Octopus Energy

gcopnall

I transferred my energy supplier to Octopus energy late last year.  This appeared to go smoothly, despite no money being taken in December last year, at which point I contacted them to ask why no money was being taken.  They assured me that was because nothing was owing.  A scant couple of months later and it now turns out I owe over a £1000 in unpaid bills.  They seem to have got confused as I used to be a customer some years ago.  They have said that, even though a DD was setup, no payment schedule was setup, so no money was taken.  My bills were showing a - amount, and I assumed this meant I was accruing a surplus, a ploy that many energy companies seem fond of doing.  I asked a bank manager friend of mine, and he agreed that stating this as minus amount is very misleading.  Anyway, has anyone else experienced this issue?  Anyone have any advice on what I can do next?

MattMattMattUK

gcopnall said:

I transferred my energy supplier to Octopus energy late last year.  This appeared to go smoothly, despite no money being taken in December last year, at which point I contacted them to ask why no money was being taken.  They assured me that was because nothing was owing.  A scant couple of months later and it now turns out I owe over a £1000 in unpaid bills.  They seem to have got confused as I used to be a customer some years ago.  They have said that, even though a DD was setup, no payment schedule was setup, so no money was taken.  My bills were showing a - amount, and I assumed this meant I was accruing a surplus, a ploy that many energy companies seem fond of doing.  I asked a bank manager friend of mine, and he agreed that stating this as minus amount is very misleading.  

Most people seem to be able to understand it. Why would you think you were accruing a surplus if you were not paying anything?

gcopnall said:

Anyway, has anyone else experienced this issue?  Anyone have any advice on what I can do next?

Either pay the bill or agree a payment plan with them. 

Newbie_John

gcopnall said:

Anyone have any advice on what I can do next?

Pay the bill?

Brie

Set up a DD to pay this off over the coming year. 

Yes you should have noticed and yes you should have saved the money you should have been paying but reality is for many of us that if we have money in our bank account we spend it.  

Talk to them politely, keep a record of any conversation and point out that the problem is one of their own making for not having their systems as they should so they shouldn't take any high moral ground with you.

Qyburn

gcopnall said:

Anyone have any advice on what I can do next?

Obviously you'll need to pay for the energy you've used, but you should also check that the amounts are correct. Does their billing start from the correct meter reading, which should be the same as the end reading with your previous supplier?  (Ideally you'd have taken a record of the reading yourself at or near the change just as a sanity check).

Does the end reading for their bill correspond with what the meter's showing just now, and is it a real reading or an estimate?

QrizB

gcopnall said:

This appeared to go smoothly, despite no money being taken in December last year, at which point I contacted them to ask why no money was being taken.  They assured me that was because nothing was owing.  A scant couple of months later and it now turns out I owe over a £1000 in unpaid bills. 

From the sounds of it, you've only missed two or three monthly payments? If you make double payments for the next two or three months, you'll be back to where you should be.

EssexHebridean

If you will struggle to meet the extra payments due to make up the amount owing, then you might consider posting over on the Debtfreewannabe board for some support with budgeting. 

What_time_is_it

Set up a payment schedule on your terms. Octopus are very accommodating when it comes to how you repay debt. 

It sounds like the energy debt you have with them is genuine and accurate? If not, then obviously get this sorted first. But if they have your usage and prices correct then you, of
course, owe them the money. Pay your debts, but do it on your terms if possible!