£150 off my bill for high usage?

TractorFactor

Just had some guy come to the door.
Apparently he's been to a few houses about Octopus Energy not paying a £150 discount on our bill.

I'm sure he said it was for the warm home discount because we had 3 kids under 5.

Everything about this screams some sort of scam but wanted to get another opinion.

He asked quite a lot of questions and showed some sort of ID (but I could make up any old ID), like how much we were paying per month and that he could see our usage was high after typing into a mobile phone device.

Our usage isn't particularly high I don't think, we pay £160 a month for gas and electric with Octopus' Tracker - the man said we should be paying £130 a month. We pay a touch extra as we recently switched to them so wanted to make sure we're building credit for the winter.

I've looked at the government website and don't think I qualify for the warm home discount as I earn too much. The only benefit we receive in our household is Child Benefit for all our kids. Pretty sure this isn't Child Tax Credits.

Anyone else heard about this?

sammyjammy

Sounds like nonsense, what kind of info did you give him/did he ask for?  What is he suggesting you do about this supposed issue?

FreeBear

TractorFactor said:

Just had some guy come to the door.
Apparently he's been to a few houses about Octopus Energy not paying a £150 discount on our bill.

I'm sure he said it was for the warm home discount because we had 3 kids under 5.

Everything about this screams some sort of scam but wanted to get another opinion.

He asked quite a lot of questions and showed some sort of ID (but I could make up any old ID), like how much we were paying per month and that he could see our usage was high after typing into a mobile phone device.

Our usage isn't particularly high I don't think, we pay £160 a month for gas and electric with Octopus' Tracker - the man said we should be paying £130 a month. We pay a touch extra as we recently switched to them so wanted to make sure we're building credit for the winter.

I've looked at the government website and don't think I qualify for the warm home discount as I earn too much. The only benefit we receive in our household is Child Benefit for all our kids. Pretty sure this isn't Child Tax Credits.

Anyone else heard about this?

Sounds like it might be a Utilities Warehouse "representative" - Door knocking was one of their sales tactics, and I had thought the practice had been banned... If it smells like a scam, it probably is.

Being on Tracker, you are probably getting energy for a lot less than many, and there is no way UW would be able to save you more. As for any warm home discounts, there is a very good chance that eligibility will be toughened up or scrapped altogether as the current government looks to fill a black hole in funding. If you don't get the WH discount now, there is even less chance that you'll get it come winter. 

molerat

Look out for the "sorry you are leaving" e-mail from Octopus, you may have been hi-jacked.

BarelySentientAI

Sounds very odd - if it isn't a scam, it's likely at least a dodgy attempt to make you accidentally switch suppliers.

FreeBear

molerat said:

Look out for the "sorry you are leaving" e-mail from Octopus, you may have been hi-jacked.

And if you do get that email, get straight on to them to block the move.

Sly72

You would get a letter from warm home discount if they think you are eligible, and you then call a number to apply.

Spoonie_Turtle

Sly72 said:

You would get a letter from warm home discount if they think you are eligible, and you then call a number to apply.

Maybe in Scotland.  In England and Wales it's all (supposed to be) done automatically although you do get a letter to say about being eligible.  You're not supposed to need to phone up though.