Energy price increases

ArchtopDave

chillidoggy said:

I see this morning that Ofgem has lifted the price cap. About fucking time too. Had they thought about doing it sooner, we wouldn't be in this mess.

This is not quite correct. The raising of the price cap, which was implemented today, was announced a while ago. Since then, wholesale gas prices have continued to rise significantly. It's estimated that, at current international gas wholesale prices, the cap would actually need to be several hundred quid per year higher than it is today.

Bidley

So, having been told to not cancel my direct debit, Avro took £98 off me yesterday... which is concerning. I've cancelled it now but I don't think I'll see that again.

Haych

Bidley said:

So, having been told to not cancel my direct debit, Avro took £98 off me yesterday... which is concerning. I've cancelled it now but I don't think I'll see that again.

Same here!  I think the communication here is a bit vague.  I assumed that if the DD wasn't cancelled it would be taken as normal, but that it would be taken into account during the transfer to the new utilities provider.

I've had no other communication from Octopus via mail or email since they told me they were taking over, not to cancel the DD and please can we have meter readings.  

Shrugs.

Kittyfrisk

Hi chaps. Yep, a direct debit taken by Avro from my bank account yesterday too.
Seemed a bit 'off' but as with @Haych  I was advised by Octopus that they were taking over & not to cancel the existing DD.
I reckon that as I still have all the financial records relating to all this & related transactions, that things will sort themselves out in due course & we'll all be OK eventually.

Heartfeltdawn

Trouble with our smart meter. Can anyone spot the day where we decided to try to launch our own Musk and Bezos-rivalling electric rocket? 

https://i.imgur.com/Zrfju3A.png

Winny_Pooh

When comparing prices, looking at your present monthly DD vs the one quoted on a switching site gives no indication of savings because the usage data you chose on a switching site could be way off what your current provider is using (more accurate). Always compare the unit rate in pence per KWH & the daily standing charge.

Kittyfrisk

^ Good advice.
It used to be that energy companies were obliged to display Tariff Comparison Rates (TCR's) which did exactly what you mention, but that was conveniently dropped by OFGEM to 'help' consumers... cough, cough.
You can still manually calculate TCR's using the formula on this page  https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/tariff-comparison-rate/

Mellish

My 98-year-old mother contacted USwItch. They told her by switching she could save £1 per year! Desperately seeking  a cheaper deal, she contacted Octopus who refused to sign her up because she has no bank account. To get her away from it, I had a stove and backboiler installed. Now her electricity bills are  £28 maximum per month and I buy her stove fuel  

chillidoggy

Haych said:

Bidley said:

So, having been told to not cancel my direct debit, Avro took £98 off me yesterday... which is concerning. I've cancelled it now but I don't think I'll see that again.

Same here!  I think the communication here is a bit vague.  I assumed that if the DD wasn't cancelled it would be taken as normal, but that it would be taken into account during the transfer to the new utilities provider.

I've had no other communication from Octopus via mail or email since they told me they were taking over, not to cancel the DD and please can we have meter readings.  

Shrugs.

Having just read your post, I've just checked and I've had no further DD's to Avro go out. Mind you, that might be because of the dates/timing. I also haven't had any further comms from Octopus after the last message on 29th, but to be fair it doesn't make any reference to them contacting within any time frame. I haven't cancelled the DD, but I might just ask the bank what the situation is in that regard.

Kittyfrisk

From the Octopus initial email (my italic capitals regarding the DD instruction).

• Any money Avro owed you is safe and will be credited to your new Octopus account as soon as possible
• If you pay by Direct Debit, this will continue as usual and automatically start crediting us rather than Avro. Please do not cancel your Direct Debit.
• If you’ve already cancelled your Direct Debit, that’s no problem — we’ll send you details of how to set up a new one soon.

darius

Me too
The avro direct debit just took its monthly £100.
ive also had a reminder to input my meter reads to Avro. Not great is it…

chillidoggy

No, however given the huge amount of clients they must have to work through, I’m minded to cut them a bit of slack as long as my gas supply keeps working.

chillidoggy

Just had an email from Octopus saying it should all be up and running in about 5 days.

Haych

Octopus emailed me a couple of days ago advising that the switch is in progress and asked me to create a password on their portal.

Which I did, and according to the information I can see from the 'My Account' page, I should be fully switched by 26th October.

I also like the fact that it gives me the option to cancel my switch and remain with my current supplier, lol!

All this malarkey is making me very aware of how much energy I use, though.  That's partly a good thing but I'm conscious that I'm switching lights off for other people and avoiding putting the heating on - it's not been on since early April and I'll try my best to put off putting it on for as long as I can.

Energy price increases = miserable living!

Bidley

I've not heard anything from Octopus since 29th September, which is making me twitchy.

Kittyfrisk

^  Me neither, but I'm sure it'll be sorted soon. Looking forward to a little bit of certainty even though I doubt that I'll like the numbers.

joneve

Bidley said:

I've not heard anything from Octopus since 29th September, which is making me twitchy.

I honestly wouldn't worry too much - Octopus have been nothing but fantastic since we moved to them 4 or 5 years ago. I've had no urge to change. Even when they were slightly more expensive...because the customer service has always been second to none. 

ArchtopDave

More bad news in the last hour. Bulb may go bust next week, unless it can secure more funding. This will represent a major headache for the Regulator and the Government, as Bulb currently has at least as many customers as all the other Energy Companies, who have failed recently. It may therefore need to be treated in a different manner, if it fails, because it may be too big for one of the other Companies to take on all it's customers. Apparently Bulb has 600 million pounds worth of debt at present.

Boromedic

Won't someone think of the shareholders, the poor shareholders, where are they going to get their fat dividends now.... Probably from HMG

exocet

I've still got £400 stuck in my Igloo account. I had instigated a move to Avro 3 weeks before Avro went "pop". Avro bagged £200 before they went under and I was moved to Octopus as part of the Ofgem process. Igloo went bang just after Avro - god knows how I get that money back...