Octopus, confused

Jamesdeer001

Hi

My Octopus fix ends on 22nd March and if I'm honest, I'm confused about what to do and what the future bills will be

I've used the MSE energy club. Currently paying £1400 per year and according to the energy club, I'll automatically go onto Flexible Octopus v2, putting my bills at £1750 per year.


But when I compare the rates on the MSE energy club for Flexible Octopus v2 with what is listed by Octopus here (https://octoenergy-production-media.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Flexible_Octopus_April_2022__PDF_VAT.pdf) the rates are completely different, almost double, and I calculate make my bills about £3000 per year.

I don't understand why there is such a large disparity? Does the energy club not have the latest Octopus flexible rates or am I missing something else?

Thanks in advance and apologies if it's a stupid question

Kind regards

[Deleted User]

Jamesdeer001 said:

Hi

My Octopus fix ends on 22nd March and if I'm honest, I'm confused about what to do and what the future bills will be

I've used the MSE energy club. Currently paying £1400 per year and according to the energy club, I'll automatically go onto Flexible Octopus v2, putting my bills at £1750 per year.


But when I compare the rates on the MSE energy club for Flexible Octopus v2 with what is listed by Octopus here (https://octoenergy-production-media.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Flexible_Octopus_April_2022__PDF_VAT.pdf) the rates are completely different, almost double, and I calculate make my bills about £3000 per year.

I don't understand why there is such a large disparity? Does the energy club not have the latest Octopus flexible rates or am I missing something else?

Thanks in advance and apologies if it's a stupid question

Kind regards

I cannot speak for MSE but fixed tariff prices have been changing weekly to reflect market uncertainty. I suspect that price comparison websites are having problems keeping up. I suggest that you take a look at the Citizens Advice Energy Comparison tool.

razord

@Jamesdeer001 The prices for Flexible Octopus don't go up until 1st April - so no price comparisons will have that included in their numbers yet. You'll need to do the calculations yourself.

I suspect, I'm afraid, given you're on a fix that's ending, a doubling to £3000 is probably about right for you - and the cheapest you're going to get.

Jamesdeer001

razord said:

@Jamesdeer001 The prices for Flexible Octopus don't go up until 1st April - so no price comparisons will have that included in their numbers yet. You'll need to do the calculations yourself.

I suspect, I'm afraid, given you're on a fix that's ending, a doubling to £3000 is probably about right for you - and the cheapest you're going to get.

Thanks - I tried to second guess this and updated the energy club calculation to have my fix ending in May. And based on the May end date, it still said flexible Octopus 2 and £1750 per year. I'm guessing it must mean that the energy club is simply out of date.

I just did a quote through citizen advice and utility warehouse came out £2700, including stuff I don't need like broadband and mobile contract

razord

@Jamesdeer001 Not so much out of date, but the price simply hasn't changed yet for them to include it. There's no concept of a tariff price changing on a fixed date with most price comparison sites.

You can get an idea of it by saying you're on Shell's Flexible 7 - that's a tariff that does have the new price cap rates already - but remember Octopus will be £51 cheaper the yearly price quoted for that as an existing customer. Octopus's flexible rate will be the cheapest possible energy you can get for the next few months, but it will go up again in October.

Jamesdeer001

razord said:

@Jamesdeer001 Not so much out of date, but the price simply hasn't changed yet for them to include it. There's no concept of a tariff price changing on a fixed date with most price comparison sites.

You can get an idea of it by saying you're on Shell's Flexible 7 - that's a tariff that does have the new price cap rates already - but remember Octopus will be £51 cheaper the yearly price quoted for that as an existing customer. Octopus's flexible rate will be the cheapest possible energy you can get for the next few months, but it will go up again in October.

thank you