MSE News: Octopus Energy to take on Iresa's 90,000 customers - here's what you need to know

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  • martyp
    martyp Posts: 1,044
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    JohnB47 wrote: »
    Blimey. Did you actually type those all out?
    Indeed, thought it made for a good point :D
  • martyp
    martyp Posts: 1,044
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    It's about £5 a month more for me if I stay I think so keen to switch asap. I just don't know whether to go against what they say and try and switch on the 21st or after (as in request the switch now for that date). Is it really definitely the case of being with Octopus until the 21st then for maybe 3 weeks after as the switch takes place? By the 21st also prices for other suppliers might have gone up ready for winter.
  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 31,642
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    Appeared in my meter readings. I gave a reading on 31st but they have made this one, it is about right.

    01 AUG 2018Deemed (Settlement Registers) or Estimated (Non-Settlement Registers)36041.4
  • brewerdave
    brewerdave Posts: 8,489
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    molerat wrote: »
    Appeared in my meter readings. I gave a reading on 31st but they have made this one, it is about right.


    The reading they have added to my account for 1st August is actually lower than MY reading taken at 10:30pm on 31st July! Haven't altered the charges on the Account page yet tho' .
    If that is the reading given to Octopus, I've been diddled out of ~ 25p because of the higher kwh charges with Octopus.
  • mysterons
    mysterons Posts: 134
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    Just noticed this, sent readings on 27th July but Deemed readings for 1st August show 300kw been added to daytime and 50kw knocked off of the night rate. No update to credit though.
  • matelodave
    matelodave Posts: 8,583
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    edited 5 August 2018 at 11:13AM
    I can see a bit of a battle looming.

    IRESA have not been using my meter readings but have been making their own guesstimates. Even though I sent them another reading on 31st they have still managed to "deem" a settlement reading which is nearly 1766kw less than my actual meter reading taken on 31st July.

    So IRESA think I'm in credit to the tune of about £188 but I really owe them about £25.79.

    I'm not happy to let this meter reading transfer across to Octopus as I'll end up paying for 1766kw at their inflated prices costing me around £45.50 extra.

    I've got a photo of the meter readings for 1st August and eight years of monthly meter readings to demonstrate that IRESA have been wrongly estimating their reads although I haven't been diligent enough to sit on the phone for hours to try and sort it out.

    Watch this space
    Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers
  • Sosumi
    Sosumi Posts: 195 Forumite
    martyp wrote: »

    Awesome, so that's another approx £100 a year for me on their 'cheapest tariff' (apparently - the fix is cheaper than their variable it seems too).
    Wonder what I'd be getting for the extra £100 expenditure?
    Brighter light from my bulbs?
    Better showering experience?
    Is it gold plated electricity?
    Do I get a welcoming bouquet of flowers or chocolates?
    Is it truly unlimited? Even at peak times?
    Better sound from my TV?
    Or get my potentially one or two phone calls I make in a year about my electricity answered in a minute or so?
    Or is it helping feed a directors bonus somewhere?

    I think I'll be switching... just hoping I get the same easy life as I did with Iresa
    Outfox the Market is showing as £24 cheaper than Iresa anyway so might look the best option for me. Thankfully it's only electric I had with them anyway.

    What you get for your extra £100 is an energy supplier that's less likely to go bust, causing you, again, a lot more than £100 worth of hassle and expense in sorting out the ensuing mess.

    Iresa went under because it was charging its energy customers (of which you were one) insufficient money to make a profit and stay afloat.

    But by all means seek out another bargain-basement supplier that, for exactly the same reason, will run out of funds in the middle of next winter and go toes-up, leaving you with £250 worth of time-consuming trouble and expense to resolve.

    That is your right. (And it makes insolvency practitioners rub their hands in anticipatory glee.)

    So go ahead, ignore unwelcome facts and continue to pretend that the wholesale price of energy hasn't risen. By a lot.

    You have much catching up on reality to do and it's going to cost you an unpleasant amount of money. Even more, if you now proceed unwisely to make the same mistake again.
  • martyp
    martyp Posts: 1,044
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    edited 5 August 2018 at 3:09PM
    Sosumi wrote: »
    What you get for your extra £100 is an energy supplier that's less likely to go bust, causing you, again, a lot more than £100 worth of hassle and expense in sorting out the ensuing mess.

    Iresa went under because it was charging its energy customers (of which you were one) insufficient money to make a profit and stay afloat.

    But by all means seek out another bargain-basement supplier that, for exactly the same reason, will run out of funds in the middle of next winter and go toes-up, leaving you with £250 worth of time-consuming trouble and expense to resolve.

    That is your right. (And it makes insolvency practitioners rub their hands in anticipatory glee.)

    So go ahead, ignore unwelcome facts and continue to pretend that the wholesale price of energy hasn't risen. By a lot.

    You have much catching up on reality to do and it's going to cost you an unpleasant amount of money. Even more, if you now proceed unwisely to make the same mistake again.
    I do agree it might seem insane to some but as someone else said they'd rather have the extra money in their pocket than the suppliers. I don't think the suppliers fail that regularly to make it not worth taking the risk as if everyone wanted to be with a safe supplier they can pay much more for that security. As long as the ofgem safety net pulls through as it should then it's just a case of doing another switch to another cheap supplier ( for however long they last), getting my credit balance back from Iresa due to paying so little for my electric. My gas is with Bristol Gas and they remain very cheap but also have some good backing (which I appreciate Octopus also has) so can appreciate that Iresa was a risk as it pretty much just came out the blue offering unsustainably low prices. I've had about 18 months of really cheap electricity and now just have to switch to another supplier as ofgem also switched to a fairly reasonably priced tariff in the interim.
    In any case also (I might be one of a minority), switching for me hasn't been any trouble as I've switched quite a few times the last few years and had no issues really apart from with British Gas which would be deemed a safe supplier and one worth paying the extra to be with...
    In this case now I'm only due to be out of pocket by about £6 in the interim between switching cheap suppliers.
    So in any case I am happy to keep switching and taking the risk as so far doing so has saved me money which I'm happy about. :D
  • martyp
    martyp Posts: 1,044
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    I'm intrigued to know what the reaction might be to peoples' responses to the e-mail from Octopus as I haven't clicked on any of the options personally. E.g. would they be liable to prioritise those intending to stay or process those planning to leave sooner or process credit balances differently etc. I'm fearful of which response to choose, I'd want to be honest and say I'm leaving but just unsure how they'd react to that choice.
  • psamuel
    psamuel Posts: 40
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    Logged into my iresa account today and I can see that an estimated usage has been completed for August 1st.
    Also Iresa offering me another yearly contract at the same daily charger though 0.5p more per unit.:)
    Hoping to move quickly from octopus , 34 suppliers have cheaper tariffs according to u switch.
    Though as stated previously and a reply to my ttustpilot octopus review, expect them all to go bust.
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