Octopus Don't understand tarriff offer

Stace255

The fix i am being offered by Octopus is over double what I am currently paying I don't understand how this can be correct. I was expecting an increase in my bill of around 55%. This is more than 100%. Can this be correct?

Stace255

Just to add, my current annual bill is £1,086. There has been no significant change to our consumption. 

Verdigris

The 54% figure is the change in the SVT, offered by all suppliers, between the current price and the new cap in April. This is for a mythical "average" user.

Fixed price deals are not subject to the cap.

Ultrasonic

What was the name of the tariff were you on before, what is the new proposed tariff name (I'm guessing it may be a 1 year fix?) and what are your estimated annual energy usage figures in kWh? All three will affect the price increase you will see.

The cheapest in the short term (April through September) would be to not take a fixed tariff but the standard variable tariff (Flexible Octopus I think?). Come October there will almost certainly be another price increase, which there being HUGE uncertainly over how much due to the Ukrainian crisis. 

QrizB

Stace255 said:

The fix i am being offered by Octopus is over double what I am currently paying I don't understand how this can be correct. I was expecting an increase in my bill of around 55%. This is more than 100%. Can this be correct?

The 54% increase is the average increase for a customer on a standard variable tariff. As Verdigris says:

Verdigris said:

Fixed price deals are not subject to the cap.

If you can tell us your estimated annual usage for gas & electricity we can calculate your likely bill on a variable tariff from April, or you can refer to this table here.

Stace255

I am on Flexible Avro. The new fix is Loyal Octopus 12m fixed. 

I don't know my annual usage as I can't get my old bills/readings from Avro. All I know this that since I was switched over to Octopus on 20 September I have used 760kWh gas and 1021kWh electricity. This is correct to todays date.

Appreciate this is not too helpful!

QrizB

Stace255 said:

I am on Flexible Avro. The new fix is Loyal Octopus 12m fixed. 
I don't know my annual usage as I can't get my old bills/readings from Avro. All I know this that since I was switched over to Octopus on 20 September I have used 760kWh gas and 1021kWh electricity. This is correct to todays date.
Appreciate this is not too helpful!

Is that definitely 760kWh of gas (a very low number for a whole winter) or is it 760 cubic metres (more likely, and more consistent with Octopus's £2800 forecast)?

QrizB

Stace255 said:

I am on Flexible Avro. The new fix is Loyal Octopus 12m fixed. 

I don't know my annual usage as I can't get my old bills/readings from Avro. All I know this that since I was switched over to Octopus on 20 September I have used 760kWh gas and 1021kWh electricity. This is correct to todays date.

Appreciate this is not too helpful!

Let's do a very crude (likely to be high) estimate and assume that your annual usage is twice what you've used since switching to Octopus. Let's also assume that your gas figure is cubic metres. That gives a rounded annual usage of 2050kWh of electricity and 17000kWh of gas.

• Current cap (Flexible Avro): £1300/yr, £110/month
• April cap (Flexible Octopus): £2100/yr, £175/month
• Loyal Octopus: £2840/yr, £235/month

That "Loyal Octopus" number isn't far off what you've been quoted, so the annual consumption figures are a reasonable guess. Staying on Flexible Octopus will save you money until the price changes in October.

Stace255

QrizB said:

Stace255 said:

I am on Flexible Avro. The new fix is Loyal Octopus 12m fixed. 

I don't know my annual usage as I can't get my old bills/readings from Avro. All I know this that since I was switched over to Octopus on 20 September I have used 760kWh gas and 1021kWh electricity. This is correct to todays date.

Appreciate this is not too helpful!

Let's do a very crude (likely to be high) estimate and assume that your annual usage is twice what you've used since switching to Octopus. Let's also assume that your gas figure is cubic metres. That gives a rounded annual usage of 2050kWh of electricity and 17000kWh of gas.

• Current cap (Flexible Avro): £1300/yr, £110/month
• April cap (Flexible Octopus): £2100/yr, £175/month
• Loyal Octopus: £2840/yr, £235/month

That "Loyal Octopus" number isn't far off what you've been quoted, so the annual consumption figures are a reasonable guess. Staying on Flexible Octopus will save you money until the price changes in October.

Sorry. You are right it is cubic metres. This is really helpful. Much appreciated.

[Deleted User]

QrizB said:

That "Loyal Octopus" number isn't far off what you've been quoted, so the annual consumption figures are a reasonable guess. Staying on Flexible Octopus will save you money until the price changes in October.

However, the converse may also be true. Going for a fix now protects you against what some analysts are suggesting might be a 50% hike in October. The problem is that none of us know what the future holds re energy prices.

MWT

[Deleted User] said:

QrizB said:

That "Loyal Octopus" number isn't far off what you've been quoted, so the annual consumption figures are a reasonable guess. Staying on Flexible Octopus will save you money until the price changes in October.

However, the converse may also be true. Going for a fix now protects you against what some analysts are suggesting might be a 50% hike in October. The problem is that none of us know what the future holds re energy prices.

That is certainly my position on this.

The extra I'll pay on my minimal energy use over the April-September period is the price of insurance against even higher costs next winter.