Received my first energy bill in 6 months, after moving out!

Corrant

I have received my first energy bill in 6 months after moving out. 

After moving in around 6 months ago I received a a 'welcome' letter from bulb who were the energy supplier in my new home. I tried contacting bulb but was informed that they had been taken over by Octopus energy. I then contacted Octopus energy who informed me that the account associated with the address was being transferred over and I was to wait until it had done so. 

On my last day in the flat, I received and estimated energy bill from Octopus Energy addressed to the occupier which isn't an insignificant sum of money. There are a number of issues with the bill including start dates etc. but I was hoping that somebody would have some advice in this scenario?

A significant portion of the bill is attributed to the daily standing charge for electricity and gas (of which I used very little) and was wonder if I would have any option to opt for a tariff / supplier with a lower standing charge had I been able to. I appreciate that due to price caps etc. I wouldn't have saved on my usage by changing suppliers or tariffs. 

I fully intend on paying a fair bill for the energy I have used but would appreciate any advice or suggestions anybody might have. 

Thanks in advance.

MSE_ForumTeam5

We've moved this thread to the Energy board

Spoonie_Turtle

Corrant said:

A significant portion of the bill is attributed to the daily standing charge for electricity and gas (of which I used very little) and was wonder if I would have any option to opt for a tariff / supplier with a lower standing charge had I been able to.

Standing charges are/were the same across suppliers, except maybe Octopus being a few pence cheaper but you probably would have run into problems trying to switch anyway, whilst the Bulb account was in no-man's-land in the takeover.

Gerry1

For future reference, always read all the meters (including water) on the day you take possession (not necessarily the moving day).

Register with the suppliers, set up DDs and send the opening readings.  Don't rely on anyone taking the readings for you, insist on doing it yourself.  Make sure you're on the Electoral Register.

[Deleted User]

Corrant said:

I have received my first energy bill in 6 months after moving out. 

After moving in around 6 months ago I received a a 'welcome' letter from bulb who were the energy supplier in my new home. I tried contacting bulb but was informed that they had been taken over by Octopus energy. I then contacted Octopus energy who informed me that the account associated with the address was being transferred over and I was to wait until it had done so. 

On my last day in the flat, I received and estimated energy bill from Octopus Energy addressed to the occupier which isn't an insignificant sum of money. There are a number of issues with the bill including start dates etc. but I was hoping that somebody would have some advice in this scenario?

A significant portion of the bill is attributed to the daily standing charge for electricity and gas (of which I used very little) and was wonder if I would have any option to opt for a tariff / supplier with a lower standing charge had I been able to. I appreciate that due to price caps etc. I wouldn't have saved on my usage by changing suppliers or tariffs. 

I fully intend on paying a fair bill for the energy I have used but would appreciate any advice or suggestions anybody might have. 

Thanks in advance.

By the sound of it, Octopus has met the first part of its obligation which was to provide to provide you with a Final Bill within 6 weeks of moving out. Under the terms of its Licence, it can amend the Final Bill when new information comes to light.

As for the rest of it, you have been unlucky. You could have written to Bulb copy Octopus with the date that you became responsible for the property along with meter readings, and then switched - with the caveat that not many suppliers were taking on new customers at the time. The ‘good news’ is that you haven’t lost our financially thanks to the Ofgem Cap; the EPG and the EBSS.

QrizB

Dolor's mention of the EBSS made me wonder:

Corrant said:

A significant portion of the bill is attributed to the daily standing charge for electricity and gas (of which I used very little)

The £66/£67 a month EBSS payments should more than cover your standing charges.

Did you receive them?

How much was this bill, and how much energy did you actually use over the period?

Qyburn

Corrant said:

On my last day in the flat, I received and estimated energy bill from Octopus Energy addressed to the occupier which isn't an insignificant sum of money. There are a number of issues with the bill including start dates etc. but I was hoping that somebody would have some advice in this scenario?

"On my last day" sounds like it was before you moved out, what period did it cover? From my experience Octopus bills are one or two days after the period covered, for example I received a bill on 2nd June, dated 1st June, covering electricity used for 1st to 31st May. The other slight oddity with Octopus is that they treat a manual meter reading as applying at the previous midnight. 

Did you give the a true meter reading on the day you were leaving? They should then have issued a new bill covering the period after the previous bill, up to the end of the day before you moved out.

mebu60

Gerry1 said:

For future reference, always read all the meters (including water) on the day you take possession (not necessarily the moving day).

Register with the suppliers, set up DDs and send the opening readings.  Don't rely on anyone taking the readings for you, insist on doing it yourself.  Make sure you're on the Electoral Register.

And take photos of meter readings. On taking possession and on leaving. 

Gerry1

mebu60 said:

Gerry1 said:

For future reference, always read all the meters (including water) on the day you take possession (not necessarily the moving day).

Register with the suppliers, set up DDs and send the opening readings.  Don't rely on anyone taking the readings for you, insist on doing it yourself.  Make sure you're on the Electoral Register.

And take photos of meter readings. On taking possession and on leaving. 

If you really want to be bomb-proof (e.g. the previous tenant did a moonlight flit or there was a void period) just make a short video showing the meter and a DAB radio displaying the date / time and tuned to the news headlines !

Yorkie006

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Corrant said:

A significant portion of the bill is attributed to the daily standing charge for electricity and gas (of which I used very little) and was wonder if I would have any option to opt for a tariff / supplier with a lower standing charge had I been able to.

Standing charges are/were the same across suppliers, except maybe Octopus being a few pence cheaper but you probably would have run into problems trying to switch anyway, whilst the Bulb account was in no-man's-land in the takeover.

Utilita doesn't have any standing charges (but the unit price is higher). Depending on how much energy was used, it may have been cheaper than Bulb/Octopus.