Unreasonable charges - Octopus

Scot_39

I know it was extra  - but extra to what.

Your focussing on the £400 - but that isn't necessarily the only issue.

You need to look at tge total projected costs and the level.

Your whole bill is likely to be significantly higher- if on svt not fix - compared to several months during which that debit accumulated.

The last 5 Ofgem caps have been 
Jan 24 £1928  guess fallen out of last 12m figures for you 
£1690
£1568
£1717
JAN 25
£1738
New rates 
Apr 25
£1849


So for instance what would say 17% of your July to Sep bills be - that needs adding to next years DD costings - on top of the  £400 debit underecovery component therein.
7% Oct to Dec
6% for say Jan Feb this year etc

We have no way of knowing if your £2000 over payment is a rational estimate.  And no absolute baseline to guess a margin of error for last year to correct for next as well as the rate changes.

And if you need to pay an extra £240 you need far more than £400 buffer going into winter.
Even if we're only paying £240 total £500-£700 more realistic.
2-3 months of total DD minimum if a high winter heat user possibly even a little more.

Sk if the £240 wax say 50% of nearer £500.  Or brought tge total to over £500.  And octopus numbers correct for a true average cost of c£500 - Then may here would also say need c£1000-£1500 depending on winter/ summer balance ahead of winter realistically.  Over 6 months far closer to Octopus rise in later case.  But tbeh Ardmore likely to target over 12 than 6.

You need to factor in as they will - assuming on svt  -  the recent rate rises with another 6% to come on 1st Apr.  Worse for heavy users I many regions given changes to SC balance.


So go back to basics - work out next years projected cost - divide it by 12 - now you have cleared the debit (but remember anything not yet billee this month when assessing credit / debit and add that in tomcalcs) -  and ask Octopus if you cannot to set the DD accordingly.

born_again

dander said:

I was pretty stunned this morning to get an email from Octopus saying they planned to increase my monthly payment by £240. That's an extra £2880 a year they are deciding to help themselves to. I have ended this winter just under £400 in debit to them, which I have paid as a one-off payment. And that's after a pretty cold winter when I've been unwell so using the heating more than usual. So this is over £2k they want me to put in their bank accounts for absolutely no reason and I am likely to just have to reclaim after overpaying. When I tried to change it online, their system blocked me from reducing it by more than £100. 

I'm have emailed them to get it reduced back down, and await what they say, but I am really shocked at this behaviour from Octopus. I joined them because I thought they were a reasonable ethical organisation that was not set up to screw the customers like other companies - but this wild increase seems to be only designed to essentially borrow money interest free from customers.

No need to email them.
Just go into your online account & reduce the DD down to a level you are happy with.
Simple & easy to do 👍

victor2

born_again said:

dander said:

I was pretty stunned this morning to get an email from Octopus saying they planned to increase my monthly payment by £240. That's an extra £2880 a year they are deciding to help themselves to. I have ended this winter just under £400 in debit to them, which I have paid as a one-off payment. And that's after a pretty cold winter when I've been unwell so using the heating more than usual. So this is over £2k they want me to put in their bank accounts for absolutely no reason and I am likely to just have to reclaim after overpaying. When I tried to change it online, their system blocked me from reducing it by more than £100. 

I'm have emailed them to get it reduced back down, and await what they say, but I am really shocked at this behaviour from Octopus. I joined them because I thought they were a reasonable ethical organisation that was not set up to screw the customers like other companies - but this wild increase seems to be only designed to essentially borrow money interest free from customers.

No need to email them.
Just go into your online account & reduce the DD down to a level you are happy with.
Simple & easy to do 👍

OP has tried and was prevented from reducing it to what they wanted. I found the same, but email worked.

dander

I currently pay under £1500 per year - actual figures, not based on DD amount. The Octopus DD amount would come to nearly £4k a year. There's no way that's anything other than insane.

Spoonie_Turtle

born_again said:

dander said:

I was pretty stunned this morning to get an email from Octopus saying they planned to increase my monthly payment by £240. That's an extra £2880 a year they are deciding to help themselves to. I have ended this winter just under £400 in debit to them, which I have paid as a one-off payment. And that's after a pretty cold winter when I've been unwell so using the heating more than usual. So this is over £2k they want me to put in their bank accounts for absolutely no reason and I am likely to just have to reclaim after overpaying. When I tried to change it online, their system blocked me from reducing it by more than £100. 

I'm have emailed them to get it reduced back down, and await what they say, but I am really shocked at this behaviour from Octopus. I joined them because I thought they were a reasonable ethical organisation that was not set up to screw the customers like other companies - but this wild increase seems to be only designed to essentially borrow money interest free from customers.

No need to email them.
Just go into your online account & reduce the DD down to a level you are happy with.
Simple & easy to do 👍

In my experience one has to have a certain amount of credit on the account to be able to do that. 
(Never have quite worked out what that level is though, whether it's X months' DD equivalent, or the level of DD they recommend, or something else.)

dander

MeteredOut said:

dander said:

I currently pay under £1500 per year - actual figures, not based on DD amount. The Octopus DD amount would come to nearly £4k a year. There's no way that's anything other than insane.

And you've confirmed that what you pay matches (roughly) what you use?

yes, as I say, that is based on actual usage figures, not my DD amount.

debitcardmayhem

Have you actually tried phoning them, email is very hit and miss.

Scot_39

dander said:

I currently pay under £1500 per year - actual figures, not based on DD amount. The Octopus DD amount would come to nearly £4k a year. There's no way that's anything other than insane.

Thanks.

So on c£1500 you underpaid c£400 let's assume just last year worst case for correction.

So your DD was roughly 30% too low before if over just 1 year.

£1100/12 = round up say £100pm just for simplicity 


So you need to pay £400 more at last years rates to avoid a repeat.

And on that 1500 if on svt say facing an average of another 10 %on new rates come Apr 

So £1750 maybe - or likely £150pm.

Certainly not £4k per year.


As I say get your annual kWh if can for last year (mines are on every monthly statement),

Work out your annual cost + and unpaid use / standing charges since last bill. Divide it  by 12.

And tell those figures to Octopus by phone if have to.

I had to be in clear credit (not just shown balance £0 between billing dates) to reduce my DD and even then only allowed 10% on line in past.

masonic

My experience of their email support recently is that they are heavily using AI to generate nonsense, and only after several replies are you put in a queue for a human. So I'd also suggest phoning.

dander

I'm not saying I'm not capable of setting a sensible amount. I just think it's incredibly unethical to try and force me into such an extreme overpayment in the first place. This is exactly the kind of behaviour I thought Octopus had been set up to fight against. If this is the output of some kind of AI algorithm, then Octopus need to seriously reconsider the way they are using them.