Octopus Energy takes on Avro customers

Consumerist

For info

Anyone interested in the regional tariff cap from April 2022 can download a pdf <here>.

Hope it's not too much of a shock.

[Deleted User]

Hawkz said:

Communication for those in the final "10%" admittedly has been fairly poor, despite requesting updates frequently it looks like we'll remain in limbo for quite some time.

After the last email I received from Octopus I clicked on the link 'let me know' contained within it and gave them details of my account/credit balance once again. 

The reply from Octopus stated :

Thank you for your email headed 'Avro Account Balance' and for providing the information.

We apologise for the wait, the migration is a long and complex process. We appreciate your patience whilst we have been working through Avro's 600,000 customers.

I can confirm that the credit due back to you is £xxx.xx (the correct amount as per the last final Avro bill before they went bust).

This is the first confirmation Octopus have given me of my credit so I am cautiously optimistic that this will be refunded direct to my bank account before the end of February.

GClark303

Hawkz said:

Also the same here. Although we were one of those 'mid-switch' - Avro took a payment before the supply started, although went bust well before the start date. Weirdly, not sure if it's just us but we asked Octopus as only 'Gas' appears within our account and there's absolutely no record of Electricity on there anywhere despite being dual fuel.

I'm also fairly certain no-ones taken any form of payment since the initial Avro sign-up. Communication for those in the final "10%" admittedly has been fairly poor, despite requesting updates frequently it looks like we'll remain in limbo for quite some time.

Same here. Our switch to Avro completed the day they announced they were going bust, and after we were moved to Octopus only Gas is showing on our account, no electricity. Since September nothing much has happened other than me cancelling the direct debit with Avro and switching it to Octopus - the three payments I made to Avro are still not showing either. I’ve contacted Octopus several times for an explanation of what is happening but just keep being told “it will be sorted in a few weeks - reach out to us again if it isn’t”. 

oliverbrown

It would be nice if Octopus regularly gave us a better indication of exactly how many customers are yet to be transferred, rather than the vague "8-10%" figure we got 3 weeks ago.

Max68

Anyone know why energy companies can't drop standing charge prices to lower costs, unless it's to fill the shareholders pockets of course (allegedly!)? Unless these generally rise with energy prices.  With Shell a year ago I was paying around 15p as day for both, with Octopus it's now around 26p. 

QrizB

Max68 said:

Anyone know why energy companies can't drop standing charge prices to lower costs

Because "buy high, sell low" isn't a winning business strategy.

Consumerist

I wonder, has anyone had any thoughts on how the £200 energy loan may be implemented from October?

It occurs to me that by October, we will have built up a huge credit balance over the Summer if the full capped rates are applied until then.

Edit

To clarify, I'm thinking the DDs from April will be set on the basis of the capped rates applying for a whole year.

MWT

True, but given the capped rates are likely to go up again in October and the winter months are the highest consumption period, that balance may not be as 'huge' as it needs to be...

I do think that we are likely to see a flurry of people trying to get the £200 refunded to them and then a few months later realising that was a mistake...

Consumerist

The £200 will, apparently, be paid in instalments rather than in a lump sum. It hasn't yet been determined exactly how these instalments will be paid but will, hopefully, offset some of the likely increase to the cap in October.

I can imagine the outcry from people with large credit balances being asked to increase their DD from October.

Interesting times ahead, methinks.

polymaff

Consumerist said:

I wonder, has anyone had any thoughts on how the £200 energy loan may be implemented from October?

It occurs to me that by October, we will have built up a huge credit balance over the Summer if the full capped rates are applied until then.

I posted a graph on here recently which addresses that issue - for me.  If I leave my DD at the present level I build up no credit balance at all over April to October.

As I implied then, April to October will be a sort of "phoney war" for some - energy armageddon starts from October 22 on.