Octopus - Variable Direct debit 6 March at 5:32PM in Energy 16 replies 737 views

tunde10

Just moved to Octopus. They are taking my first payment by direct debit tomorrow which is fine.

I always prefer to pay by variable direct debit (monthly).

I went to the edit payment section and i can't see this option currently. Do they offer this & if so how long before i can move to this? 

MWT

Just give them a call and ask to move to variable DD, you can't do it online but it shouldn't be a problem if you call...

EssexHebridean

They initially set me up as variable and then I changed my mind during the phone call when I first joined them - it was the work of seconds to switch me back again! 

tunde10

Thanks, i'll call/email them after my first payment goes through.

MWT

tunde10 said:

Thanks, i'll call/email them after my first payment goes through.

Call if you can, email may take a couple of weeks, but if you are not in a rush it will get sorted eventually...

t0rt0ise

I did it by email before the first payment was due. 

tunde10

MWT said:

tunde10 said:

Thanks, i'll call/email them after my first payment goes through.

Call if you can, email may take a couple of weeks, but if you are not in a rush it will get sorted eventually...

Thanks, not in a rush as they've already taken the advance D/D. I scheduled the next payment for 22 April so more than enough time.

Qyburn

I'm on variable DD with Octopus. One disadvantage is it's not necessarily just one payment per month as they generate a bill and associated DD whenever anything changes and at other apparently random times.  For example in my case they billed on 29th Sep and October, with in each case a separate additional bill to complete the calendar month.

We got this sorted eventually for December. Then off the rails again in January with one bill covering the time before the Smart Meter install and a second one for the rest of the month. Changing to Tracker resulted in four bills in February, one when they asked for a meter reading, one when the tariff actually changed two days later, one on the 20th for no apparent reason, then a final one to complete the month. 

So they took three DDs in February, would have been more if we weren't now in credit thanks to the £67 and £200 subsidies.

tunde10

I think with a smart meter, you would probably avoid the multiple bills in a month.

EssexHebridean

tunde10 said:

I think with a smart meter, you would probably avoid the multiple bills in a month.

I think Qyburn's 4 bills were after their SM install? 

Dolor

5tunde10 said:

I think with a smart meter, you would probably avoid the multiple bills in a month.

Unless Octopus has been able to recover missing smart meter data for those of us on a t-o-u tariff. I got a bill last week for £0.55 with data recovered from 16th March 2022.