Overcharged for gas by Octopus

tomlondon2024

I would be grateful for any advice on escalating an issue I am having with Octopus. On 20 December 2023 I received a gas bill of £7,214.64, charging me for 3512.4 units of gas during the period 1 October 2023 to 17 December 2023. The charge was based on two estimates: an estimated reading of 5171.4 on 1 October and 8683.7 on 17 December. I live in a mid-terrace house.

I provided an actual reading on 14 October 2023 of 8642 and have been charged the difference between the previous estimate and the meter reading.

It was clear that something had gone wrong and so I reviewed the history of estimates and readings from the Octopus website and compiled the below table. I've highlighted the readings in green.

What appears to have happened is that Octopus started using an estimate on 4 October 2022 (4091) that was obviously wrong and then persisted in using this low estimate even when it was shown to be wrong on 16 May 2023. I have then been charged for the difference between the low estimate(s) and the (much higher) actual readings.

I have raised this issue with Octopus over email. After three exchanges of correspondence, Octopus refuse to acknowledge the error. However, Octopus do not engage with the detail. I am simply asked to resubmit photos of the meter which shows (as is common ground) that the actual meter reading is correct. This misunderstands the nature of the problem, which is the misuse of estimates.

Not only is it clear from my table that something has gone wrong (I have sent the table to Octopus), but there is no way we could have used the quantity of gas we are being charged for (3512.4 units) over this period. I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall with Octopus and don't know how to get them to engage with the detail. Is this an issue that I should refer straight to the Ombudsman?

Grateful for any advice people might have.

Many thanks

JGB1955

When Octopus used 4091 for the bill on 4/10/22 did you get a massive credit applied to your account?

MultiFuelBurner

Edited off on the wrong bike

You will have to piece this altogether with the statements/bills you have looking for credits as well. Grab a cuppa and get stuck in comparing with your bank account and bills.

Put it all together and if there is a discrepancy raise a complaint.

MikeyPGT

Try ringing them - must admit I've found Octopus very easy to deal with compared to awful experiences with Scottish Power.  Just wondering, have you actually provided them with on-going readings as there do seem to be a lot of estimated bills in there and I'm surprised that they weren't nagging for readings.

BellaBlondykeTheThird

The question I would ask is why didn't you deal with this sooner and monitor your own usage and readings?

It may be a harsh lesson with a big bill to pay once you go through all your bills but it is a good warning to all to always check bills and readings.

Robin9

Any chance of a photo of the meter reading please ?

BellaBlondykeTheThird

Robin9 said:

Any chance of a photo of the meter reading please ?

Is this like a foot fetish just with smart meters 😂😂 

Only joking are you thinking m3 lb/ft or a known meter that reads wrong over time?

t0rt0ise

When they did the 4091 bill, what did it say as in how much you'd used because it should have given you a minus use and a huge credit. I'd love to see that bill.

EssexHebridean

I think you can go back and look at historic hills on the Octopus app, so my starting point would be to go back and look at the bills around the time of the change of reading - in fact I’d be going back to the last actual reading (was this a reading taken and given by you?) in March 2022, and then checking each one since to try to build up a proper picture of what has occurred. 

The advice to check and monitor things regularly is sound, albeit rather heavily hindsight influenced in this situation, had you known to do this I imagine you would already have been doing so, but at least you now know for the future. 

As Robin says - a picture of your meter with the current reading visible and serial numbers etc blocked out might be helpful. Is it an old style one by any chance? 

dealyboy

tomlondon2024 said:

I would be grateful for any advice on escalating an issue I am having with Octopus. On 20 December 2023 I received a gas bill of £7,214.64, charging me for 3512.4 units of gas during the period 1 October 2023 to 17 December 2023. The charge was based on two estimates: an estimated reading of 5171.4 on 1 October and 8683.7 on 17 December. I live in a mid-terrace house.

I provided an actual reading on 14 October 2023 of 8642 and have been charged the difference between the previous estimate and the meter reading.

It was clear that something had gone wrong and so I reviewed the history of estimates and readings from the Octopus website and compiled the below table. I've highlighted the readings in green.

What appears to have happened is that Octopus started using an estimate on 4 October 2022 (4091) that was obviously wrong and then persisted in using this low estimate even when it was shown to be wrong on 16 May 2023. I have then been charged for the difference between the low estimate(s) and the (much higher) actual readings.

I have raised this issue with Octopus over email. After three exchanges of correspondence, Octopus refuse to acknowledge the error. However, Octopus do not engage with the detail. I am simply asked to resubmit photos of the meter which shows (as is common ground) that the actual meter reading is correct. This misunderstands the nature of the problem, which is the misuse of estimates.

Not only is it clear from my table that something has gone wrong (I have sent the table to Octopus), but there is no way we could have used the quantity of gas we are being charged for (3512.4 units) over this period. I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall with Octopus and don't know how to get them to engage with the detail. Is this an issue that I should refer straight to the Ombudsman?

Grateful for any advice people might have.

Many thanks

Hi Tom (OP) ...
Thank you for the clear presentation of the problem in your post.

I do understand about Octopus not understanding or even recognising a non-standard problem, this seems to be a trait with all suppliers unfortunately.

I have a few questions for added clarity ...
- what is your tariff name (or tariffs) over the period of the table?
- how have you been paying? if fixed DD can you give the payment figures for the period?
- have you had any changes to your meter or supply?
- the actual readings suggest an irregular usage pattern i.e. only 124 units between 31/03/22 and 16/05/23, but 291 between 14/10/23 and 16/01/24, can you explain?
- as has been said ... did you not notice the 04/10/22 estimate? did this not have an impact on the payment at the time?
- how often do you receive statements? do you have them for the period?

tomlondon2024

Many thanks for the replies. A bit of background.

- From July 2022 to April 2023 we weren't living in the house as it was being renovated. This is why there are no actual meter readings for this period and I wouldn't expect more than a negligible amount of actual gas would have been used, as can be seen from the difference between the 31 March 2022 and 16 May 2023 readings (124 units).

-As to why I wasn't monitoring the data more closely: I was paying a direct debit to Octopus throughout this period and it was only on 17 December 2023 that I was charged more than £7,000. So it was only very recently that I was put on notice.

- I don't understand the suggestion that this is a blip related to me not providing regular meter readings - if you take the difference between the first and last meter readings on the table, we have used 620 units. I have been charged for 3512.4 units. What am I missing here?

-Stepping back, how could I possibly have used this much gas? We moved here in September 2021. For 10 months we lived in another property during renovations. It is a 4-bedroom house and we use the heating sparingly.

-As to the 4091 bill, it appears that a mistake was made, as I was charged £104.31 for an alleged 4617.6 units of consumption (having looked through the data, it appears that they jumped from 9193.3 up to 3811 (i.e. they restart the meter at 0000 after it reaches 9999).