Octopus asking new homeowner to moved to fixed tariff on registering account - no option for SVR

MWT

wittynamegoeshere said:

Bills are not legally allowed to raise their default tariff above this until April 2022, they're all now charging this maximum rate so variable rates can not rise until April - after the cold weather is over for the year.

Actually Octopus is one of the few that have their SVT priced slightly below the cap...

Only about £10 below, but it all helps.

wittynamegoeshere

MWT said:

wittynamegoeshere said:

Bills are not legally allowed to raise their default tariff above this until April 2022, they're all now charging this maximum rate so variable rates can not rise until April - after the cold weather is over for the year.

Actually Octopus is one of the few that have their SVT priced slightly below the cap...

Only about £10 below, but it all helps.

I didn't realise they still were, surely not for long though?  It's not like their customers will have any practical choice to leave them.

bristolleedsfan

serendipity109 said:

wittynamegoeshere said:I don't really understand your question, but are you aware of the "cap"?

Bills are not legally allowed to raise their default tariff above this until April 2022, they're all now charging this maximum rate so variable rates can not rise until April - after the cold weather is over for the year.

Trying to predict the price for winter 2022-2023 is just taking a wild guess based on nothing, absolutely nobody knows.

They're all required to offer a default standard tariff at the capped rate - at which price they'll lose money every time you use a unit of power.  So they all seem to be coming up with new ways to make it as difficult as possible to get it and some are definitely using deception to try and mislead their customers into agreeing into a tariff that is almost certainly going to cost them more.

If you phone and they refuse to put you on this tariff then mention the words "Ofgem" or "Ombudsman".

But I would first check that online application and scour every corner of the screen for an almost invisible, tiny link or button that lets you have the standard tariff.  It's possibly the equivalent of ordering from Amazon without signing up for a Prime membership!

Yes, well aware of the cap. There didn't appear to be an option anywhere to choose the standard tariff.
We will see how she get on over the phone can I will update.

Within the couple of weeks they have introduced  Occupier Flexible Octopus October 2021 v1 which I guess is for people moving into properties already supplied by Octopus, this version is same rate as Flexible Octopus current version, I am suprised they didnt include it within what ever registration process they have for that situation.

In same way as people who phone to switch still get refer a friend credit quoting relevant details when they could have done it online, being as your daughter was unable to sign up to that tariff online, no reason at all why she shouldnt get £25 credit dealing by phone.

MWT

wittynamegoeshere said:

MWT said:

wittynamegoeshere said:

Bills are not legally allowed to raise their default tariff above this until April 2022, they're all now charging this maximum rate so variable rates can not rise until April - after the cold weather is over for the year.

Actually Octopus is one of the few that have their SVT priced slightly below the cap...

Only about £10 below, but it all helps.

I didn't realise they still were, surely not for long though?  It's not like their customers will have any practical choice to leave them.

Octopus tend to err on the 'customer friendly' side of things in general so I wouldn't expect that to change any time soon.

That is why, as a rule, if you encounter anything that feels 'wrong' or 'underhand' like this current situation, it is far more likely to be an unintended consequence than a deliberate strategy.

Octopus really aren't like other energy suppliers...

serendipity109

She has tried calling but cannot get through, being on a limited lunchtime has had to give up, I have told her to email them instead for now.

MWT

serendipity109 said:

She has tried calling but cannot get through, being on a limited lunchtime has had to give up, I have told her to email them instead for now.

Unfortunately they are currently deluged with calls from the 600,000 Avro customers they are in the middle of taking on.

E-mail may also take a while to get answered, but she need not be in any hurry to resolve this as the tariff she is currently on is the one she wants anyway.

Just be very clear in the email that she is happy to provide her payment details so she can be charged, but she does not wish to be moved to a fixed tariff.

Brie

And she doesn't need to accept their DD of £140 a month.  If the property has been serviced for £70 a month for some time then she should be able to get a similar - unless the previous owner was on a particularly low tariff for some reason.  I rarely accept the suggested DD amount from a company as it often assumes on a worst case scenario rather than what is true.  I do however also make it clear that should the account fall into debit I am perfectly willing to do an occasional top up.

MWT

Brie said:

And she doesn't need to accept their DD of £140 a month.  If the property has been serviced for £70 a month for some time then she should be able to get a similar - unless the previous owner was on a particularly low tariff for some reason.

It seems highly likely that any current SVT is going to be more expensive than any older tariff, fixed or variable, but the good news with Octopus is that you can change your DD online any time you want to, and similarly make top-up payments if you are not covering your costs with the DD.

niktheguru

I think before panicking and saying octopus are being unreasonable you need to wait to actually speak to octopus, either by calling them (which like others have said may be difficult due to their excess of avro customers calling them about their switch) or by emailing and awaiting their response. 
I'm sure they'll do what your daughter wants and be reasonable.

serendipity109

niktheguru said:

I think before panicking and saying octopus are being unreasonable you need to wait to actually speak to octopus, either by calling them (which like others have said may be difficult due to their excess of avro customers calling them about their switch) or by emailing and awaiting their response. 
I'm sure they'll do what your daughter wants and be reasonable.

I am not saying they are unreasonable, just asking if anyone else had come across this. I am sure they'll be fine.