savings from small suppliers on offer for dual fuel at our London address right now. When I took the tracker on, direct debits went down by £70 a month from previous Octopus deal (we are a high consumption household) and I'm aiming to keep it that way. Currently the tracker looks similar in costs to Octopus Flexible but it will probably come down in the next few months. 

I was on the Flexible tariff until recently, and it was not very cheap for me. Running a comparison today there are 4 alternative suppliers offering savings of >5% based on my past 12 months usage figures (savings are 16%, 13.5%, 9% and 9% respectively), all small suppliers, but I've not got a problem with that. It goes to show how different comparisons can come out for different people. I think the Tracker should work out cheaper than Flexible in the long run.

So why haven't I switched away from Octopus? Based on my analysis, none of those cheaper tariffs above will beat the rates I can achieve on Agile. I don't have a battery or EV, but use little electricity between 4-7 pm and get up earlier in the morning than most people.

nadsat

Telegraph_Sam said:

Fair comparison.  I get the same results as before: Flexible Octopus £65 / month as against £72  for Fixed and Super Green. Compared with £56.80 / mth for the Tracker. Even allowing for estimates being estimates this has got to be interesting.

I can only dream of paying that little. Current direct debit is £155 a month, but it was £225 before the tracker. I am going to get a smart meter and look at the agile tariff to see if we can the appliance charges down overnight, as dishwasher, washing machine and drier each used once or twice a day...