Octopus hikes estimated annual usage way above actual usage

rhedyn

I've been with Octopus since January 2016 and generally very happy with them, however noting my latest from them has hiked my estimated annual usage to 10860 kWh/year and set my direct debit accordingly, despite the fact that my actual annual usage is 7551 kWh/year per their own annual statements and there is no reason why it should increase -- if anything my electric usage has been on a steady downward trend as I make improvements.  Their website won't let me reduce the direct debit amount below their estimate, so I've emailed to complain and request a fix.  Definitely check the estimated annual usage on your latest bill against your actual annual usage if you can!

MWT

rhedyn said:

I've been with Octopus since January 2016 and generally very happy with them, however noting my latest from them has hiked my estimated annual usage to 10860 kWh/year and set my direct debit accordingly, despite the fact that my actual annual usage is 7551 kWh/year per their own annual statements and there is no reason why it should increase -- if anything my electric usage has been on a steady downward trend as I make improvements.  Their website won't let me reduce the direct debit amount below their estimate, so I've emailed to complain and request a fix.  Definitely check the estimated annual usage on your latest bill against your actual annual usage if you can!

If the estimate is wrong they will fix that for you, should be easy enough to confirm with meter readings from last year.

If the DD is not allowing a reduction, check the balance on your account, has it gone negative?

rhedyn

The balance on my account is currently -£125.37 ahead of the upcoming direct debit, which Octopus has set at £282.07/month.  I tried to set it to £190/month which would cover my annual usage at the April price cap, but it gave me an error message saying amount can not be lower than £282.07.

MWT

rhedyn said:

The balance on my account is currently -£125.37 ahead of the upcoming direct debit, which Octopus has set at £282.07/month.  I tried to set it to £190/month which would cover my annual usage at the April price cap, but it gave me an error message saying amount can not be lower than £282.07.

I'm not too surprised that they are limiting the DD then, if you keep your account positive you should have full control of the DD setting, but if you are letting it go negative and not correcting with a one-off payment then I can see why the restriction is there.

rhedyn

Fine, I have just done a one off payment to reduce my balance to zero.  It still won't let me change the direct debit amount, now it says "Sorry, this payment amount requires approval."  Let me be clear that I have never run a negative balance, Octopus has 5+ years of me being a steady reliable customer and has had to refund me excessive balance before.  The £125.37 is just my current bill, about to be paid, and would obviously be more than covered by the £190 dd that they won't let me set it to.  Anyway, hopefully they reply to my email reasonably soon.

TheMilkmansDad

I think I'm correct in saying most energy providers like to keep accounts in credit by at least a months usage. So part of the reason in this instance would be to both clear the debit balance and consequently increase the credit balance.

If you've made a one-off payment to clear the debt I would still expect them to be requesting your DD to be slightly above the annual usage/12 figure in order to get your account in credit. Although the amount they are requesting appears to be slightly over what I would deem a reasonable amount.

rhedyn

The amount they are requesting and refusing to let me adjust is pinned to a usage estimate for me that is nearly half again my actual documented usage (144% to be precise).  I am not sure why people here seem so keen to explain that away.

bristolleedsfan

rhedyn said:

The amount they are requesting and refusing to let me adjust is pinned to a usage estimate for me that is nearly half again my actual documented usage (144% to be precise).  I am not sure why people here seem so keen to explain that away.

You could ask to change to Variable direct debit, full payment taken 10/14 days after statement/bill is issued.

MWT

rhedyn said:

The amount they are requesting and refusing to let me adjust is pinned to a usage estimate for me that is nearly half again my actual documented usage (144% to be precise).  I am not sure why people here seem so keen to explain that away.

Not trying to explain that away, as per my first post, they will fix that once they review the actual annual usage.

The rest is just about making sure to keep your account in credit as that tends to allow you more latitude when manually adjusting your DD.

It may take a few days to get the estimate revised, but it will get done.

rhedyn

bristolleedsfan said:

rhedyn said:

The amount they are requesting and refusing to let me adjust is pinned to a usage estimate for me that is nearly half again my actual documented usage (144% to be precise).  I am not sure why people here seem so keen to explain that away.

You could ask to change to Variable direct debit, full payment taken 10/14 days after statement/bill is issued.

I may well do that, thanks.  If they'll just fix the estimate to match their own actual data for last year then that'll sort it.  I'm happy to pay reasonable numbers but am not happy to be forced to loan them £1200.  And people are quick to say it doesn't matter about the estimate because you can adjust your own direct debit amount, but apparently that's not actually true.

MWT

rhedyn said:

 And people are quick to say it doesn't matter about the estimate because you can adjust your own direct debit amount, but apparently that's not actually true.

This gets a bit circular I know, but it is generally true, as long as you keep the account in credit.

I suspect it is just a unlucky timing to get the wrong estimate, resulting in an increased DD at the same moment as your account was not in credit which in turn limited your options on changing the DD.

It will get sorted out though.