Octopus have adjusted my direct debit

BooJewels

[Deleted User] said:

BooJewels said:

[Deleted User] said:

I have just seen this  (posted 14 hours ago):

[snip]

What if I don't want my Direct Debit put down?

If you’d prefer to build up the govt support as credit, you can change your Direct Debit online any time octopus.energy/dashboard

Thanks for that - it explains the situation I've encountered - which has ended up with what I was actually hoping for - I don't know whether by design, or pure fluke.  My DD had been dropped from £100 to £33 - which was way too low, even with the Government credit - as I'd dropped my DD earlier this year due to a build up of credit.   I'd intended to increase it again from October due to the price rises. But my forecast and suggested DD were different amounts. 

In the end, I went with their suggested [and un-adjustable] increase to £151.91 - which will be a smidge too much - my own optimal number was £146, and as I'd already allowed a 10% usage contingency, that should have been more than enough.  If it then rises by +67 in April, which I suspect that it will, I'll have to adjust it back down.  At £151.91 + the Government credit, I should remain [indeed, slightly build] in decent credit going forwards.

I have offered some feedback to Octopus as I don't think that they have communicated very well with their customers. Arguably, as I am a low energy user and I have what Octopus calls a payment holiday they have artificially increased my monthly payment without any re-calculation to show that it is necessary. All that is needed is a few words of explanation not hidden away in social media. I rarely look at Facebook and never Twitter.

I'd concur, in this instance.  I got myself in a pickle trying to work out how the Government credit would work (because my September payment had just gone out and I wanted to change the amount from October forwards) and in part because what energy companies are doing differs from what the Government web site - and lots of other sites like finance blogs and the BBC states. And once in my Octopus account, the links from there to explanations weren't actually the latest incarnation of what they were doing.  I ended up doing a search from outside the Octopus site to find their own latest version on their site.  It wouldn't even occur to me to look at Facebook or Twitter - I'd expect posts there to reflect what was on their own site, not be the main source.  Maybe I'm behind the times.

So, in this instance, the fine detail has been poorly communicated.  I can understand to some extent - there has been a lot to implement recently and no doubt a lot of additional contact from customers too.  But one of the quickest ways to mitigate the latter is to ensure that what you publish is totally clear and full.  The people updating the web site are no doubt not the same ones answering the phones or replying to CS emails - so that would seem to be the easiest and most efficient way to communicate.

wild666

I reckon that I could reduce my DD to around £13 and still keep a credit of over £260 come April 2023. What will happen from April 2023 is anyone's guess but I'm keeping my DD at £55 plus the £66/67 rebate my monthly bill will be around £80 per month until April 2023.

chels

Anybody have any thoughts on what Octopus might do regarding my payments?

This morning I saw that they have reduced by monthly payment from £150.00 to £83.00 but a couple of days ago I had been trying to reduce the £150.00 to £120.00 per month myself but I was getting error messages, I guess due them in the process or updating their systems with new direct debit amounts for customers.  So this morning I reduced my direct debit to £60.00 but I'm now wondering if me reducing the amount myself might mess up the reduction due to the rebate, i.e. they might adjust the direct direct from £60.00 to zero taking into account the £67.00 rebate amount although it does show £60.00 to be taken on the 1st of October at the moment so maybe it's ok.

I was planning to call them to ask but I'd prefer to avoid that if I can.  I suppose I could just leave it and just see what happens for October's payment and take if from there.

[Deleted User]

chels said:

Anybody have any thoughts on what Octopus might do regarding my payments?

This morning I saw that they have reduced by monthly payment from £150.00 to £83.00 but a couple of days ago I had been trying to reduce the £150.00 to £120.00 per month myself but I was getting error messages, I guess due them in the process or updating their systems with new direct debit amounts for customers.  So this morning I reduced my direct debit to £60.00 but I'm now wondering if me reducing the amount myself might mess up the reduction due to the rebate, i.e. they might adjust the direct direct from £60.00 to zero taking into account the £67.00 rebate amount although it does show £60.00 to be taken on the 1st of October at the moment so maybe it's ok.

I was planning to call them to ask but I'd prefer to avoid that if I can.  I suppose I could just leave it and just see what happens for October's payment and take if from there.

If they're already adjusted your DD for the rebate, I think it's unlikely that they will go back in and do it again now you've changed it.

It'll have been a one-shot software tool to adjust them.

chels

Yeah, my feeling is the £60.00 amount I had set would be ok and what you've said makes sense.

BooJewels

I wondered the same @chels - if I'd trip something up by manually adjusting the DD, after they'd accounted for the Government credit.  I too have decided to just let it ride and see how it works out.  I have enough credit for a couple of months anyway, so I'm not going to get into any immediate difficulty.

MWT

They are happy for you to adjust it as you see fit after their reduction for the £66/67.

We should all keep an eye on the balance as we move forward as unless you are on a fix that is already below the new cap, there are going to be other changes hitting the account from 1st Oct.

BooJewels

MWT said:

They are happy for you to adjust it as you see fit after their reduction for the £66/67.

We should all keep an eye on the balance as we move forward as unless you are on a fix that is already below the new cap, there are going to be other changes hitting the account from 1st Oct.

My own annual projection has already accounted for the post-October prices, so I'm pretty sure that I should be right going forwards. 

double_dutchy

youravinalarrrf said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but Octopus appear to be reducing my Direct Debit by £67 (£245 down to £178) from 1st October not the £66 as posted in their blog https://octopus.energy/blog/energy-crisis-support/#400energybillspayment ?

Are they incapable of doing simple arithmetic?

I thought that too, but I assume they only want to reduce the DD once, not adjust now by £66 and the again by another pound. They will presumably only credit £66 to your account in October

wild666

I just checked my payment and it also says I have a payment holiday like a few others on this thread. Personally I'd rather keep paying the £55 DD, maybe I might make an additional payment every month, it might not be £55 but it would be something like say £30. 
What concerns me is that others who have their payments reduced might suddenly find that come April 2023 when the £67 rebates end people who have spent the money on other things find that they still spend on the other things and get into difficulty with their energy accounts which will suddenly increase by £67 per month.