Price hike?

brilec

I'm with Octopus, I was on a fixed tariff which ended 16/10/25. Changed to a new 12M fixed tariff with suggested monthly payment of £136, previous one was £128. I am currently £600 in credit.
So yesterday I get an email from Octopus saying they are putting up my monthly payment to £163 because they don't think the amount I am now paying is enough. I don't see why I should give them an interest free loan of that amount.

powerful_Rogue

brilec said:

I'm with Octopus, I was on a fixed tariff which ended 16/10/25. Changed to a new 12M fixed tariff with suggested monthly payment of £136, previous one was £128. I am currently £600 in credit.
So yesterday I get an email from Octopus saying they are putting up my monthly payment to £163 because they don't think the amount I am now paying is enough. I don't see why I should give them an interest free loan of that amount.

Likewise, why should Octopus give you an interest free loan if your current DD is not not going to cover your usage?

££ mean nothing. What is your actual KwH use?

Keep_pedalling

Octopus allow you to switch to variable direct debit so you can pay for the exact amount you use each month. 

Are the bills you are getting based on actual or estimated meter readings?

Ms_Chocaholic

You should be able to adjust the DD back down to the original amount on the app.

singhini

It sounds like Octopus are adjusting the DD because your usage on the new tariff is forecast to be higher than the £136 you set, even though you’re £600 in credit right now. They normally base the DD on predicted annual usage rather than current balance, so the credit doesn’t stop them from raising the monthly payment (the credit is easy for you to withdraw if you want it, so they might not treat it as a long-term buffer). Why you have allowed it to build up so much is your doing not theirs). 

Perhaps being £600 in credit is what’s giving them the room to increase it — you’ve effectively let the balance build up, so their system might think you can absorb a higher DD. If you don’t want that, you could ask them to refund some of the credit and manually set the DD back to the amount you prefer. Octopus are usually flexible if you tell them you’re happy to monitor the account and adjust if needed.

The easiest fix is just to get some of that credit back and put the DD where you want it.

BTW, not all customers are in credit like you — some are actually in debt, so in those cases Octopus are effectively giving them an interest-free loan. It works both ways.