Octopus fixed tariff rate question

spot1034

Rather annoyingly, when  you give your address, software will often now check what sort of meter you have and if you have an E7 meter you will get a quote for that rate. I say it's annoying because some of us have E7 meters but might well be better off being charged the single rate on all units which most suppliers will do if asked. If your case is borderline you might genuinely want to have all the figures available so you can crunch the numbers and make your own decision on which rate you want.

The way round it is either to use an address of a relative or friend in the same region who you know has the alternative sort of meter (just to get a quote - obviously you don't proceed any further) or you can find the supplier's list of tariffs if you can - they don't always make it easy. In the case of Octopus, go onto their home page,  scroll right to the bottom and click on 'Our tariffs', put your postcode in, and you will probably find the latest fix at or somewhere near the top. Having just done this, I see they have brought out a new fix overnight. 

 

ecraig

But when it comes to ‘which website do I trust for price’ surely if you are wanting to get an Octopus price you should trust Octopus’ website right, rather than CEC which could be out of date because it isn’t actually Octopus’ website… 

timjim

Octopus fixed tariff: East Midlands 

Octopus 12M Fixed August 2024 v4

fixed

domestic

Eco 7 Electricity

• Day unit rate:28.67 p/kWh
• Night unit rate:12.78 p/kWh
• Standing charge:53.66 p/day

Electricity

• Unit rate:23.23 p/kWh
• Standing charge:53.94 p/day

Gas

• Unit rate:5.84 p/kWh
• Standing charge:29.04 p/day

Eco 7 and Standard Rates

EssexHebridean

Hey OP - what sort of meter do you have - is it a traditional old style one (whether digital or not) or is it a smart meter? 

The difference between the way you are getting the quotes is of course that on the CEC you select what type of supply you have - single rate or E7, but on the Octopus online quote it picks up directly from your meter details what sort of supply it thinks you have - and will then quote based on that. (I've just checked and the Octopus site definitely picks up right from the address stage whether the meter is E7 or single rate). You might want to try calling Octopus up and getting a quote that way - just make sure before you go over to them that you've gained a referral code from a family member or friend who is with them - that gains both you and the referrer £50 energy credit, so well worth having! 

Mr_Benn

Im currently with Octopus on their variable rate (no smart meter), but cant decide wether to take up their 12 month fixed rate now.  That would mean paying approximatly 10% more for both gas and electric from now , as opposed to October 1st.   Predictions currently are up another 2% in January, but nothing showing yet for the next 2 periods in 2025.

Im sure others are thinking the same, so just wondered what anybodys thoughts are. 

Thank you.

spot1034

Paying a small amount extra for one month seems a small sacrifice compared to potential savings in the three - likely six - months that follow, as we already have an indication that prices in January are unlikely to be significantly lower than October and could well be a bit higher.

Predictions for the period beyond April mean very little at this stage, as the wholesale price will almost certainly be different when the assessment period for Q2 starts. The present market prices are the roughest of rough guides but nothing more than a snapshot of how people see things right now. If you are interested, here are wholesale gas prices (pence per therm) for various dates, which update constantly during the day.  https://www.ice.com/products/910/UK-Natural-Gas-Futures/data?marketId=5600728

Alnat1

Mr_Benn said:

Im currently with Octopus on their variable rate (no smart meter), but cant decide wether to take up their 12 month fixed rate now.  That would mean paying approximatly 10% more for both gas and electric from now , as opposed to October 1st.   Predictions currently are up another 2% in January, but nothing showing yet for the next 2 periods in 2025.

Im sure others are thinking the same, so just wondered what anybodys thoughts are. 

Thank you.

It's likely you have quite low energy use in September as the heating probably won't go on, so 10% extra on a smaller bill isn't so bad to save more on the bigger winter bills.

As to what will happen to future prices, toss a coin or do ickle-ockle chocolate bottle to decide, nobody knows.

Snow_Gem

EssexHebridean said:

Hey OP - what sort of meter do you have - is it a traditional old style one (whether digital or not) or is it a smart meter? 

The difference between the way you are getting the quotes is of course that on the CEC you select what type of supply you have - single rate or E7, but on the Octopus online quote it picks up directly from your meter details what sort of supply it thinks you have - and will then quote based on that. (I've just checked and the Octopus site definitely picks up right from the address stage whether the meter is E7 or single rate). You might want to try calling Octopus up and getting a quote that way - just make sure before you go over to them that you've gained a referral code from a family member or friend who is with them - that gains both you and the referrer £50 energy credit, so well worth having! 

Hi, we have a smart meter, single rate, never had E7.  So I assume for some reason Octopus is wrongly reading ours as E7.  Looks like I'll have to give them a call for a quote instead. Thanks for your reply.