Shell Energy taken over by Octopus

MikeL93

Hi, I have been with Shell Energy since I moved into my first home in September 2022. I am not on a Direct Debit as at the time I moved in they weren't offering any due to energy prices so I have been on a flexible tariff ever since which has actually worked out cheaper than paying Direct Debit as there are days when me and my girlfriend are at work hardly any energy gets used at all.

A few weeks ago I got an email saying I would be moving over to Octopus as they had bought Shell and I got an email from Octopus earlier in the week telling me I am now their customer. I am still staying on the same tariff but I cannot find any information anywhere as to whether or not my bill date will stay the same as it was with Shell. My bill date with Shell is the 4th of every month and this has worked great for me as it has allowed me to budget effectively every month. I emailed Octopus asking them to clarify this but as of yet they have not got back to me. Also I was on a smart meter with Shell which when I looked on their app showed me how much energy I was using every day.

This is my first time dealing with something like this so I am a little bit confused as to what is going on. Is it likely my bill date will stay the same with Octopus and will they still be able to use the same smart meter?

MikeJXE

Send Octopus a meter reading and you should get a bill 3 ish days later

It does take some time for them to respond to emails 

When I joined in last February they allowed me to set my own DD figure and I send them a reading every 1st of the month 

TheElectricCow

In my experience Octopus have always billed around the same day of the month that you start a new tariff with them, so if you get set up on the 4th that should be your billing date.

An important thing to note is that your payment method is completely separate from your tariff. You could be on a flexible tariff and pay by direct debit, or you can be on a fixed tariff and not pay by direct debit. You can even have a direct debit set up to pay off the bill in full every month, so you only ever pay for the energy actually used in that month.

Paying by DD gives you a small discount on your bill, so this will be cheaper than not paying by DD even without changing tariffs.

Octopus are very good with DDs as they also allow you to choose your own payment amount and date the money gets taken if you wish to manage it yourself, or for the variable direct debit method a quick email to customer services should be able get that set up.

The Octopus app has quite a few nice features and will also show you your daily usage figures.

QrizB

TheElectricCow said:

An important thing to note is that your payment method is completely separate from your tariff. You could be on a flexible tariff and pay by direct debit, or you can be on a fixed tariff and not pay by direct debit. You can even have a direct debit set up to pay off the bill in full every month, so you only ever pay for the energy actually used in that month.

I'll add that, with Octopus, your bill date and DD payment date are two different dates.

For example, my bill date is the 27th of the month, and my DD is taken on the 5th.

Octopus allow you to adjust your DD amount and date through your account on their website. See screenshot below:

EssexHebridean

The app also makes things really easy to manage, I’d recommend getting that installed ASAP! 

Ammah45

I have also been a Shell customer on their Flexible 13 v2 tariff and am expected to switch over to Octapus in the next few months. But when I look on the Octapus website, their prices are higher than what I am already paying which means that my bills will rise by about £400 a year according to their estimate.
I am wondering whether I should move to So Energy which is quoting me a much cheaper rate. Does anyone know anything about So?

PeterGr

I'm also a Shell customer but when I put my postcode in the Octopus website I get a quote which is identical to Shell's Flexiblle tariff.   How are you getting your rates?    I intend to wait and see,    No idea about So.