Octopus Tracker

Chris4

What's the thinking in terms of Octopus Tracker Vs the new MSE exclusive deal with E.ON Next that's 7% below the Price Cap?



There's mixed messages, as the Cheap Energy Club says I'll save 5% with E.ON...

However it also mentions Octopus Tracker "in the last few months [has] been 35% cheaper than the Price Cap", though I don't know how up to date that is...


I wish I had the time and brain power to do some data analytics and forecasts 😅

QrizB

Chris4 said:

However it also mentions Octopus Tracker "in the last few months [has] been 35% cheaper than the Price Cap", though I don't know how up to date that is...

The past month or two have been relatively expensive on Tracker, but still (often) cheaper than the Ofgem cap. Gas has been relatively cheaper than electricity.
You can see historic prices here (this page is for my region; there will be a similar one for yours).
https://energy-stats.uk/octopus-tracker-southern-england/

Telegraph_Sam

And it looks like  the later / latest version of Tracker has less appeal than its predecessors. You could try Octopus Compare for additional data

Doc_N

masonic said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

I like the Twitter pun (?)
I could end up treading where you have trod (how to go about doing a formal complaint / escalation?)
I think their tactics are to bury me in a multitude of detail reckoning that I will soon get lost and throw in the towel. Whereas my defence is that I did everything by the rules. And if there is some software accounting bug that wants now to recreate the past, that leaves me seriously out of pocket then that is for them not me to resolve.
I wonder if cases such as this are very much the exception

If you need it: https://octopus.energy/unhappy/
I had thought my case was quite exceptional, but there are a limited number of people who regularly post to this thread. If two of them have had this issue within a few months of each other, it suggests it is rather more common than I had thought.

Three actually, and doubtless more. I won’t bore you with the details, which have already been posted, but it was absolutely impossible to get Octopus to sort out the mess and pay me the several hundred pounds due. Reference to the Energy Ombudsman was simple, quick, and resulted in a payment, an apology and a very chunky compensation payment. The case handler seemed incredulous at the total failure by Octopus to sort it out themselves - goodness knows I gave them enough time and enough chances.

VoucherMan

Chris4 said:

What's the thinking in terms of Octopus Tracker Vs the new MSE exclusive deal with E.ON Next that's 7% below the Price Cap?

I'm sticking with tracker for now.
Looking at the prices for North west, gas prices for the latest tracker have mostly been below E.ON's rate, except for a couple of bad news days, and I'm hoping once the cold spell passes, prices will drop a bit more. Electricity prices have been notably higher than the price cap & the E.ON tariff, but they're calm winter days. I'm still optimistic for savings as the year goes on, albeit much smaller than last year.

There's also the hope that Octopus will continue free electricity sessions, so I may be able to have the occasional free binge.

Chris4 said:

There's mixed messages, as the Cheap Energy Club says I'll save 5% with E.ON...

Not sure how you get that. For me at least, CEC doesn't include tracker. How can it compare as the prices change daily?

All that said, I'm a relatively low user, so I'll not lose out much if I've made a bad choice.

Something else you may also want to consider. For me, the the E.ON tariff would be 2p a day more expensive on the gas standing charge, but 7p a day cheaper for electric, so an immediate saving of £18 a year. Not much, but maybe enough to swing it for a low user.

double_dutchy

Chris4 said:

What's the thinking in terms of Octopus Tracker Vs the new MSE exclusive deal with E.ON Next that's 7% below the Price Cap?

You'll need a crystal ball to know whether EON's fix will be cheaper than Tracker

The gas rates in the EON 16 month fix aren't great (higher for me than the currently available Octopus 14m fix) and Fuse Energy offer cheaper electric rates, so a combination of those two might possibly be cheaper (I also like the fact that Fuse automatically use "variable direct debit" to take the whole bill amount each month.)

Telegraph_Sam

Doc_N said:

masonic said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

I like the Twitter pun (?)
I could end up treading where you have trod (how to go about doing a formal complaint / escalation?)
I think their tactics are to bury me in a multitude of detail reckoning that I will soon get lost and throw in the towel. Whereas my defence is that I did everything by the rules. And if there is some software accounting bug that wants now to recreate the past, that leaves me seriously out of pocket then that is for them not me to resolve.
I wonder if cases such as this are very much the exception

If you need it: https://octopus.energy/unhappy/
I had thought my case was quite exceptional, but there are a limited number of people who regularly post to this thread. If two of them have had this issue within a few months of each other, it suggests it is rather more common than I had thought.

Three actually, and doubtless more. I won’t bore you with the details, which have already been posted, but it was absolutely impossible to get Octopus to sort out the mess and pay me the several hundred pounds due. Reference to the Energy Ombudsman was simple, quick, and resulted in a payment, an apology and a very chunky compensation payment. The case handler seemed incredulous at the total failure by Octopus to sort it out themselves - goodness knows I gave them enough time and enough chances.

I may well ask for the benefit of your experience with going the Ombudaman route if my latest telephone appeal with Octopus to be reasonable doesn't bear fruit.

amanda1024

Does the Tracker version change every 3 months? I'm on the Dec 23 version (gas only), which has been comfortably below SVT the whole time, but Octopus want to me to 'renew' onto the Dec 24 version, which seems to have been generally at or above SVT - I'm assuming this will still be the latest version on 5th February 2025 (which is apparently the end of a 12 months fixed term which started on 12th February 2024 - I guess using a special definition of 12 months that's only 360 days). If the Dec 24 version doesn't improve in relation to the SVT, I'll definitely be tempted to look elsewhere (although unfortunately the best rates aren't available gas-only; I'm planning to stick with Octopus for electricity since I have solar panels).

Telegraph_Sam

I think there's also the lethergy or inertia factor to consider. I also have solar panels and have now ended up with a split FIT / SEG agreement that pays into an Octopus Outgoig Fixed account. Not the simplest of arrangements. If the prospect arose of transferring everything to another provider I could well chicken out.

debitcardmayhem

amanda1024 said:

Does the Tracker version change every 3 months? I'm on the Dec 23 version (gas only), which has been comfortably below SVT the whole time, but Octopus want to me to 'renew' onto the Dec 24 version, which seems to have been generally at or above SVT - I'm assuming this will still be the latest version on 5th February 2025 (which is apparently the end of a 12 months fixed term which started on 12th February 2024 - I guess using a special definition of 12 months that's only 360 days). If the Dec 24 version doesn't improve in relation to the SVT, I'll definitely be tempted to look elsewhere (although unfortunately the best rates aren't available gas-only; I'm planning to stick with Octopus for electricity since I have solar panels).

I fixed on Dec 24v1 (fixed) for gas, I doubt that the 24 tracker will be viable, but i don’t have a crystal ball. If Russia and Ukraine stop fighting and Europe allows more gas then I would guess gas might stop its upward trend. Based on forecasts from trading economics UK gas may end up 15~20% higher at the end of 2025.