Moved home - what are my options re: energy? Supplier is Octopus.

crompton

We've just got the keys to our new house, the energy supplier for gas & elec is Octopus.

What are my options re: fixing / moving to a different provider? Through all the stress of buying the house, moving house and working to get the house ready to move in my brain is frazzled. 

Aside from knowing that all indications are that prices are going to rise, I've got no idea what options are available to me and have never used Octopus before so unsure as to what their prices / customer service are like.

Mstty

When you can switch to green energy sparkling tariff as it's the lowest priced energy on the market right now.

https://www.greenenergyuk.com/

The majority here say customer service with Octopus is good but their prices for fixes can be on the high side historically. Some interesting tariffs like Go for EV users, Agile and Tracker but all three have had recent price hikes.

MWT

Looks like you won the supplier lottery then ... none of them are perfect, but Octopus is very well regarded generally.

Right now you have no choices to make, you must register with your existing supplier and initially at least, ask to stay on their Standard Variable Tariff, do not just pick a fixed tariff, so you may need to phone them to register.

Keep_pedalling

You don’t happen to drive an EV do you? 

elsien

Your option are going to be very limited because most suppliers aren't taking new customers on, or if they are it's primarily onto the more expensive fixed tariffs.  

crompton

MWT said:

... you must register with your existing supplier and initially at least, ask to stay on their Standard Variable Tariff, do not just pick a fixed tariff, so you may need to phone them to register ...

I've registered and setup with Octopus on the standard variable tariff so that's one job done 

Keep_pedalling said:

You don’t happen to drive an EV do you? 

No, not yet, although we've just had the house rewired and in doing so we've got a feed running to the side of the house in anticipation of adding a charging point for the driveway in future.

TheMilkmansDad

Take your meter readings (photos also a good idea) and get on the phone to Octopus. Explain you've moved in to a property where they are the current supplier. Provide them meter reads and moving date as well as personal details to set up your account. By default you'll be on the Standard tariff, I'd stay on this for now (bearing in mind it is due to go up in October).

Provide/keep a record of monthly (at least) meter readings so you get an idea of usage.

Enjoy your new home.

crompton

MWT said:

Looks like you won the supplier lottery then ... none of them are perfect, but Octopus is very well regarded generally.

Right now you have no choices to make, you must register with your existing supplier and initially at least, ask to stay on their Standard Variable Tariff, do not just pick a fixed tariff, so you may need to phone them to register.

Just logged into my account with Octopus and checked, the tariff we're on is called "Flexible Octopus April 2022 v1"

Is this the same as the standard variable tariff? It says:

"Flexible Octopus is a variable tariff, which means your prices can rise and fall with wholesale energy prices. We'll always give you at reasonable notice of a change, and you can switch to a fixed tariff at any time to lock your energy prices in for 12 months." 

What is considered reasonable notice of a change? I can't find anything in their FAQ's ? 

The unit prices and standard charges on this tariff are quite good compared to what they currently offer on a fix, not sure how that'll compare come October though.

Current

Elec - 28.01p / kWh
Elec - 41.98p / day

Gas - 7.34p / kWh
Gas - 27.22p / day

The Loyal Octopus 12month fix is around double the price for the unit charges, standing charges stay the same.

pochase

It is their SVT and it will change on the 1st of October.

They should send you the new rates 3 weeks before this. This might change as the new cap is now announced much later than it was before.

MWT

crompton said:

What is considered reasonable notice of a change? I can't find anything in their FAQ's ?

Ofgem removed the previous specific number of days and just left everyone with 'reasonable notice'.

It is generally interpreted as enough time to change tariff or switch before the change takes effect, which is also not a precise answer, but  for fixed tariffs, Octopus usually give 45 days notice of the end of the tariff, for the standard variable rate it will be driven  by the date that Ofgem actually announce the new cap...

Alnat1

At least with Octopus you get regular bills, at least every 3 months. You can also manually read your meters (even if you have smart meters) enter them online and it auto generates a bill a day or two later.

It's not too bad if you phone either, usually answered within a few minutes, rather than a few hours like many suppliers at the moment.

Have they set you up with a variable or fixed DD? You can change either way online if it's not what you want.