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Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

Making your money go further
Maroochydore
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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#304181

Postby Maroochydore » April 29th, 2020, 4:05 pm

richfool wrote: I also liked the fact that the daily standing charges were noticeably lower.

Slightly off main topic but when I switched from Ovo to Octopus last year I noticed (and this was a big part of my decision to switch) the disparity in daily standing charges.

From memory Ovo charged around 27p/day for both gas and electric accounts whilst Octopus were something like 16p/day for gas and 19p/day for electric (or the other-way around, no matter).

The daily standing charge is supposed to cover infrastructure/transportation costs so surely they should be virtually the same whatever company I use.

Can any one explain why the disparity between companies?

scrumpyjack
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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#304196

Postby scrumpyjack » April 29th, 2020, 4:39 pm

I'm on my second year with Yorkshire Energy and it has all gone perfectly. No problems at all and still the cheapest I think?

richfool
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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#304215

Postby richfool » April 29th, 2020, 5:49 pm

For information, the rates I was paying with Bristol Energy (fixed rate tariff), and the new rates offered by Yorkshire Energy (variable) are as follows:

Electricity:
Unit rate: BE: 15.61p/kWh. YE: 11.429p/kWh.
Standing Charge: 18.31p/day. YE: 15.196p/day.

Gas:
Unit Rate: BE: 3.52p/kWh. YE: 2.497p/kWh.
Standing Charge: BE:16.78p/day. YE: 14.706p/day.

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#304704

Postby simoan » May 1st, 2020, 9:59 am

scrumpyjack wrote:I'm on my second year with Yorkshire Energy and it has all gone perfectly. No problems at all and still the cheapest I think?

The thing is, things always go perfectly, until they don't! I'd visit Companies House and look at the full exemption accounts registered there for year ending August 2019: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/comp ... ng-history

Then consider that none of those balance sheet numbers are in £millions and the company has only three directors. It's a VERY small company! I suspect that they have to provide low teaser rates just to stay in business.

All the best, Si

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#304716

Postby scrumpyjack » May 1st, 2020, 10:14 am

simoan wrote:
scrumpyjack wrote:I'm on my second year with Yorkshire Energy and it has all gone perfectly. No problems at all and still the cheapest I think?

The thing is, things always go perfectly, until they don't! I'd visit Companies House and look at the full exemption accounts registered there for year ending August 2019: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/comp ... ng-history

Then consider that none of those balance sheet numbers are in £millions and the company has only three directors. It's a VERY small company! I suspect that they have to provide low teaser rates just to stay in business.

All the best, Si


They have a very slick IT system and so I guess can run without much overhead. They have automatically cut my monthly payment as usage declined so don't build up a large credit balance. The big providers simply run up masses of overheads and then wonder why they are then undercut.

Can't really see the risk? If they go bust , you just move your account elsewhere. You don't get cut off.

If they are efficient they will prosper. So far they have been very efficient.

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#304719

Postby simoan » May 1st, 2020, 10:26 am

scrumpyjack wrote:
simoan wrote:
scrumpyjack wrote:I'm on my second year with Yorkshire Energy and it has all gone perfectly. No problems at all and still the cheapest I think?

The thing is, things always go perfectly, until they don't! I'd visit Companies House and look at the full exemption accounts registered there for year ending August 2019: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/comp ... ng-history

Then consider that none of those balance sheet numbers are in £millions and the company has only three directors. It's a VERY small company! I suspect that they have to provide low teaser rates just to stay in business.

All the best, Si


They have a very slick IT system and so I guess can run without much overhead. They have automatically cut my monthly payment as usage declined so don't build up a large credit balance. The big providers simply run up masses of overheads and then wonder why they are then undercut.

Can't really see the risk? If they go bust , you just move your account elsewhere. You don't get cut off.

If they are efficient they will prosper. So far they have been very efficient.

Well, the accounts would suggest they're not prospering that well although at least for 2019 they had positive net assets, albeit only £16k. MSE warn users they are very small and they're not wrong. I'm not sure what happened last time new smaller entrants went bust but I believe customers were seriously inconvenienced at the very least. If I was on the bread line I'd go with them but for a £50 saving it doesn't seem worth the risk. You pays your money...

All the best, Si

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#304725

Postby scrumpyjack » May 1st, 2020, 10:32 am

Those aren't their accounts anyway! As their website says YE is the trading name of Daisy Energy. If you look at their accounts they are in the start up phase and someone must have financed them.

Anyway, as I say, there is no risk to the consumer. The risk is to the rest of the energy industry who have to pick up the tab when a loser goes bust.

They look a bit like a repeat of Ovo who went from nothing to being a very large supplier.

But one should bear in mind, these companies are simply billing/accounting businesses. The energy still comes from the same providers down the same cables whichever billing company you use. The only difference is in the price.

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#304739

Postby Loup321 » May 1st, 2020, 10:56 am

My previous supplier for electricity went bust. I got an email from Ofgem saying that they were going into administration 2-3 months before the actual date. The old supplier sent an email apologising, but they had to wait until Ofgem emailed me first. Ofgem then emailed me to tell me that they had identified a new supplier to take on all the old supplier's customers, giving 30 days notice of the transfer. I was asked to provide a meter reading on a certain date (or as close as I could manage) or they would use an estimated reading to calculate the final bill and starting reading for the new supplier. I got an email from the new supplier 7 days or so before the transfer, and everything went smoothly with my credit balance being transferred correctly.

The amount of notice I got was just about right. The fact that it was all handled by Ofgem gave me a lot of confidence. The fact that the new supplier was competitively priced (only a bit higher than the 6-10 very cheap suppliers that went bust around that time) gave me confidence that Ofgem had my interests at heart and hadn't just fobbed me off with one of the Big 6. I wouldn't worry about a small supplier going bust, and think it's still worth chasing the cheapest deal.

Saying all that, I have stayed with the supplier Ofgem gave me, and next time I do decide to switch it will be for environmental rather than financial reasons. My choices for my reasons.

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#304807

Postby neversay » May 1st, 2020, 2:10 pm

simoan wrote: Yes, I had a 12 month fix that was finishing in May so I checked the three different tariffs Octopus offered of which two were better than my existing deal but nowhere near the best available 12 month fix with no exit fee. I have my own spreadsheet too, and don't rely on the calculations by MSE Cheap Energy club when making a decision to switch, or not. I should save £50-60 on both gas and electric by switching from Octopus based on their current tariffs and have the option to switch again at zero cost if cheaper deals appear in the next few months. Like you, I discounted Yorkshire Energy having visited Companies House and looking at their last filed basic accounts. They are very small!!

All the best, Si


I knew you'd be 'on the ball'. No doubt regional pricing variations are at play. May I ask what supplier and tariff you went for in the end?

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#304827

Postby simoan » May 1st, 2020, 3:03 pm

scrumpyjack wrote:Those aren't their accounts anyway! As their website says YE is the trading name of Daisy Energy. If you look at their accounts they are in the start up phase and someone must have financed them.

Oops! :-) The accounts for Daisy Energy look more like it, obviously, with 5 directors. However, they are still very small, and as you say, have the accounts of a startup i.e. net liabilities as of March 2019 with negative working capital which increased from 2018. Hopefully, they will make it and add another challenger in a crowded market.

All the best, Si

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#324067

Postby cinelli » July 6th, 2020, 12:34 pm

Has anyone been successful in winning a prize on the Octopus wheel of fortune? In case you don't know, you get a free spin every time you submit meter readings. Prizes go up to an unlikely £512. I have had several goes and am yet to win.

Cinelli

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#324171

Postby doug2500 » July 6th, 2020, 6:09 pm

Half a dozen goes and no win for me either. But I expect the odds are not great.

I did get £50 credit when a friend joined them though.

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#324188

Postby Maroochydore » July 6th, 2020, 8:53 pm

cinelli wrote:Has anyone been successful in winning a prize on the Octopus wheel of fortune?

Yes - I joined in July 2019 and on my first submission I won.........£1.

Nothing since but I'm amazed how often my pointer lands at £0 whilst either side is a cash prize. Call me cynical but...

doug2500 wrote: I expect the odds are not great.

You're not wrong there. Last time I checked (when I talked my son into joining up) I recall there were about 4000 prizes of varying amounts per month spread across something like 1.5 million customers.

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#324244

Postby Loup321 » July 7th, 2020, 9:43 am

I've been a customer for a couple of years (I forget, but they're cheap on the price comparisons so no need to switch), and submitted readings almost every month. Never won anything on the wheel of fortune.

Good to hear that someone won £1 once. Perhaps it is real.

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#324372

Postby Maroochydore » July 7th, 2020, 3:14 pm

Loup321 wrote: Perhaps it is real.

Oh it's real alright. The story behind it and the 'technical' bit about how it works can be found here https://octopus.energy/blog/wheel-of-fortune/

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#324983

Postby barchid » July 9th, 2020, 10:01 pm

scrumpyjack wrote:I'm on my second year with Yorkshire Energy and it has all gone perfectly. No problems at all and still the cheapest I think?


Scrumpy
I moved to Yorkshire despite the warning from MSE they are very small but the service has so far been first rate, my experience mirrors yours

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#348114

Postby neversay » October 15th, 2020, 10:25 pm

It's an old thread but, as there are plenty of fellow Octopus customers here, I discovered they have an energy tools page
https://octopus.energy/blog/agile-smart-home-diy/ and API https://octopus.energy/dashboard/developer/. It's particularly useful to the Agile tariff customers but there are other tools listed for comparison of usage against various tariffs.

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#348164

Postby richfool » October 16th, 2020, 9:09 am

barchid wrote:
scrumpyjack wrote:I'm on my second year with Yorkshire Energy and it has all gone perfectly. No problems at all and still the cheapest I think?


Scrumpy
I moved to Yorkshire despite the warning from MSE they are very small but the service has so far been first rate, my experience mirrors yours

I've been with Yorkshire Energy for about 6 months now, without incident, although I don't like that their online statements aren't presented as a bill with a name and address in the heading, that I can print off and use for name and address verification purposes.

However, they (YE) have just emailed me saying that their variable rates (which I am on) are going up shortly and recommending I switch to a 1 year fixed rate with them. I thought energy prices were low and falling, rather than increasing, so am a bit puzzled by this. Is it a tactic to get me to accept a higher tariff, I wonder?

When I look at their suggested new tariff, it is significantly higher. Though if I compare it with other energy providers including Octopus, it is still cheaper than most, apart from EOn. YE's current variable tariff is still by far the best.

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#348272

Postby Gersemi » October 16th, 2020, 2:36 pm

richfool wrote:I've been with Yorkshire Energy for about 6 months now, without incident, although I don't like that their online statements aren't presented as a bill with a name and address in the heading, that I can print off and use for name and address verification purposes.



I'm with Yorkshire Energy and I get an 'Energy Statement' created every month that has my name and address in the heading that looks very much like a bill. I haven't tried to use it for name and address verification purposes, but I can't see why it wouldn't be accepted.

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Re: Octopus Energy: My reasons to be happy

#348344

Postby doug2500 » October 16th, 2020, 6:29 pm

Octopus have just informed that while energy prices are falling, and their gas price is falling, electricity prices are rising.


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