[Closed] Energy suppliers

Message me if you want an Octopus code for £50 off.

As for recommendations etc no idea but they have so far been easier to deal with than Scottish Power. I switched for their off peak tariff as I'm supposed to be getting an electric car.

Just reminded me to switch for the same reason - have recently got an electric car. I even cam on here to get the recommendation thing and then completely forgot about it..

What car are you getting?

We've been with Bulb for a couple of years and had no problems at all. However I am about to switch to Yorkshire Energy as they are cheaper.

I was with Tonik for a couple of years, only issue was credit refund when I left.

Was with Avro years ago and again now. No major problems, they have been in trouble with the regulator a couple of times but no issues here as a customer. Can't see any sort of referral code.

Tonik definitely did a code thing for introducing friends though.

@WorldClassAccident we have a BMW i3S on order, was due at the end of June but who knows now as the factory has stopped production.

Also Octopus have stopped fitting Smart meters and my charge point isn't being installed at the moment either.

if you decide on bulb pm me for a referral code for £50 off for us both i think it is...

No guarantees re future solvency, hopefully a smaller risk these days.

Your quoted figures, are these all on the same usage? That's a huge variance if so.

Use a comparison website and accurate usage figures, make sure you are seeing all suppliers, for a proper comparison.

Cheers, I might go with octopus as they were second cheapest. The only discrepancy with my figures are my usage projection changes with each bill from tonik and I can’t find an annual usage.

Did you have to chase tonik for the credit refund?

I’m waiting for Octopus to get back to me for the last few days as wanting to switch. Have an OVO installed SMET2 smart meter so theoretically can go for the variable tariff with Octopus to charge the EV at the cheaper rates.

Avro used to make Lancasters, so they're bomber.

Been with Avro for 2 years, cheap and cheerful, no issues.

I get my gas and electric off Avro. They manage to take meter reading and bill me every month so seem legit. Had to call them once and they answered the phone.

Transferred from Octopus who were fine. Had cause to call them once and also OK.

If you haven't got the smart meter gubbins Octopus Tracker tariff is currently really cheap I believe. You have to actually request it, they won't offer it.
Also those waiting for a smart meter install to go onto Octopus Go or Agile, should get in touch with them asap and ask to go onto Tracker tariff in the interim. Again, you have to ask to go on it, they won't offer it.
PM me for referral code if you take my advice 😁
NB it's not fixed so is a bit of a gamble long term, however you can leave it at any time without penalty.

Why would you care if the supplier goes bust?
Your lights don’t go off if they go bust.

Provided you don’t over pay them why would it matter? (In fact you might even be protected in that case, but I’d need to check.)

Provided you don’t over pay them why would it matter? (In fact you might even be protected in that case, but I’d need to check.)

Any credit is protected, so doesn't matter if they go bust and you are heavily in credit.

SO energy and Pure Planet have the best customer service in the industry. Definitely check those out. I’m with Tonik and looking to move on.

Yes I had to chase Tonik for the £80 credit. They are supposed to do it automatically, when I called they apologised said it would be done within 10 days and took most of that.

Just come off a year with avro. Moved to a cheaper deal as I try and do every year or two. No complaints though.

As above there’s no real issue if the energy supplier goes bust as their administrator will sell that contracted customer base on to another provider and your contract price will be honoured.

I've just renewed with Avro as the deal was coming to an end.
Did a comparison on MSE and phoned Avro to get usage figures for last year, they offered their best deal which was only £1 a month more than Fox so I stayed with them and DD has dropped from £79 to £63 and there are no early exit fees so if something else comes along......

I was with Octopus until 'look after my bills' said I'd be a lot better off with Utility Point. Octopus were fine but it's still not clear what happened to the account surplus I had with them.

Octopus were fine but it’s still not clear what happened to the account surplus I had with them.

You need to call to get it back.

They hung onto my £400 for a few months. When I called they were very helpfully and claimed the money hadn't gone back due to a "system fault". Aye right. Was in my account within 5 days of calling.

If anyone has a octopus code they can message me as that’ll be cheaper with £50 off. Thanks

u got mail

Cheers Tom, I'v emailed them. I shall pick up the dog and bone if that doesn't work.

I have in the past used Ebico, OVO, Octopus and for the last few years have been with Tonik.

When I switched from Octopus to Tonik they did need reminding to refund credit built up with them.

Never had any service issues with any of them, OVO were great a few years ago but there prices have crept up since they have gotten larger so no longer as competitive.

Had Smart Meters installed by OVO whilst I was with them and although they are 1st generation Tonik can take automated readings from them.

I have just renewed with Tonik again as they came in as one of the cheapest (baring in mind wholesale fuel costs have dropped since Covid 19),there were a couple of cheaper quotes(Talking a few quid difference over the space of a year) but decided to stay put as better the devil you know, my monthly payments have dropped about £20 upon renewal.

I worked my actual annual usage from the figures on last Aprils 2019 bill compared to my the most recent bill April 2020 (available on the Tonik web portal) and used these on the comparison sites.

If you use the generic assumptions regarding the size and type of house and no. of occupants they nearly always differ from your actual usage (well they did for me)and hence the price advertised will maybe not be the same as your actual usage costs if you use your actual usage figures.

We too have a EV on order (its waiting at the dealers but cant get it delivered for obvious reasons) so have held off from switching to a EV tariff, Tonik have a EV tariff but its not advertised along with the regular tariffs when you do a quote you have to go to a different section of the website to access it.

Tonik along with most of the others do referrals(£) too.

Any one want to message me a referral for Octopus energy? Cheers

Just started my 2nd year with Yorkshire energy. No problems so far. I give them monthly readings and they don't fit smart meters so never get pestered.

I've sent you a pm with the octopus referral link. Cheers

I was with a very cheap supplier a few years ago, they went bust.
Another supplier took over, at the original price on my contract.
Turns out an unsustainably cheap energy supplier going bust is a win!

I’m with octopus. I have no loyalty and will Juno to cheapest provider but octopus were by far the cheapest when I moved a few months ago

Happy to share code with anyone moving

Octopus Go is well worth being on if you have an EV, for four hours of cheap electricity overnight; if you've got an octopus smart meter (they are doing installs again now) you just have to ask.

Tonik, eeeuuurgh. I feel your pain. They are absolutely the worst company I've ever had dealings with. Currently trying to get away from their clutches. There is a Facebook group called something like Tonik complaints. The horror stories on there. I'm trying to move to bulb. They pay your early leaving fees up to £60 plus they have great reviews.

@lambchop I'll send you a PM with. Bulb referral code in in case it's any use to you

I suspect 'BULB and their great reviews' will soon be altering to 'BULB and their mediocre reviews'as there is much annoyance at how they currently operate. I've been with them for around 15 mths. Just got the email telling me their prices are rising and that as a consequence my DD will go up £13 a month to cover the estimated winter usage. I A nice graoh shows what they expect me to use). The trouble is that I am £171 in credit with a further chunk going in next week. Couple with their poor estimation of my summer use ( I spent some of it in hospital and don't use much in any case) so they owe me for over estimating both gas and electric use. In a nutshell I am £200 in credit and am supposed to use about £100 more over the coming Winter than I will pay in...so by March I will still be £100 in credit. Couldn't get thru to speak to anyone, their online chat thing is currently unavailable so sod 'em. I've moved across to Avro where I should save about £100 a year

I'm with Octopus as my previous supplier went bust - the regulator picked Octopus for me. I'm still with them as they seem pretty good.

Been working with igloo energy recently, they actually give a shit about customers and data - very unusual

I suspect ‘BULB and their great reviews’ will soon be altering to ‘BULB and their mediocre reviews’as there is much annoyance at how they currently operate. I’ve been with them for around 15 mths.

It will be negative from me not too!

Got an email this morning saying they want to stick my DD up from £134 a month to £183 based on what they think I might use. I've had a good old argument on live chat an hour ago and they refuse to budge. So sod them - I know what I'm doing tonight now.

Im on octopus agile which means i can store cheap overnight energy in my tesla power wall battery and use that during the day, it updates the kw cost every 30mins and has saved me £300+ over the previous year.

I have had a nightmare with switching - wish I never had.

Small company went bust, transferred over to another company but with much higher tariff, so I transferred to another smaller company....then after 6 months the big 5 started discounting so I switched to them.

Following? During that time some idiot can round and incorrectly read the meter, putting a '1' at the front of the reading instead of a '3'. So, the one that goes bust owes me over £500+ and the next provide slaps with a bill of £1k just before xmas. All of them ignore your own submitted readings as use something called the 'data controller'. Some mystical body you cannot contact to sort shit like this out.

After many hours / calls I get it sorted with big 5 provider. 6 months later get a baliff letter saying I owe company 1 (who hadn't paid the £500 refund they said they should) saying I owe £200+. I give up and just pay it.

So you think this saga is over??? No, I switch from big 5, provide my readings and then, guess what they ignore my readings and jump me back to the incorrect amount again.

I am now taking photos of my meters every month and saving them for when this happens again. Its a bloody nightmare.

The worst thing is, no one tells you they are ignoring your supplied reading until you spot it on your bill. also I provided readings via apps and websites for companies that have gone bust - guess what I cannot access these to prove what I submitted anymore.

I currently have no idea if I have paid the right amount, but I'm pretty sure I've massively overpaid, but no way to work it out or prove it.

Rant over. morale of story - take photo evidence of your meter reading every month

I’m on Octopus now. Been absolutely fine in the time that I’ve been a customer. I had a credit on my account, overpaying the monthly DD, but I requested a refund via the website and it was in my account in a few days.

I had a similar experience as DT78 but with Scottish Power. I’d had a new gas meter fitted, the installer had logged the meter number wrong, so even though I’d queried the bills repeatedly the billing got royally screwed. They insisted that I owed them £1300 or there abouts. When I presented them with photo evidence of every monthly meter reading on both the new and old meters, a spreadsheet showing cost and usage of units for over three years they backed down, recalculated and adjusted my bill to show I was 53p out.

I switched from them sharpish.

TL:DR Octopus referral codes available if anyone should so wish.

Just about to move from Bulb, is Octopus still the supplier of choice? To get the referral payment can this still be done via USwitch or does it needs to be directly with the supplier? Cheers

No idea @juanking. Offer of a referral code still stands if you are going to Octopus, they’ve been no bother at all for me.

@ me on here and I’ll get the notification email, the messaging system seems to work but not always.

i left bulb to go to pure planet a few months back, that was the one recommended by moneysavingexpert then, dunno if thats still the case or not. happy enough with them and if you want a referral code (we each get £25) then pm me.

cheers

Just having checked the Octopus referral codes, they are offering £100 for new customers until 15th October and £50 for the referrer as normal.

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..

@rockthreegozy

Not sure. You might need the meter readings and meter numbers as a new customer.

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.

@rockthreegozy

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] [/img]

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