Stuck switching to Octopus

Ceresian

Hello, my first post.

I started switching to Octopus on the 2nd of October, having seen that their off-peak prices are very good compared to OVO, who I was with.

Trouble started when they asked for a meter reading, single, not two as I'd expect for peak and off-peak.

Turned out that Octopus put new joiners on to a basic single-tariff DD account, until the previous supplier confirms what arrangements were in place.

More than two weeks later and OVO still haven't coughed out my details, and Octopus have asked for photos of both the meter readings and the wiring around the meter, and whether I have storage heaters and other heavy-use appliances. I also sent a copy of my last bill from OVO showing I was a dual-rate customer.

This morning Octopus have asked which meter reading is day, and which night.

Despite providing all these details I'm still on a single-rate tariff and without access to the lower off-peak rates.

Has anyone else had this kind of trouble switching?

QrizB

Hello, my first post.

Welcome to the forum!

Trouble started when they asked for a meter reading, single, not two as I'd expect for peak and off-peak.

The industry database of meters etc. should have told Octopus what sort of supply you have whether it's single-rate or multi-rate. It's quite unusual for this to fail.

Which Octopus tariff did you apply for?

Is yours a smart meter or is it still a traditional one?

Near the top of a recent electricity bill you should be able to see your MPAN. What is the profile class - the first two digits on the top row, after the S?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter_Point_Administration_Number

Scot_39

What happened when you asked for a quote - did it get twin rate right then (*) ?

The storage heater questions might have been related to them wanting to offer you the best tariff they do for meter ALCS controlled storage heaters - Snug - which is significantly cheaper than even their standard e7 rates. Or maybe Cosy if you had a heat boiler etc.

It probably wasn't them trying to be difficult.

Again the question about day / night off peak - might seem strange - but it changes from meter to meter set-up - and better they ask than get it wrong. As whilst not common - happens regularly to make it necessary to check after every meter or supplier swap.

You really wouldn't want them to charge you day rates presumably for night heating which will soon if not already be dominating your bills.

As above - its strange - as normally they should have identified you as multirate and defaulted to E7 if you were on e7 or MR at Ovo - but now the PC 1=SR 2=MR flag has gone from many MPAN / supply numbers to 00 thanks to MHHS - not sure exactly how that happens these days.

(*) Their online quote tool still knows my old E10 supply is multirate - and Ive had the 00 for c6 months.

Ceresian

Thanks for the welcome, let's see if I can answer your questions.

I didn't apply for any tariff, or get a quote. I was referred by a family member, so we both got £50. I rather assumed that once 'in', I'd be able to choose my tariff.

It's a smart meter.

MPAN digits are 00.

I certainly don't want to pay full whack for overnight heating, which is why I haven't switched it on yet!

Think that's all?

QrizB

I didn't apply for any tariff, or get a quote.

Normally, when you sign up with a supplier you give them your address etc. and then they ask you for your estimated annual consumption. They'll then use that info to show you examples of what you might pay on their various tariffs, and you'll pick one.

Are you saying that none of this happened when you joined Octopus?

Did Octopus at least send you a welcome email with details of your tariff and what you'd be paying?

It's a smart meter. MPAN digits are 00.

OK, that might explain some of the confusion. A profile class of 00 generally means you're on Mandatory Half Hourly Settlement, but does rather obscure whether you're configured for single-rate or dual-rate metering.

Ceresian

When I responded to the referral, they asked for my postcode and offered one flexible and two fixed tariffs. I went for the flexible, still assuming that I'd be able to move to what I really wanted after signing up, and the flexible didn't have an early exit penalty.

Ildhund

This may be a complete red herring, but I wonder if this could be another example of Change of Supplier messaging (dataflows) being messed up by MHHS migration. It affected many Octopus > E.On Next migrants earlier this year, and some of them are still suffering. I suspect that OVO has been busily migrating accounts in recent weeks, and my own ended up in a spot of bother when their projection service (that generates Future Annual Consumption figures to be used for setting Direct Debits etc.) suddenly stopped being able to retrieve reads from my meter. They eventually gave up and now simply use the daily snapshots that were being retrieved successfully somewhere else in the HQ maze. My MPAN is still recorded with PC02, but the MTC transformed into the SSC. No word from them as to whether this was indeed an MHHS hiccup.

We may never find out … Everyone who's consented is supposed to be on the MHHS system by next May.

Ceresian

It's probably too late for this present situation, but would a more accurate MPAN profile help avoid such shenanigans in future? How can I get one? Who supplies them?

PS Today Octopus have said they have sent a request to change me to dual-rate. No details about who does the changing!

Scot_39

As above im on tge new 00 0000 mhhs system mpan coding and the Octopus quote tool still knows my supply profile class 2 - so either its accessing 7m old data - or their are other methods now to track it.

QrizB

It's probably too late for this present situation, but would a more accurate MPAN profile help avoid such shenanigans in future? How can I get one? Who supplies them?

MPANs are assigned by your supplier. You can't generally influence the process.

PS Today Octopus have said they have sent a request to change me to dual-rate. No details about who does the changing!

Depending on the specific context, they might have sent a request to the DCC to send an over-the-air update to your meter and restart dual-rate metering.

Or they might've done something different.