Shell switching to Octopus

AndyP1957

I for one am not happy with this announcement.

We are on a direct debit tariff with Shell whereby our bill is cleared in full every month. The rates we are given being the same as those on fixed repayments where amounts are changed on a whim by companies.

Speaking to Octopus prior to any switch occurring they advise I will be on a higher rate tariff - is this legal - there is absolutely no way I am prepared to accept the fixed repayments as that sort of tariff affects my mental health for which I am deemed disabled.

So surely this becomes disability discrimination

TheMilkmansDad

I think you need to take a step back and understand the process.

What tariff are you currently on with Shell? Fixed or variable? If fixed then yes, you may possibly be paying slightly more as you will be moved to the variable Octopus rate which is near as damnit the same as the Shell variable rate.

Once you've moved to Octopus you can request to be put on the VMDD whereby you pay for exactly what you use each month as opposed to the fixed monthly DD. The unit tariff for both these methods are exactly the same so over the course of the year you'd pay the same - maybe slightly more if you stat with fixed monthly DD as you'd need to build up a credit balance. With VMDD you will not hold any credit on account.

Could you elaborate on how this switch can come under Disability Discrimination, in case I've missed something.

AndyP1957

Hi thanks for the reply. The tariff currently on with Shell is Flexible 12 Direct Debit ebill.  The fixed amount DD's were affecting my health (severe anxiety and PTSD) as were constantly changing the amounts, as a result I had to cancel all DD's and revert to payment as such on receipt.

Looking at Octopus, the tariff quoted was near enough identical to that we are currently on, but they said it had to be a fixed amount each month, when told my situation to be told I would be penalised effectively because I didnt want / or need their budget type charging, upset me as you will no doubt appreciate, and prompted my comments on here.

All companies have a legal obligation under the 2015 Disability Discrimination acts to ensure that such persons are not detrimentally affected in their day to day living. So advising that I would be penalised because of my request for such billing because of my Mental Health disabilities is a clear discrimination. 

Gerry1

You can pay your Octopus bill via Monthly Variable Direct Debit, just call them when they start supplying you, so that won't be a problem.

Shell had a very poor reputation whereas Octopus are well regarded on the forum and have been recommended by 'Which?' for several years on a row.

I think you'll find your Octopus standing charges will be about 4% lower than other suppliers.

So the good news is that everything should improve with Octopus !

AndyP1957

Gerry1 said:

You can pay your Octopus bill via Monthly Variable Direct Debit, just call them when they start supplying you, so that won't be a problem.

Shell had a very poor reputation whereas Octopus are well regarded on the forum and have been recommended by 'Which?' for several years on a row.

I think you'll find your Octopus standing charges will be about 4% lower than other suppliers.

So the good news is that everything should improve with Octopus !

Thanks for this - we must have been lucky as Shell were always brilliant with us hence why we had stayed with them

la531983

AndyP1957 said:

So surely this becomes disability discrimination

Absolutely not.

Spoonie_Turtle

AndyP1957 said:

All companies have a legal obligation under the 2015 Disability Discrimination acts to ensure that such persons are not detrimentally affected in their day to day living. 

You either mean the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act or the 2010 Equality Act. 
Either way, they're irrelevant because Octopus offer variable Direct Debit paying the actual amount of energy used each month.  (And if they didn't, you'd simply have to switch to a different supplier who did which nowadays is quick and simple.)

AndyP1957

I didnt come on here for an argument, I came on for advice which a couple of people were kind enough to respond to, arguments affect my health. And the key point out of all this is that the Octopus Customer Service Agent did NOT answer the question correctly.which TheMilkmansdad and Gerry1 above answered for me. If you want to argue discrimination suggest you go elsewhere as this is not the forum for doing that

la531983

Nobody is arguing with you, merely pointing out you cant make statements that are wholly untrue and expect not to be picked up on it.