Octopus Energy tried to treble my monthly payments

Sea_Shell

markin said:

aaiiee said:

I recently tried to work out what my winter bills will be, assuming I can reduce energy usage by 10 per cent compared with last winter, and assuming elec unit cost of 42p/kWh and gas at 11.8pkWh.

My predicted average monthly cost for next October to March was almost exactly 3 times my May bill.

Every household is different of course, and you don't say when your fixes will end, but sadly I'm afraid we all need to prepare for really high costs next winter.

Some have said they have saved 20% this year just for the fact that winter was above average, doing nothing else, So if this coming winter is even average or below you  can expect it to be 6-20% more this year and any actual saving you make may just be to hold it at last years level.

I do worry that people could be being lulled into a false sense of security if they are only looking at the last 12 months usage in isolation to calculate their coming costs. (especially if they don't have their own records going back further).

Like you say, many peoples usage has dropped off, purely because of a mild winter.   A harsh winter on top of the price increases could have an even more dramatic effect than people expect.

QrizB

markin said:

Some have said they have saved 20% this year just for the fact that winter was above average, doing nothing else

My gas consumption for the 12 months to the end of May 2021 was 11000kWh.

To the end of May 2022 it was 7000kWh. That's a ~35% reduction, and most of that was due to it being a milder winter.

Chrysalis

[Deleted User] said:

Chrysalis said:

bristolleedsfan said:

Chrysalis said:

Looks good then, hopefully I get my swap over done on Monday.

I just clicked through switch to Agile via online dashboard just to test and it went through fine, could it be type of meter you have.

I suspect its either because I am on a coop tariff (coop customer managed by octopus) or my current bill dispute with them, I will find out on Monday.  Knowing my luck the tariff will be gone then.

It has long been the case that the customers of a white-label supplier are treated separately from those with the licensed supplier. To get Octopus tariffs, a Coop customer would normally have to initiate a change of supplier to Octopus. The same applies, for example, for customers of Sainsbury's Energy supplied by British Gas.

Well I just rang and the story reminded me of when I was trying to get my IHD fixed, I got told there is an issue with the meter and a diagnostics needs to run, and then I will get an email in an hour and I can try again.  Since they only told me to wait an hour instead of days, I will do what I was asked, but if it doesnt work then, I will ring back and suggest it might be because I have a coop account.

pochase

If you are with Coop Energy you most likely will only get the tariffs offered by them and I cannot find Agile or Tracker on their web site.

We just had this discussion for Eon Next and Sainsbury. Different branding, different tariffs. 

Chrysalis

The brand has been switched over now, the second call handler refused to put me on agile, as she insisted it was a bad move, but I got the brand changed which will hopefully allow the automation to work.

Chrysalis

Sea_Shell said:

markin said:

aaiiee said:

I recently tried to work out what my winter bills will be, assuming I can reduce energy usage by 10 per cent compared with last winter, and assuming elec unit cost of 42p/kWh and gas at 11.8pkWh.

My predicted average monthly cost for next October to March was almost exactly 3 times my May bill.

Every household is different of course, and you don't say when your fixes will end, but sadly I'm afraid we all need to prepare for really high costs next winter.

Some have said they have saved 20% this year just for the fact that winter was above average, doing nothing else, So if this coming winter is even average or below you  can expect it to be 6-20% more this year and any actual saving you make may just be to hold it at last years level.

I do worry that people could be being lulled into a false sense of security if they are only looking at the last 12 months usage in isolation to calculate their coming costs. (especially if they don't have their own records going back further).

Like you say, many peoples usage has dropped off, purely because of a mild winter.   A harsh winter on top of the price increases could have an even more dramatic effect than people expect.

In my case I have about 5 years of records, and I dont use heating in winter, instead I put on extra clothes.  So seasonal weather doesnt impact my usage much.  But I do get this isnt the case for everyone.  I tried to get my 10k electric prediction fixed on my call today but was just told to ignore it and not worry about it, so sadly I dont think Octopus have any motivations to get these inaccuracies fixed.

Chrysalis

Ive not tried again yet as the lady was adamant I was been stupid, but here is some quick maths.

current tariff 6 units day average 30 days month £49.68 usage cost and £13.34 SC cost, total monthly cost £63
agile assuming always hitting 35p cap, £63 usage cost and £6.30 SC cost, total monthly cost £69

both exc VAT, I expect after October agile would be wiping out that £6 month loss with a much bigger gain, and then only 3 months after with the more frequent SVR increases it will get even better.

My usage isnt centered around peak hours either.

Chrysalis

I switched over now, so the reason was of course the branding, I am a little wary there is nothing in writing at all in regard to this been a 12m thing, but I will respect Mstty on this as he has put time into the research.