Help understanding Octopus bill

Bane84

I have a smart reader. I would just like some confirmation as to what is going on, if I have used that amount of energy of course I will pay. As others have said I am very suprised that is t has got so high without anyone mentioning anything 

bagand96

Bane84 said:g

I have a smart reader. I would just like some confirmation as to what is going on, if I have used that amount of energy of course I will pay. As others have said I am very suprised that is t has got so high without anyone mentioning anything 

Your bills will have the answer of how much energy you’re using.

Keep in mind that whilst your DD is a fixed amount, your usage is not. And generally speaking we use a lot more energy in the winter than summer so you would expect to be in debit at this time of year (although your debt might be a bit high if your monthly payments aren’t going to cover your use)

More the the DD “cycle” https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2019/03/martin-lewis--how-to-reclaim-p100s-of-credit-from-your-energy-fi/

Hasbeen

Bane84 said:

I have a smart reader. I would just like some confirmation as to what is going on, if I have used that amount of energy of course I will pay. As others have said I am very suprised that is t has got so high without anyone mentioning anything 

If?
You have used that amount of energy.

As others have stated you pay a fixed DD into a pot to help pay your bill. £71.46 per month at this point. Your supplier may now recommend an increase.

In the summer you use less energy so your DD is more than ample and you build up some credit.

In the winter especially this year you have used a lot more energy, so the credit you have built up has partially went towards paying that. You have now went into debit.

No one has said anything? But they have informed you on your bill. They do not have to do anything as they will get the debit back when in the better weather you start using less, but are still paying £71 per month. For perhaps £50 usage. It is the way it works.

As the better weather kicks in you will start you use less again, and your DD will start to pay off the debit until you are in credit again.

If you want to, you can pay this off now and be in more credit next winter. Or increase your monthly DD by perhaps £20?  I would recommend that  to cover all bases.

There is no need to phone anyone. You have all the info in front of you and it has been clearly explained by posters here.  

Robin9

@Bane84   A MSE tip for you - save yourself the cost of a phone call.  Read your meter and enter it online.

[Deleted User]

Robin9 said:

@Bane84   A MSE tip for you - save yourself the cost of a phone call.  Read your meter and enter it online.

Give the chap a break. He has got a smart meter so readings should not be necessary. Before everyone jumps on the bandwagon and pours out the same repeated advice, the level of debit might not be that significant if the transfer to Octopus was, say, in November. All the OP needs to do is to look carefully at his usage to date; compare it with the usage used to calculate the monthly DD payment, and then see if any additional usage has to be paid for in the form of a higher monthly payment. The monthly DD payment can be adjusted in the OP’s online account. In my 3 years with Octopus they have never insisted - as many suppliers now do - that the account has to stay in credit.

Robin9

@[Deleted User] - I would like to disagree.

We know little other about  the OP than that he has a "meter reader".  Assuming that is the Smart meter and not the IHD we do not know if the Smart is actually in Smart mode - it may be dumb and all the readings may be estimated. That will be shown further into the portal.

Looking at an earlier post OP completed his house purchase in August 2020.  Assuming he did all the right things - giving readings and then swopping to Octopus  he is in debit of £284.He will not recover with lower usage in the Summer.

My advice to the OP remains - read that meter and get an up to date bill.

bristolleedsfan

The other thing is someone posted on Twitter today saying "email from Oliver at octopus saying we owe £37"  thus puzzling someone with recorded debit balance of £284 has not had anything from Octopus

Bane84

Wow. Nothing like coming on MSE forum to be lambasted. I came on here looking for advice. We have smart readers installed. When we moved from our flat to our home all meter readings were accurate.  When we rang to change address we were told we were in credit by £228, they told us they can put this money back into my acc. Which I readily agreed too. Had I known this would roll over to my winter balance I wouldn't have. 

Oh well, life's a learning curve. Thank you for all the explanations. I've always gotten confused between credit and debit as daft as that sounds.
Question now is do I pay it all off in one lump sum or do I wait til summer and let it work it's way down?

bagand96

Bane84 said:

Wow. Nothing like coming on MSE forum to be lambasted. I came on here looking for advice. We have smart readers installed. When we moved from our flat to our home all meter readings were accurate.  When we rang to change address we were told we were in credit by £228, they told us they can put this money back into my acc. Which I readily agreed too. Had I known this would roll over to my winter balance I wouldn't have. 

Oh well, life's a learning curve. Thank you for all the explanations. I've always gotten confused between credit and debit as daft as that sounds.
Question now is do I pay it all off in one lump sum or do I wait til summer and let it work it's way down?

It's really up to you, unless Octopus get in touch asking for payment, or to increase the DD.

You're paying £71.46 a month which is £858.72 over the year.  If your energy use will come out at around £858 over the 12 months then there's no need to do anything as it will work itself out over the rest of the year.  However if you end up using more, you will need to make a top up payment at some point otherwise the debit will just grow (and eventually Octopus will get in touch!).  Likewise, if you use less you'll end up with a credit.

It's difficult to give a definitive answer as energy use varies by seasons, and also you haven't been in your current house 12 months yet so don't have a decent 12 month usage estimate.  But have a browse back over your bills, they will show you how much energy is being used each month, both in kWh and in £.  That might help to give an indication either way.

Robin9

@Bane84 My apologies if I've come over as "lambasting" I am the others who replied are trying to help you.

I have another concern -  you say that a credit of £228 was carried over from you previous flat.  Please double check on your bills that this is the case  because if was not for that your debit would be £512 which is a staggering amount bearing in mind the monthly |DD you have been paying.  That is implying total bills to date of over £1000.

Which bears another question - what is your heating ?  If electric what form does it take - storage rads, panel heaters, underfloor. ...........   and if electric watch out for those showers.

Please do revisit those bills and check the meter reads - computer errors are not unknown and there have been cases of the new meters not being correctly recorded, if at all. Check the serial number of the meter itself and that on the bill.