Octopus Billing Twice Monthly and DD Amount?

eliza2811

Hi,

I have been with Octopus for more than a year.  Have always had a SMETS1 smart meter.  Since the start of 2022, they have been billing twice per month.  Granted no days are overlapping but I have a fear of seeing debt on my energy accompany. Probably goes back to my childhood when my parents are always 'in the red' with the bank and I am determined not to be the same.  I pay Octopus by monthly DD and I can't get an answer out of customer service as to why I am getting twice billed but I like to set my DD collection date so my payment is on the account before the bill arrives.   Wondered if any other Octopus customers have had the same happen to them?  I have no IHD for my old smart meter by the way.   To be honest, I don't have time to ring Octopus.  Their customer service line is open very short hours for a largish energy company and I work those hours.   I have emailed but got no answer really.

Secondly, they've sent no recommendations as to what they think I should be paying now ?   Haven't other energy companies let their customers know to increase the DD ?  So i've read on this forum.     Is this the same for all Octopus customers ?  I'm on a Flexible (variable) Octopus tariff. 

Thanks all.

frankie

I've had a similar experience regarding legacy SMETS1.  When I was switched form Avro to Octy I had a conversation regarding SMETS1 was of no use and asked for it to be placed into dumb mode. This was actioned and I happily sent my gas and electric reading in at end of each month.

Somehow though I was getting electric only bills and an I found that the SMETS 1 had been reactivated.  I contacted Octy by emails and had a reply saying that it would take about 3 weeks for them to switch back to dumb mode.

As time passed I had yet another automatic electric bill generated, so I contacted them again to ask what was going on.

I got a reply saying due to OFGEM rules they were no longer able to switch of the SMETS 1. (I don't think that this is a correct interpretation of this ruling).

Anyway they said they were sorry for giving me the wrong information regarding switching off SMETS1 and have given me a £50 pay-out for giving wrong info!! 

So I will live with the useless SMETS1 and just keeping a close eye on my billing and also continue to manually enter gas and electric readings at end of each month.

youravinalarrrf

I've just been through a similar experience where I had a SMETS1 electricity smart meter and normal gas meter and they were billing twice a month for the electric. I have recently had Octopus upgrade both meters to SMETS2 meters.

The smart meter automatically provides them with a meter reading on a preset date each date (chosen by them not you) and when it does it subsequently produces a statement and you end up getting two statements per month. One from the automatic reading and one from your month end meter readings.

Ask them to set your smart meter to automatically bill from your preferred date each month so it coincides with your manual meter reading for the gas meter. It's a simple system setting they need to change.

Once that's been done you should only need to provide a manual meter reading for the gas meter. The meter reading for the SMETS1 electricity smart meter should be automatic from the same date each monthy (chosen by you).

You would think the simple solution would be to provide an option in your online account where you can select your preferred date each month.

As far as your direct debit amount is concerned log on to your online account and go to the "Change my payments" link then the "Edit payment amount" link and the Octopus recommended payment amount is shown there. You don't have to make any change if you don't want to but it does give you an idea of what it needs to be close to.

If you want to upgrade both your meters to SMETS2 register your interest here https://octopus.energy/help-and-faqs/categories/meters/when-can-i-get-a-smart-meter and be prepared to follow this up with customer services if you don't hear back from Octopus with fitting appointment date options within a reasonable time.

QrizB

frankie said:

So I will live with the useless SMETS1 and just keeping a close eye on my billing and also continue to manually enter gas and electric readings at end of each month.

I'm not sure you can claim it's useless when it seems to be working as intended?

bristolleedsfan

eliza2811 said:

Hi,

I have been with Octopus for more than a year.  Have always had a SMETS1 smart meter.  Since the start of 2022, they have been billing twice per month.  Granted no days are overlapping .  I pay Octopus by monthly DD and I can't get an answer out of customer service as to why I am getting twice billed 

They bill/send a statement every time they get a meter reading whether that is from smart meter/manual reading or combination of the two.

https://octopus.energy/blog/why-we-dont-send-monthly-statements/

pochase

bristolleedsfan said:

eliza2811 said:

Hi,

I have been with Octopus for more than a year.  Have always had a SMETS1 smart meter.  Since the start of 2022, they have been billing twice per month.  Granted no days are overlapping .  I pay Octopus by monthly DD and I can't get an answer out of customer service as to why I am getting twice billed 

They bill/send a statement every time they get a meter reading whether that is from smart meter/manual reading or combination of the two.

Where is the problem with that, most BG and EDF customers who get a bill only every 6 months would be happy with automatic generated bills each time a mete read is done. Just stop submitting manual reads if an automatic read is taken once a month.