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Do new octopus customers have to be referred to get the £100 or just sign up, asking for daughter who is looking at switching 🤔
Its only payable after the first payment on the new account has been made and need to have followed a referral link, I think..
Yep, as juanking says, it needs a referral code then it credits your account once the first payment is made. It's not cash in your hand but it's free money.
Shit, I sound like a hawker.
Octopus is the best supplier I've ever had - cost is competitive too
Good shout for the Octopus double referral rate - been meaning to swap from Bulb & SIL has a referral code so great timing.
What tariff would everyone recommend - we're a family with 2 under 6s with no solar or electric vehicle (or plans in the future for one).
Tracker? or one of the standard 3? The others all seem aimed at either solar/storage or charging
Cheers
I'm on octopus tracker v1 at the moment. Over March - July it was under 10ppkwh but now up around 11ppkwh. Not sure how competitive it is against other prices, I'm temporarily on it whilst waiting for a new smart meter and back on Octopus Agile
Looks like if it gets too spendy you can just switch out to the tariffs so will give it a go.
Cheers
Anyone have an Octopus referral code?
Jolmes : Sent you a private message regarding code as I don’t think stw allows them to be posted
Thanks Somafunk, all recieved and signed up.
Does anyone know if you can sign up to Octopus before moving into a new home? It's our first place (move is later next week) and I was under the impression we had to enter and contact the existing providers/sort out new ones at that stage..
Whichever supplier you are with double check that the meter serial numbers on your accounts match the ones on your meters EXACTLY, particularly if you're going to use photo evidence to back up any claims against a utility company.
I started a new job as a meter reader (with a data management contractor reading for 40+ utility companies) just before lockdown and see loads that have one or two digits wrong. With some suppliers I can correct that on site but not all of them 🙄
Another vote for Octopus, their smart meter installation was absolutely spot on. If you're careful with your energy use and willing to invest the time you can get free electricity on the agile tariff.
People on the tesla forum use a trick app and charge cable and charge when prices go down to zero.
I'm on standard 'Go' tariff and it's 5p kwh overnight.
PM if you want a code for £100 too. 👀😉
Our supplier Tonik Energy has just ceased trading. Makes you wonder how sustainable some of these deals are.
But I’ll be looking for an Octopron referral code soon.
New home here, our first. Current supplier is British Gas for both E+G. We have no previous bills so no idea how much me and partner are using.
Octopus get lots of praise, but are they good value for most who have comparison data?
Medium usage quote ranges from cheapest (E-on, £53 per month forecasted) to Octopus (£78-81) and obviously beyond.
Should we contact British Gas and run with their standard tariff for a few months (can this be done without commitment/contract?) then switch, or just bite the bullet with Octopus and re-evaluate after a year?
For those of you that live with in the M25 (probably not many of you) you should definitely consider London Power.
It’s the Mayor of London not for profit retail company. Great prices, rollover onto cheapest deal, no exit fees and fantastic customer service.
Income is spent on social/environmental projects in London
Ta
Woody
I'm with green network energy, great so far but...
...they're an Italian company. Anybody have an idea what will happen with EU owned providers come January?
@rockthreegozy I've just sent you and IM with an octopus referral code if you decide to go with them.
We switched to them not long ago from bulb, it's early days but they seem good. At the end of the day, I figured we were tied into a contract so can switch again if we wanted to.
We're with British Gas before bulb, they were also alright but a bit more expensive I think. With all of these things I think it just pays to keep an eye on your tariff and take advantage of changing when deals come up.
Anybody have an idea what will happen with EU owned providers come January?
Forrin energy won't get past the border.
Octopus get lots of praise, but are they good value for most who have comparison data?
You need to find on the supplier or comparison sites what the unit price and standing charges are, they have to publish them but not always dead obvious. From there if it's not clear who the cheapest is, (if one has best unit price and best standing charge, you're golden) just do a quick calculation based on typical energy use for the year using the same figures for each supplier. You can get rough figures off this page.
Anybody have an idea what will happen with EU owned providers come January?
I work in the industry for a German utility and there's been absolutely no discussion about this! OK so we don't have any direct domestic or SME consumer facing business in the UK but I suspect not much really. It's not like there's a wire from Italy to your house, it's just a trading function between generators, national grid and household suppliers, just in your case some of the profit will go aboard.
There are however some massive UK to EU interconnectors that have the capacity between them of a couple of nuclear power stations. I'll be more interested in what happens to the flow through those. If those are somehow hobbled by Brexit, (what are the chances no-one in the UK government has considered or even realised we have them?) we're going to be shafted on cold, windless and dull winter days.
do a quick calculation based on typical energy use for the year using the same figures for each supplier.
NO NO NO NO NO for about the hundredth time here!
Your existing supplier can tell you your annual usage, it will be on statements or bills.
Plug this into a comparison site and make sure it shows you the entire market (not just suppliers it can switch you too, which have a referral fee for them and are hence the most expensive).
Choose from that list of suppliers.
It really is that simple and there is no other way to compare accurately.
I’m with green network energy, great so far but…
…they’re an Italian company.
Powergenitalia?
AFAIK Octopus appear to be okay, as in legit.
I’ve worked in the industry for >30yrs but on the Industrial & Commercial side rather than Resi-supply.
I think there’s approaching 20 pop-up new resi suppliers gone bust in the last 2yrs (vs one in the previous 20yrs) ... Ofgem had fairly lax rules as to who could get a new supply licence so there’s some utter muppets out there taking your money (and crashing the market with ridiculous unsustainable pricing).
Turns out an unsustainably cheap energy supplier going bust is a win!
...the thing is it’s most definitely not. As when these suppliers go under they’ve taken cash off you for green taxes, funding Renewables running in to tens of millions.
Their outstanding “Renewables Obligation” debts are then mutualised around the remaining suppliers and added to your bills.
Credible suppliers will pay, but more will go under...domino effect...it’s all Ofgem’s naive creation.
do a quick calculation based on typical energy use for the year using the same figures for each supplier.
NO NO NO NO NO for about the hundredth time here!
I don't understand why my method, if using the suppliers accurate price figures wouldn't work, that's the same calculation that comparison sites do. Granted it'd be tricky with a clever smart/electric vehicle tariff but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
Your existing supplier can tell you your annual usage, it will be on statements or bills.
rockthreegozy says they don't have any consumption figures. New house, first time buyers.
Maybe read the history then wind your neck in a bit.
People on the tesla forum use a trick app and charge cable and charge when prices go down to zero.
If you are talking about Ohme cable and app, then that's what I have. It doesn't just charge when the prices are zero, but rather picks the cheapest prices within the period yo want to charge and sometimes if you're lucky, prices go negative, but mostly you're paying a few ppkwh
in example below it might start charging at 3am-4am, stop, and resume charging at 4.30am-5am
[img] 
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I guess he means folk with a Tesla or Tesla wall battery (i have the battery and octopus agile app) use the Tesla app that synchronises with the octopus agile price per kWh and stores the electricity when the cost is cheap or even free.
ah ok, I've got an M3 but don't use their app or have a Tesla charger, so I'm not familiar with any of that.
I moved from Bulb to Octopus recently. I'd been happy with Bulb for a couple of years but they seemed to get a bit erratic with my DD pricing which had started to annoy me.
I think I was paying £80 a month to begin with and was happy with that, they then advised me to reduce it a bit, then a bit more, and a bit more. Then a couple of months ago they told me there was a shortfall and I was going to have to up it to over £100 a month to make up the difference.
They closed my account yesterday and are refunding me the remaining balance of my account which is over £100 - makes no sense...
Powergenitalia?
*applause*
Slight hijack or PSA, whatever.
I was going to start a thread/mini rant about my supplier on Tuesday. A while ago they were First utility and pretty reasonable they were, then they became Shell Energy and things have changed a bit.
I have smart meters in the house on G&E and don't need to submit readings, I have been paying £99pm for almost 12 months on a fixed tarrif. I did the same deal for my Dad who's account I also look after and submit his gas readings (he only has a smart meter on his E).
His readings mean that I regularly get an email from Shell saying payments are up a bit then down a bit every few months currently £138, odd for a fixed rate but I digress, I don't get these emails for my account so everything stays the same £99.
He asked me to check his account the other day and I discovered he's around £250 in credit, I figured that might balance out over the winter and it was reasonable if they keep the DD the same.
On checking my own I find I am in £450 credit. When I asked for a refund they said they thought not as I would use more over the winter. I've applied for a refund and will wait till next April or whenever for the money back, bloody tossers.
@white101 depends how proactive you want to get, but I've found MSE energy club and the CAB comparison tool to be useful when looking at prices for new suppliers
Yes have used MSE before, thats how I originally ended up with First utility before the takeover. I think I'd prefer that money in my hands over winter not theirs.
Can you not simply reduce your DD pro rata to help level out ?
I'm thinking of leaving ovo the cheapest fixed price is 12 qiud over octopus fixed green deal. That's with last year's usage for both gas and leccy.
And ovo are pushing smart metres and getting way off with the direct debit figures in the summer it's "hello let's up your DD" now it's your payment is too high on your usage. And I think that's to push smart metres.
Not that I'm tin foil hat paranoid on the smart thing but the boss is saying no for now.
Is the referral thing still on
Octopus been cracking for me bud, I've sent you a Pm with a referral li k that will get you a £50 credit
I don’t understand why my method, if using the suppliers accurate price figures wouldn’t work, that’s the same calculation that comparison sites do.
It would, but there are 50-60 suppliers, so it will take an age.
Fair point re usage figures 👍