Does Octopus offer variable direct debit?

Spoonie_Turtle

Netexporter said:

Andreg said:

Netexporter said:

Andreg said:

I found variable direct debit, where they debit the full amount of each month's bill, is actually less variable than a 'fixed' direct debit.  With a supposedly fixed direct debit they make such huge errors with their estimates of annual usage that you end up building big debit / credit balances and then having huge 'corrections'.

Variable direct debit is obviously higher in winter but that is predictable and easy to budget for, unlike the changes in fixed direct debits which seem to come out of the blue.

Or you can just monitor you credit/debit levels and change the fixed DD amount, to suit, with a couple of clicks.

In fact quite often you can't change it to the required amount with a couple of clicks, because the amount you want is outside their system's tolerance, so you have to phone someone up and discuss it with them.  And if you have accidentally built up a large debit balance, you're going to have to pay it anyway.  Complete waste of time.

Not my experience. In fact I changed mine from £60 to £10 a few days ago. I could probably have changed it to zero, which is what Octopus did when the government payments came in.

Do you have a decent chunk of credit on your account?

I got a refund of most of my credit and took my DD down to £3 last year without issue, then once the EBSS payments finished the DD automatically went up to £70.  I tried to put it back down (to get cashback from card payments instead) but the system wouldn't let me and nor would the AI responses to my e-mails.
I couldn't be bothered to pursue it further, as I don't have effort to waste on things that aren't important enough.

Netexporter

Do you have a decent chunk of credit on your account?

Enough to see me through to the end of the year at my previous Agile bill amounts. I've not done an Agile winter, before, so I may have to revise things sooner.

Spoonie_Turtle

Netexporter said:

Do you have a decent chunk of credit on your account?

Enough to see me through to the end of the year at my previous Agile bill amounts. I've not done an Agile winter, before, so I may have to revise things sooner.

That's almost certainly why they let you drop your DD low then.  I don't know what the credit threshold is, proportionally, but from past experiences and now I do know a low amount of credit means they won't let you go below the recommeded DD amount without manual approval.

Netexporter

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Netexporter said:

Do you have a decent chunk of credit on your account?

Enough to see me through to the end of the year at my previous Agile bill amounts. I've not done an Agile winter, before, so I may have to revise things sooner.

That's almost certainly why they let you drop your DD low then.  I don't know what the credit threshold is, proportionally, but from past experiences and now I do know a low amount of credit means they won't let you go below the recommeded DD amount without manual approval.

But there is no need to drop you DD if you haven't got a surplus. If you want "free" credit then go onto a quarterly in arrears account. It'll cost you even more than a pre-payment account, of course.

Spoonie_Turtle

Netexporter said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Netexporter said:

Do you have a decent chunk of credit on your account?

Enough to see me through to the end of the year at my previous Agile bill amounts. I've not done an Agile winter, before, so I may have to revise things sooner.

That's almost certainly why they let you drop your DD low then.  I don't know what the credit threshold is, proportionally, but from past experiences and now I do know a low amount of credit means they won't let you go below the recommeded DD amount without manual approval.

But there is no need to drop you DD if you haven't got a surplus. If you want "free" credit then go onto a quarterly in arrears account. It'll cost you even more than a pre-payment account, of course.

The reason I wanted to drop it was to pay the extra on my card to make use of cashback on that (as was the case the first time I dropped it down, when they let me because a human read my e-mail that time).  But as I said it wasn't important enough to expend energy pursuing.

juneanne

I watched Morning Live on BBC1 a few days ago and my ears 'pricked up' when one of the presenters said that paying by variable direct debit, as opposed to fixed direct debit, may cost more because it involves more work on the providers part.  I have paid by variable direct debit for a few years now both with Utility Warehouse and currently with Octopus and at no stage has anyone from these companies advised me this would cost me more. I emailed Octopus this question and was astounded by the reply that paying by variable DD costs me around an extra £80 per year! What a scandal !!!! I've paid by variable DD so that I can keep a closer track on my consumption.  Needless to say I have now reverted to paying by fixed DD. I wonder how many more people are unaware of this. If you are one of them ask your provider about  it.

Gerry1

It doesn't cost any more to pay Octopus by Monthly Variable Direct Debit compared to Fixed Variable Direct: the kWh rates and standing charges are the same.

pseudodox

Gerry1 said:

It doesn't cost any more to pay Octopus by Monthly Variable Direct Debit compared to Fixed Variable Direct: the kWh rates and standing charges are the same.

That's my experience also.  The unit & s/c rates are the same for MVDD as for FDD if you are on standard tariffs.  I don't think @juneanne has been given accurate facts.  Sounds more like a contrast between DD & pay on receipt by other means.  I have yet to see how getting a guaranteed amount of money each month (albeit in arrears) means massive admin costs for the energy company.  They don't have to keep track of any over/under payments or ever have to return any surplus to me.  I don't take up CS time with questions or complaints.  All they do is have their system produce an accurate monthly bill & then take the DD.

juneanne

I will ring Octopus customer service to get to the bottom of this. As mentioned I had an email from them stating it costs around £80 extra p.a.to pay by variable DD instead of fixed. Why would someone give me the wrong information? Will keep you posted.

GingerTim

Could you post the content of this email? I suspect it's just a misunderstanding or miscommunication that's at fault.

(It might be that a variable direct debit payment at this time of year would be £80 more than a fixed one, where the cost is spread out over the year, since you use more in the winter months?)