Loyal Octopus Exit Fees!

lucicrisp

Unfrotyunately there are exit fees for the Loyal Octopus - I can't find a contact anywhere on the site to email so hoping someone will pick this up and correct it. I've had it confirmed by Octopus this evening - £75 each for Gas and Electric, so might not be such a good deal......

Gerry1

They used to have an exit fee of £75 per fuel but this isn't the case for the latest Loyal Octopus tariffs.

You can see the difference by comparing current and historical fixed tariffs at https://octopus.energy/tariffs/

chadley67

I have signed up to the Octopus Loyal Customer fixed rate Oct last year. This came with an early release penalty of £75 per energy supply. Most recent I was informed by Octopus that they had a better rate for me namely todays Octopus Fixed rate that includes a special no exit fee.
I contacted Octopus and asked, as a loyal customer, would they allow me to move from one tariff to the other without incurring a penalty. They quite blank stated NO you will have to pay £ 150 exit fee.  I asked if they would make an exception and maybe apply a goodwill jester as I am not exiting Octopus but simply moving tariffs. The answer was no.  
I then stated that I now have a plug in hybrid car and wish to benefit from one of Octopus world leading EV charging tariffs. Again the answer was simply NO you will have to pay the exit fee. 

Has anybody got any ideas ! 

MP1995

chadley67 said:

I have signed up to the Octopus Loyal Customer fixed rate Oct last year. This came with an early release penalty of £75 per energy supply. Most recent I was informed by Octopus that they had a better rate for me namely todays Octopus Fixed rate that includes a special no exit fee.
I contacted Octopus and asked, as a loyal customer, would they allow me to move from one tariff to the other without incurring a penalty. They quite blank stated NO you will have to pay £ 150 exit fee.  I asked if they would make an exception and maybe apply a goodwill jester as I am not exiting Octopus but simply moving tariffs. The answer was no.  
I then stated that I now have a plug in hybrid car and wish to benefit from one of Octopus world leading EV charging tariffs. Again the answer was simply NO you will have to pay the exit fee. 

Has anybody got any ideas ! 

Not really as that deal had those exit fees built in to the overall cost and risk for Octopus.

You might get lucky kicking up a fuss but honestly it was all upfront and not hidden. Remember you can move exit fee for within octopus or to another supplier when you hit 49 days before your end of contract date.

TheElectricCow

chadley67 said:

I have signed up to the Octopus Loyal Customer fixed rate Oct last year. This came with an early release penalty of £75 per energy supply. Most recent I was informed by Octopus that they had a better rate for me namely todays Octopus Fixed rate that includes a special no exit fee.
I contacted Octopus and asked, as a loyal customer, would they allow me to move from one tariff to the other without incurring a penalty. They quite blank stated NO you will have to pay £ 150 exit fee.  I asked if they would make an exception and maybe apply a goodwill jester as I am not exiting Octopus but simply moving tariffs. The answer was no.  
I then stated that I now have a plug in hybrid car and wish to benefit from one of Octopus world leading EV charging tariffs. Again the answer was simply NO you will have to pay the exit fee. 

Has anybody got any ideas ! 

You chose to sign up to a tariff that includes exit fees, so Octopus are quite rightly insisting you pay the fee to exit the tariff - Your options are to either pay fee you agreed to or wait until the end of the contract term.

You can switch tariffs fee free within 49 days before the end of your fix, so really you only have 2-3 months left to wait depending on when exactly you signed up in October. Unless you think an alternative tariff will save more than the £150 in under 3 months you'll likely be best off waiting it out. If your estimated savings are more than that pay the fee and you'll still be making a saving regardless.

mmmmikey

Just echoing the above comments, but as tough as it is I think you just have to accept that Octopus are being completely reasonable in holding you to the terms you agreed to.

The nature of fixed deals is that they're fixed and the point is that you know exactly what you're getting when you sign up to them. There's never any guarantee that you'll save money as a result. The guarantee that you get is that if prices go up dramatically due to some unforeseen circumstance (such as war) you're protected from that.

Some you win, some you lose. Best to just accept that and move on.

PHILMSE

I have been in touch with Octopus recently on this issue.
They agree that I can switch to another supplier 49 days before my contract ends. However, very strangely, they say that if I wish to switch to a different tariff with them then I need to wait until the end of my contract. So they seem to be encouraging me to leave.

Ectophile

That's why it's called Loyal Octopus, not Disloyal Octopus.  They expect you to be loyal.

bristolleedsfan

PHILMSE said:

I have been in touch with Octopus recently on this issue.
They agree that I can switch to another supplier 49 days before my contract ends. However, very strangely, they say that if I wish to switch to a different tariff with them then I need to wait until the end of my contract. So they seem to be encouraging me to leave.

Octopus give different answer on X

Apr 19

@OctopusEnergy

Hi, I’m on loyal octopus fixed July 2023 v1, due to end in August, when can I change to another tariff and no incur the £75 per fuel charge. TIA.

Octopus Energy

@OctopusEnergy

Hey , you can switch within the last 42 days of your tariff end date without incurring exit fees. I'm a DM away if you have any Qs at all. 

Send us a private message

11:53 AM · Apr 19, 2024

Octopus Energy

@OctopusEnergy

·

May 30

Replying to

@

exit fees are for any change away from that tariff (so a new tariff or supplier) there's a cooling off period of 14 days where we won’t apply the exit fee if anyone changes their mind about their tariff and it won't apply within 42 days of the end of your tariff date. 

PHILMSE

It seems there is conflicting information out there about switching internally ( to new tariff ) & externally ( to new supplier ) and whether a 49 or 42 day rule applies.
When I reach the 49 day point, I'll ring them, tell them that I am considering switching to a new supplier and see what they say.
Rang them ( 47 days in advance of contract ending ) and they said Yes, I could now switch ( internally to new Octopus tariff ) with no Exit Fees, so I did.
Hope this helps others, who may be confused about what they are permitted to do, w.r.t switching out of fixed contracts before the contract end.

obbig

You seem to get a different response from Octopus depending on who you speak to!  I have the Loyal Octopus 12M Fixed contract which has the £75 per fuel exit fees.   I am now in the 49 day switching window so I phoned Octopus this morning to say I wanted to switch to the current Octopus 12M Fixed contract which is a little cheaper and doesn't have the exit fees.  The advisor told me that the 49day rule didn't apply and I would be charged  the exit fee right up to the last day.  I sent Octopus an email to ask if this was correct.  They replied that I COULD switch within the 49day window, no problem!  So I phoned again and the advisor I spoke to this time agreed that they could switch immediately without any penalty.