Urgent advice required please. Octopus Energy

emmerrrrr

Hello,

I'm posting here because I'm at my wits end. My mum is so stressed about this situation, she is unable to sleep and spends her days crying. 

My mum retired in November and moved house on the 19th December. She switched to Octopus as an energy supplier. The new house doesn't have central heating, there is also no gas. The house has electric radiators. We didn't receive a bill from Octopus until the start of February, when it arrived it was for £1900. We did have the heating on quite a lot. We've no experience with electric heating etc, so although I think the bill sounded extremely high and asked for more information from Octopus, my very anxious mum paid the bill so she could be done with the stress. She believed that maybe she did spend that much as she was used to central heating. 

She has since had a smart meter installed and she has stopped using the heating, she now rarely uses the dishwasher or any other appliances. She has been EXTREMELY conscious of usage since. She has the hot water switched off etc. The smart meter is showing daily usage of around £1.30. Yet, we are still getting bills each month of £900 to £1500. 

Now, there is very obviously something wrong here. For the last few months we have been trying to rectify this situation with Octopus, but we are just going around in circles. The staff we speak to agree that the charges sound high. My mum is having to give several meter readings a month, despite having the smart meter. Octopus continue to contact her saying she owes money. What steps do we take from here? This is affecting her mental health so severely, but Octopus either say they'll look into it and that they'll call us back (and then don't call us back,) or they agree that the bills sounds high and just ask for another meter reading. I really don't know what to do, she is a broken mess. 

born_again

emmerrrrr said:

Hello,

I'm posting here because I'm at my wits end. My mum is so stressed about this situation, she is unable to sleep and spends her days crying. 

My mum retired in November and moved house on the 19th December. She switched to Octopus as an energy supplier. The new house doesn't have central heating, there is also no gas. The house has electric radiators. We didn't receive a bill from Octopus until the start of February, when it arrived it was for £1900. We did have the heating on quite a lot. We've no experience with electric heating etc, so although I think the bill sounded extremely high and asked for more information from Octopus, my very anxious mum paid the bill so she could be done with the stress. She believed that maybe she did spend that much as she was used to central heating. 

She has since had a smart meter installed and she has stopped using the heating, she now rarely uses the dishwasher or any other appliances. She has been EXTREMELY conscious of usage since. She has the hot water switched off etc. The smart meter is showing daily usage of around £1.30. Yet, we are still getting bills each month of £900 to £1500. 

Now, there is very obviously something wrong here. For the last few months we have been trying to rectify this situation with Octopus, but we are just going around in circles. The staff we speak to agree that the charges sound high. My mum is having to give several meter readings a month, despite having the smart meter. Octopus continue to contact her saying she owes money. What steps do we take from here? This is affecting her mental health so severely, but Octopus either say they'll look into it and that they'll call us back (and then don't call us back,) or they agree that the bills sounds high and just ask for another meter reading. I really don't know what to do, she is a broken mess. 

Do you mean the in home device?
What tariff is your mother on?
How do the units used from meter readings work out when you manually work this out against cost per unit, compared to actual bills?

You have to be aware electric heating is the dearest there is.

MattMattMattUK

What do you mean by bills, do you mean the actual bill issued, or the monthly Direct Debit?

As Born has mentioned, electric radiators can be very expensive to operate, especially in a home that might not be well insulated, that usage could easily be realistic over cold months when someone is unaware of the cost. 

Are the radiators flat panels or storage heater? Is the house modern, well insulated, or an older property? 

emmerrrrr

born_again said:

emmerrrrr said:

Hello,

I'm posting here because I'm at my wits end. My mum is so stressed about this situation, she is unable to sleep and spends her days crying. 

My mum retired in November and moved house on the 19th December. She switched to Octopus as an energy supplier. The new house doesn't have central heating, there is also no gas. The house has electric radiators. We didn't receive a bill from Octopus until the start of February, when it arrived it was for £1900. We did have the heating on quite a lot. We've no experience with electric heating etc, so although I think the bill sounded extremely high and asked for more information from Octopus, my very anxious mum paid the bill so she could be done with the stress. She believed that maybe she did spend that much as she was used to central heating. 

She has since had a smart meter installed and she has stopped using the heating, she now rarely uses the dishwasher or any other appliances. She has been EXTREMELY conscious of usage since. She has the hot water switched off etc. The smart meter is showing daily usage of around £1.30. Yet, we are still getting bills each month of £900 to £1500. 

Now, there is very obviously something wrong here. For the last few months we have been trying to rectify this situation with Octopus, but we are just going around in circles. The staff we speak to agree that the charges sound high. My mum is having to give several meter readings a month, despite having the smart meter. Octopus continue to contact her saying she owes money. What steps do we take from here? This is affecting her mental health so severely, but Octopus either say they'll look into it and that they'll call us back (and then don't call us back,) or they agree that the bills sounds high and just ask for another meter reading. I really don't know what to do, she is a broken mess. 

Do you mean the in home device?
What tariff is your mother on?
How do the units used from meter readings work out when you manually work this out against cost per unit, compared to actual bills?

You have to be aware electric heating is the dearest there is.

The in home device sorry, yes. I will find out which tariff she is on.

I understand that electric heating is the dearest there is. Which is why mum paid the initial bill of £1900, because we did have the heating on from the end of December until the start of February fairly often.

Our problem now is that she hasn't ONCE used the heating since the start of February. She used the dishwasher maybe once a week. She does some laundry - a couple of loads a week maybe. But she does it after 8pm when it's cheaper. We're receiving bills each month of around £900 to £1500. Forgive me for saying, but surely this cannot be right? We barely ever have the lights on. She uses the TV in the evenings and boils the kettle a few times a day. But this can't be £1500 a month of usuage?

MeteredOut

You need to actual post kWh usage, either from a bill or from readings you've taken from the smart meter (not the IHD). Without that, no-one will be able to really help.

Did you check the final meter reading from the old meter was correct, and that Octopus have correct reflected that change in the billing?

What sort of billing is the account on? If fixed DD, you should be able to view the credit/debit balance online and drop the DD amount if in credit.

Swipe

The first thing to do is to make sure that both the meter supply and meter serial numbers match those on the bills.

Robin9

 A few initial checks -   you  say Electric Radiators.   Are these slim panel like, or do they have water pipes coming inot them or are they more like the old solid brick type..

Photos will help 


Make a note of the serial number and compare it with what's on the bill..   Look at a bill that includes the meter change - has the info been correctly recorded - ie the old meter readings and the new ones.  These will also be on a sticker on the new meter.

Whilst at the meter press the buttons and note all the figures that are there - that will include the unit rates.   Are these readings also on the bill - 

emmerrrrr

Thanks for the fast replies - I've noted down your questions and I will check when I head round later to get some more information. As you can see, I'm completely clueless about this!

kazwookie

What is on the ACTUAL BILL? 

brook_heather

emmerrrrr said:
But she does it after 8pm when it's cheaper.

How do you know it's cheaper after 8pm - what tariff is she on - why would it be cheaper at 8pm?  If you are on E7 then the lower rate would be much later and she would be paying much more during the day.  If you don't have storage heaters then you need to go on a single rate tariff.

Robin9

emmerrrrr said:

................. She has the hot water switched off etc. .........................

If the hot water is off how does she get hot water ?

I presume electric shower ?