Urgent advice required please. Octopus Energy

wrf12345

Has she always been with Octopus, switching in the sense that it was with the house when she moved in, or has she moved in with another energy provider and then switched? That is one calculation to sort out, whether estimated readings have been used or not or whether the readings were accurate. The other readings will be from the switch to the smart meter, at least with the smart meter you should be able to just multiple the current reading by 0.25 and add 0.65 x number of days installed for standing charge to get a very rough idea of how much she should have paid during this period (assuming the smart reader started off at zero), both the s.c and unit rate will have varied but it will give you a rough idea of the cost. If the smart reader is working you may be able to set up an online account to monitor daily usage (takes 12-20 hours to show). If something is off look at the meter number and compare with the account. When the smart meter was installed the fitter would have photographed the old one, so that reading is available somewhere, as should be the final reading from the previous householder (which may or may not be accurate), although the start reading for a new account (non smart meter) should have come from the new householder.

Scot_39

£1900 for maybe 6 weeks use (moved mid Dec - bill early Feb - how early ? ) seems excessive.

£1.30 a day - for someone being very cautious - re hot water and heating - is a perfectly reasonable number - about £40pm - I hit just under £60 as prices have dropped last month - but could save by taking faster showers or not using the immersion heater 3x per day.

I assume as an Octopus customer she is on a normal domestic tariff.

Even on SR electric at around 30p/kWh say - thats over 6000 kWh - or 1000kWh per week if c6.x weeks. 140kWh per day / 6 kWh per hour every hour.

How big is the property - how hot was she running it ?

Gas is currently c6p/kWh - single rate electric is 24.5p - but you mention an 8pm off peak slot multirate tariff - but not clear whether heating controlled to match that off peak timing.

So go back to basics.

Was the initial reading on moving from deemed supplier correct ?

Are the readings then and since being supplied correct (scaling) and in correct order if on a multirate tariff ?

Are these more recent £900 to £1500 bills reflecting real readings - smart or user - or estimated ?

Is the meter in the property - do the serial numbers on bills match it - or have Octopus perhaps picked up another flats etc metering ?

You mention cheaper after 8pm - what tariff ?   What is the meterering arrangement - who was the deemed supplier - before switched to Octopus - and if they billed her for few days - at what rates / tariff.

My own E10 is 8pm GMT for the evening 2 hour slot (8-10pm) - in EM and a few other regions iirc E10 has 3 off peak slots - mine are night (12-5am), mid afternoon (1-4) and evening - in others only 1 (overnight) so 8pm is not a silly number for some old metering - but stays GMT - so now 9-11pm DST etc.

There are many other - some legacy some current - multirate deals - some start at 9pm GMT - edf e20:20 iirc (9-7am single block) - Ovo economy 9 evening slot 7:30 pm GMT according to their site etc plus 2 others.  However it's not entirely clear whether Octopus would take those meters on as is - they used to in some cases - but could now if chose to for instance reconfigure them to say E7 if smart.

My summer bills are around 200 kWh max - c£70 at SR - thats for 1 inc small 100l HW tank het to 60C 3x per day and electric cold fed shower.
There is definitely something wrong going on somewhere - if getting such high bills without heating - even with - in a smaller property suitable for 1 - I struggle to believe them.

In winter - it all comes down to how hot you heat the space - my neighbours either side both use over double my annual consumption nearer 8000 kWh according to CTM wedsite tool

My IHDs only show a total - not the off-peak and peak kWh use split - you may need to read meter - search by model or ask here ?

If she has an IHD - see if also allows access (or the meter itself - some have pages of sub menus) historic weekly / monthly consumption statistics - my IHD can page back several weeks - and several months - the problem as above mine at any rate only shows total - not off peak and peak.

And check those against bills too.

Scot_39

brook_heather said:

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.

My E10 eving slot starts at 8pm GMT - others like EDF ECO2020 9pm-7am Mon-Thurs / all weekend and Ovo e9 - acurrent tariff iirc - evening slot is 730pm.

Its not a standard Octopus tariff timing - but if they didn't change meters and accepted (they have in past billing at their standard e7 rates in some cases from posts here on forum) - it is possible.

bagand96

OP, you're talking just in terms of pounds and pence and generic usage information.

You're going to need to look at the Octopus Energy account, and in particular the actual bills. These can be downloaded in the Octopus account.  Take some time reading through the bills and try to understand what exactly is being presented there.  Octopus do have some help on understanding your bill Questions about your energy statement? | Octopus Energy

Forgive me if I'm being too simplistic - electricity is charged in kilowatt hours - kWh.  Kilowatt hours are measured by the meter, and each kWh is charged for at the rate on the tariff.  The supplier takes a meter reading each month and charges for the kWh used.  Ideally with a smart meter those reads go to the supplier automatically.  Or a customer gives a meter reading, or the supplier can use an estimated read.

Some things to establish from the bills:  (forgive me a lot is repetition from others above)

- What tariff is your mum on?
- Check the meter information listed on the bill is the same as on the meter
- Are the bills based on ACTUAL, SMART or ESTIMATED meter reads?
- Are the meter readings on the bill correct? (Does the latest meter reading tally near to the current actual meter read)

And some more in depth:

- Was the opening meter reading on the first Octopus bill correct? Does it match the last meter read on the final bill with the old supplier
- You say a smart meter was fitted.  Again, check the bills around this time.  The bill for that month should have a final reading for the old meter (was this actual? was it correct?) and then an opening reading for the new Smart meter which should be 0 for a new meter.

With the IHD saying £1.30 a day then hopefully that's accurate and there's something massively wrong in the billing.  Once it's established whether the bills are accurate you can go from there.

badmemory

I wondered if they may have read the meter as if it has rolled over zero, rather than as a new meter.