Price hike?

dnpark38

Octopus keep upping my DD and as I'm in credit I go into my account and reduce payment so as to bring my credit down the next month.
After reading others here are doing the same I'm wondering if Octopus are short of money.

Scot_39

Yes Octopus are short of money in one sense - they are in breach of the new Ofgem financial tests.

But are for now - AFAIK - able to meet their bills (unlike the recently closed TE).

They have a target not to allow accounts to go into debit.  Anyone signing on to them - certainly recently will I suspect have explicitly agreed to that in many tariffs terms and conditions.

On annualized DD they actually have a 5 weeks credit minimum target - and thats at the end of Winter (Apr 1st ?).

https://octopus.energy/blog/direct-debit-payments/

"We then work out where your balance is expected to be in April - If you’ll have less than five week’s credit at the beginning of April, we’ll work out the difference and spread this over 12 months as a balance-adjustment and add this amount to your suggested monthly payment."

SO anything less than say 2-3 months ave now - the old zero balance guideline + 1 month for the new minumum positive credit now - is likely to need a significant boost to DD.

Some folk at Ovo were seeing some large additions - 50% plus - when their min balance target came into force.

Anyone advising as above to just set the DD as your old level - well bear in mind if that ends up in debit at the end of winter - then it will be interesting to see what happens.

Edit : There was one post recently - supplier ? - who said they were getting debit markers applied to credit file.

But pretty much the direction of travel is that if you want the DD vs standard credit discount - you need to have your annualised plan in credit all year round - which is a big shift from even just a few years ago - where would often swing positive and negative.

EssexHebridean

The good thing about Octopus is that once you prove you can  manage the account without letting it go into debt they generally leave you alone to manage it. 

Scot_39

Yes there have been posts with really tiny DD levels set by users - who then just top up on  a monthly basis - as long as by monthly payment date - by card etc - they do seem much more flexible than some others.

My supplier EOn Next only allows 10-15% reductions on line to current level - and that only if in real credit - I think Ive hit the limit a couple of times post crisis - luckily EOn did anyway - as rate changes.

But I do worry that unlike EOn - EOn Next - and others - if £600 really over 4 months true average payment - now seem to rely on users requesting large credit refunds.

But at least they do offset the DD calcs going forward to run it down - do Octopus ?

EOn used to refund more than 1-2 months - at annual review for me - my last c7 years ago just £200, the previous less than £100 - about 3 / 1+ months worth at time - but for me my review was June / July time - when some but minimal credit expected.

I had to request £300+ from EOn Next - again now 2-3 months worth.

brilec

Can I just say, since I have been with Octopus, my credit balance has never been below £100, I have never been in debt to them. I was transferred from Bulb when they went bust, and never had a debt with them either.

I have reset the DD on the App, but they insist that my energy use will increase by 20% compared to last year, but no reason given. When I asked for a reason they just made the same statement again.

Swipe

brilec said:

Can I just say, since I have been with Octopus, my credit balance has never been below £100, I have never been in debt to them. I was transferred from Bulb when they went bust, and never had a debt with them either.

I have reset the DD on the App, but they insist that my energy use will increase by 20% compared to last year, but no reason given. When I asked for a reason they just made the same statement again.

Switch to variable direct debit and pay your monthly amount, plus maybe a bit extra to cover the winter months, into an easy easily accessible savings account (preferably with your bank) if they are messing you about. Then move the amount to be taken into your current account before it's due. They normally give you 2 weeks notice of this when your bill is produced.

WiserMiser

You already have been told three four times that Variable Monthly Direct Debit is the answer to your problem.

What are you waiting for?

Just email or call Octopus and they'll sort you out in a flash.

EssexHebridean

WiserMiser said:

You already have been told three four times that Variable Monthly Direct Debit is the answer to your problem.

What are you waiting for?

Just email or call Octopus and they'll sort you out in a flash.

We don't know that is something the OP is suited to, though, as we don't really know enough about them.

brilec said:

Can I just say, since I have been with Octopus, my credit balance has never been below £100, I have never been in debt to them. I was transferred from Bulb when they went bust, and never had a debt with them either.

I have reset the DD on the App, but they insist that my energy use will increase by 20% compared to last year, but no reason given. When I asked for a reason they just made the same statement again.

Have you done the sums around your actual annual use yet? Once you have those, if you'd prefer to stay on the monthly set DD then you can ensure that your payments are set correctly - you should just be able to do that on the app, or on the website. If they won't let you change the payment amount (although that's pretty unusual) then give them a call or drop them an email - present your figures and remind them that they have a duty to be fair and reasonable in the way they set your DD amount. Do make sure that you check everything is in order from your end first though - so actual figures on annual use, ensuring that readings are being sent/received, and of course that the readings being used for billing are correct.  When you convert your annual use into money values, add 10% on in case of price rises over the year too would be my suggestion. 

WiserMiser

EssexHebridean said:

WiserMiser said:

You already have been told three four times that Variable Monthly Direct Debit is the answer to your problem.

What are you waiting for?

Just email or call Octopus and they'll sort you out in a flash.

We don't know that is something the OP is suited to, though, as we don't really know enough about them.

The OP will have to opt for the lesser of the two evils.  If they don't like VMDD then they'll just have to accept the status quo. 🍳

Or move to a different supplier, whose customer service may well be noticeably worse...🔥

EssexHebridean

WiserMiser said:

EssexHebridean said:

WiserMiser said:

You already have been told three four times that Variable Monthly Direct Debit is the answer to your problem.

What are you waiting for?

Just email or call Octopus and they'll sort you out in a flash.

We don't know that is something the OP is suited to, though, as we don't really know enough about them.

The OP will have to opt for the lesser of the two evils.  If they don't like VMDD then they'll just have to accept the status quo. 🍳

Or move to a different supplier, whose customer service may well be noticeably worse...🔥

Or, alternatively, first find the accurate figures and work out what they SHOULD be paying, and then go to their existing supplier with the "fair and reasonable" reminder. If they haven't done the sums OR checked that the readings are correct, then just pointing them at VMDD won't solve the issues, will it. For all we know right now,  maybe they ARE underpaying - this is what I mean, we don't know enough to be giving any advise on a solution.