Confusion with first octopus bill

cyberrich

I've just been moved from Shell to Octopus. I logged into the account to send my first monthly readings. It said I was £77 in credit but after sending the readings I was then £34 in debit. I pay £89 a month which is lower than most people's but I live alone and I don't use a lot of energy so Shell actually reduced my monthly DD as they said I was overpaying. I did email customer service with a photo of my statement of £77 credit but they said it was £11 in debit before I sent the new readings today. Now I'm really confused. Has anyone had a similar problem? Thanks.

amanda1024

Generally octopus recalculate the balance when you send meter readings, so it would make sense that a small debit would become a small credit once a month’s worth of usage is added. Then when the next direct debit goes through (which can take a week or so to stop being ‘pending’), it’s likely the small credit will be back to a small debit. On the app, under bills, there’s a toggle for calculations off/on and if you turn that on you can see their workings

cyberrich

Thanks for the reply. That makes sense.

FreeBear

I joined octopus early in January of this year (switched from Eon.Next). My account went £16, then £30, rising to £90 by the end of the month. It didn't go in to credit until the direct debit cleared early in February.

As long as my direct debits cover the bills each month, I'm not going to worry about a few pounds in debt or credit.

@cyberrich - Is the £89 DD enough to cover your monthly bill ?

PeterGr

Octopus update the balance history as soon as you send your meter readings ( Shell used to do this after the bill was produced. ).  So the balance shown on your online account will reduce by the value of the energy charges up to your meter readings.  Octopus will send you a printed statement soon, and if you have your last Shell bill, you should be able to check that readings and dates match.

Could be something like this.... £11.50 debit + payment of £89 = £77.50 in credit less £111.50 in charges = balance of £34 in debit

I found that Octopus and Shell have a different strategy for advising the best monthly DD.  Before my account was switched Shell were advising a reduction to £102 per month.  After my first readings Octopus have suggested an increase to £129 per month.  Fortunately my DD is in the middle of these values, and I'm going to leave it alone to the next bill or next price cap announcement.