Octopus have adjusted my direct debit

MalMonroe

I am with Octopus and because my balances were always in credit (I always asked for them back) and they suggested increasing the DD to a sum that was ridiculous, I wrote to them - by email - and said I'd be cancelling the Direct Debit and paying on receipt of the bill they send me after I've submitted my meter readings at the end of every month. 

On their website it states that you will not be penalised, whatever payment method you use. So where some companies reward those using direct debits, Octopus maintains that nobody should be out of pocket just because they choose not to use direct debit. 

I'm afraid that I see no point in having a credit balance on any energy account. The money is then in their account to make interest for them when I'm selfish enough to want it in my bank account, making (small amounts, yes but it's mine) interest.

As I'm assured by Octopus that I won't lose out by using my debit card, I'm really happy with my revised payment method and feel that I'm in better control than when they were adding £20 here and £30 there. 

I was able to adjust my direct debit figure upwards but never the opposite way. Now I feel I can manage. I've been saving up and with the government's help I know I can manage. I will not panic. And if all else fails, I'll call upon the extra £300 we pensioners are promised in November. 

This has just been my experience but all these big energy firms (Octopus started off so small! Now it seems to be a bit of an international concern.) are making far too much money for me to be feeling good about having my energy bill in credit.

My council rent account is in credit yes but that's so I can have three weeks rent free at Christmas instead of two. It works for me, anyway.    

[Deleted User]

MalMonroe said:

I am with Octopus and because my balances were always in credit (I always asked for them back) and they suggested increasing the DD to a sum that was ridiculous, I wrote to them - by email - and said I'd be cancelling the Direct Debit and paying on receipt of the bill they send me after I've submitted my meter readings at the end of every month. 

On their website it states that you will not be penalised, whatever payment method you use. So where some companies reward those using direct debits, Octopus maintains that nobody should be out of pocket just because they choose not to use direct debit. 

I'm afraid that I see no point in having a credit balance on any energy account. The money is then in their account to make interest for them when I'm selfish enough to want it in my bank account, making (small amounts, yes but it's mine) interest.

As I'm assured by Octopus that I won't lose out by using my debit card, I'm really happy with my revised payment method and feel that I'm in better control than when they were adding £20 here and £30 there. 

I was able to adjust my direct debit figure upwards but never the opposite way. Now I feel I can manage. I've been saving up and with the government's help I know I can manage. I will not panic. And if all else fails, I'll call upon the extra £300 we pensioners are promised in November. 

This has just been my experience but all these big energy firms (Octopus started off so small! Now it seems to be a bit of an international concern.) are making far too much money for me to be feeling good about having my energy bill in credit.

My council rent account is in credit yes but that's so I can have three weeks rent free at Christmas instead of two. It works for me, anyway.    

Be careful now though.  The standing charges and unit rates corresponding to the cap are not the same for the different payment methods.

Octopus now use this to say "we are not penalising you, it is the set rates that are different" and actually does charge more for payment by debit card when compared to payment by direct debit.

Direct quote from the Octopus site:

Why do I get energy ~£80 cheaper by paying by Direct Debit?

Our Flexible tariff will have slightly different unit rates and standing charges based on your payment method. The £80 isn’t a flat discount for Direct Debit customers (or a charge on non-Direct Debit customers) – it’s the typical savings an average home could see over a year on the cheaper Direct Debit rates.If you change how you pay, our system will pick that up and adjust your rates automatically, so if you don’t have a Direct Debit right now, it’s super easy to access the cheapest prices.

All you need to do is set up a Direct Debit online and we’ll do the rest.

Not having a Direct Debit costs us a lot more in admin. We don't think it's fair to make everyone cover that extra cost, so we do offer a cheaper rate for those who choose to pay by Direct Debit, which costs us less to manage. We run an incredibly efficient business, which means you’ll still get a great price if you choose to pay a different way – roughly £100 cheaper than the October Price Cap.

badger09

@MalMunroe

May I offer an alternative to the fixed monthly DD you don’t want? Why not ask Octopus to put you on a variable DD, whereby you pay each month for what you’ve used. That way, you’re still in control but won’t lose the ‘discount’ for payment by DD

I think you have to phone them but others have done it. 

oliverbrown

Another direct debit change today, my DD is now sitting between the pre and post price guarantee DD amounts.

baser999

badger09 said:

@MalMunroe

May I offer an alternative to the fixed monthly DD you don’t want? Why not ask Octopus to put you on a variable DD, whereby you pay each month for what you’ve used. That way, you’re still in control but won’t lose the ‘discount’ for payment by DD

I think you have to phone them but others have done it. 

And is it not possible to adjust the DD payment yourself on their site? Believe they ‘recommend’ a monthly sum based on usage etc but this could be amended to your choosing.
I’ve just had notice of the amount they suggest be paid from November which isn’t a great deal more than what I’m presently paying; at this stage I can afford it so will go with it but keep submitting monthly readings

Chrysalis

baser999 said:

badger09 said:

@MalMunroe

May I offer an alternative to the fixed monthly DD you don’t want? Why not ask Octopus to put you on a variable DD, whereby you pay each month for what you’ve used. That way, you’re still in control but won’t lose the ‘discount’ for payment by DD

I think you have to phone them but others have done it. 

And is it not possible to adjust the DD payment yourself on their site? Believe they ‘recommend’ a monthly sum based on usage etc but this could be amended to your choosing.
I’ve just had notice of the amount they suggest be paid from November which isn’t a great deal more than what I’m presently paying; at this stage I can afford it so will go with it but keep submitting monthly readings

Octopus let you adjust but only to a certain point, when they bumped me to over £400 a 400+% jump, they only let me reduce a little bit and I had to ring customer services to get it back to where it should be (for my case).

dander

I've never had a problem adjusting my own direct debits on octopus - I do quite a bit of tweaking, but to be fair I've never tried to go down hugely. I doubled it back in march when I realised prices were surging and just typed new amount in, clicked save and it was accepted. Obviously octopus reduced it, but I've gone back in and put it up again to a sort of middle ground so the April "cliff" doesn't come as a shock. Again, just clicked changed saved. Im on a smart meter so I'm always working on actual readings rather than estimates, possibly they are less flexible with people on estimated readings.