Octopus Tracker

marlot

Doc_N said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

Electricity obviously takes on more importance relatively in normal summer months.
The question of silly D/D amounts crops up regularly. I can never understand why not everyone uses variable D/D's which zero the account each month and remove the star gazing that is needed for fixed amounts and large credit (never debit) balances.

Not always permitted. Do Octopus allow it on Tracker?

Another person here who does it.  I messaged Octopus and they did it same day, about a year ago.

crumpet_man

Telegraph_Sam said:

Electricity obviously takes on more importance relatively in normal summer months.
The question of silly D/D amounts crops up regularly. I can never understand why not everyone uses variable D/D's which zero the account each month and remove the star gazing that is needed for fixed amounts and large credit (never debit) balances.

Some people do not know how to budget.

Spoonie_Turtle

crumpet_man said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

Electricity obviously takes on more importance relatively in normal summer months.
The question of silly D/D amounts crops up regularly. I can never understand why not everyone uses variable D/D's which zero the account each month and remove the star gazing that is needed for fixed amounts and large credit (never debit) balances.

Some people do not know how to budget.

Fixed DDs are precisely for budgeting, with the same fairly fixed outgoings each month it makes it simpler to budget one's income.

masonic

Spoonie_Turtle said:

crumpet_man said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

Electricity obviously takes on more importance relatively in normal summer months.
The question of silly D/D amounts crops up regularly. I can never understand why not everyone uses variable D/D's which zero the account each month and remove the star gazing that is needed for fixed amounts and large credit (never debit) balances.

Some people do not know how to budget.

Fixed DDs are precisely for budgeting, with the same fairly fixed outgoings each month it makes it simpler to budget one's income.

It is true that this is the stated reason for the system, but it doesn't seem to work very well in practice. Without regular user-intervention, the systems of most suppliers are designed to carry an unnecessarily large credit balance, and with some historical exceptions, do not pay a decent rate of interest on the credit balance which accrues. I suspect the real reason is that it is good for the supplier to have capital with which to secure forward supply contracts, rather than being created to benefit the consumer.

While this is just an anecdote, I was speaking with my elderly mother just last week and she was telling me that she had an email from Octopus saying that they were almost doubling her monthly DD. This is after the existing monthly payment exceeded her usage through each of the winter months and she was already carrying enough credit to cover about 6 months without any further payments. In the end she called them and as well as cancelling the DD hike, they gave her half the credit balance back and agreed what she had left was more than enough to act as a safety margin against rising costs this coming winter. It doesn't seem like it should be a vast technical challenge to set the level of DD appropriately through an automated system.

MP1995

Not to derail tracker chat into DD chat but all this comes down to is the customer knowing what they use, planning and budgeting and setting their own DD with the energy supplier if this is their preferred method.

Historically very low DD's going out before the 'energy crisis' and no one cared about credit build up as energy was cheap and about 1-3% of the average single wage.

I see this as money management on the customers part and its good for them to keep on top of these things.

FreeBear

Joined Octopus at the beginning of the year, and I set my DD at a level that would cover winter bills. A month later, Octopus decided to cut the DD by a third without any prompting. Having been on Tracker for a few months now, a small credit has built up (around £50) - Will keep an eye on it now that gas consumption is at a minimum for the summer months, and perhaps reduce the DD by another 20-25%.

Having a fixed DD helps with budgeting, and I don't begrudge a small credit balance of say £100-150 (enough to cover the worst monthly bill).

crumpet_man

Spoonie_Turtle said:

crumpet_man said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

Electricity obviously takes on more importance relatively in normal summer months.
The question of silly D/D amounts crops up regularly. I can never understand why not everyone uses variable D/D's which zero the account each month and remove the star gazing that is needed for fixed amounts and large credit (never debit) balances.

Some people do not know how to budget.

Fixed DDs are precisely for budgeting, with the same fairly fixed outgoings each month it makes it simpler to budget one's income.

Sorry for the continued side track.

My interpretation is that they don't know how to budget themselves so they let the energy company take care of it.

If you do it "properly" you would only pay the amount due and set aside funds in savings account ready for the big winter bills.

BarelySentientAI

crumpet_man said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

crumpet_man said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

Electricity obviously takes on more importance relatively in normal summer months.
The question of silly D/D amounts crops up regularly. I can never understand why not everyone uses variable D/D's which zero the account each month and remove the star gazing that is needed for fixed amounts and large credit (never debit) balances.

Some people do not know how to budget.

Fixed DDs are precisely for budgeting, with the same fairly fixed outgoings each month it makes it simpler to budget one's income.

Sorry for the continued side track.

My interpretation is that they don't know how to budget themselves so they let the energy company take care of it.

If you do it "properly" you would only pay the amount due and set aside funds in savings account ready for the big winter bills.

Why does budgeting 'properly' only include setting money aside in a savings account, possibly by some method like paying a fixed payment of 1/12 of the likely bill into that savings account, but wouldn't include setting money aside in an energy account by paying a fixed payment of 1/12 of the likely bill into the energy account.

You're making an arbitrary distinction that is completely unnecessary to justify your particular point of view and to be honest, its offensive.

FreeBear

BarelySentientAI said:

crumpet_man said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

crumpet_man said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

Electricity obviously takes on more importance relatively in normal summer months.
The question of silly D/D amounts crops up regularly. I can never understand why not everyone uses variable D/D's which zero the account each month and remove the star gazing that is needed for fixed amounts and large credit (never debit) balances.

Some people do not know how to budget.

Fixed DDs are precisely for budgeting, with the same fairly fixed outgoings each month it makes it simpler to budget one's income.

Sorry for the continued side track.

My interpretation is that they don't know how to budget themselves so they let the energy company take care of it.

If you do it "properly" you would only pay the amount due and set aside funds in savings account ready for the big winter bills.

Why does budgeting 'properly' only include setting money aside in a savings account, possibly by some method like paying a fixed payment of 1/12 of the likely bill into that savings account, but wouldn't include setting money aside in an energy account by paying a fixed payment of 1/12 of the likely bill into the energy account.

You're making an arbitrary distinction that is completely unnecessary to justify your particular point of view and to be honest, its offensive.

I agree, the "don't know how to budget" assertion is offensive.

Having a fixed DD going out each month is just one form of budgeting, and one I'm happy to use as long as the credit does not build to excessive amounts. Interest rates paid on savings is pretty darned poor, and have been for a very long time. So putting away £100 isn't going to accrue much interest in a month.

marlot

crumpet_man said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

crumpet_man said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

Electricity obviously takes on more importance relatively in normal summer months.
The question of silly D/D amounts crops up regularly. I can never understand why not everyone uses variable D/D's which zero the account each month and remove the star gazing that is needed for fixed amounts and large credit (never debit) balances.

Some people do not know how to budget.

Fixed DDs are precisely for budgeting, with the same fairly fixed outgoings each month it makes it simpler to budget one's income.

Sorry for the continued side track.

My interpretation is that they don't know how to budget themselves so they let the energy company take care of it.

If you do it "properly" you would only pay the amount due and set aside funds in savings account ready for the big winter bills.

Different people have different drivers when it comes to life.  I've worked with people who set money aside for bills, and those who have not.  Those who budget for their retirement and those who do not.

It gets even more complicated when a couple has different attitudes and financial risk profiles.

I don't see a right way or a wrong way.  I see a way that works for me, which I use.  And if someone else wants to do it differently, as long as it works, that's fine too.