Energy Suppliers, Suppliers of Energy. Gas / Electric

Books?

Everything is on Recipe Keeper nowadays.

1 Attachment

The Octopus screenshot you posted doesn't contradict anything I've said.

If you get switched, you will end up paying the price cap.

If you choose to switch yourself now, you will still end up paying the price cap too (because you can't get charged more) which is why they say you won't be better off.

But you can also get a bit of extra cash for doing it and switch to a decent supplier who are well backed enough to not go bust, instead of probably getting switched to a crap big six supplier, who most people will then want to switch away from to a better supplier.

So people who aren't on a fixed tariff now with a supplier who is likely to go bust are better off switching to Octopus, no matter what the 'official advice' is.

So if anyone does want to do this and wants £50 (I'll get £50 too) my referral link is below!
https://share.octopus.energy/wind-clove-763

The Octopus screenshot you posted doesn't contradict anything I've said.

Umm. It does contradict what you said and you want a £50 bonus for getting people to switch.

Shame.

How exactly? Explain to me how you're better off paying the same price with a less good supplier and not getting a bonus?

Yes £50 would be nice but the original reason I bumped this thread was because I was with Green Network Energy who went bust, I got switched on to EDF (who I didn't want to be with) and it was a bother. Which took months. So my motivation was actually to help people avoid that.

If you do get switched it's a massive hassle, especially if you had a + balance.

So the best thing to do is ask for refund of credit? This creating a little run on the energy companies already at risk?

With this country you know this is probably already happening 🤦

Octopus are so really good you can never in credit with them.

Best thing is to not keep a balance.

But yeah it kind of causes a run if everyone suddenly decides they want their money back

TBH the idea of running a balance is complete bullshit anyway.

the idea of running a balance is complete bullshit anyway

Unless you're totally broke.

I used to appreciate it when I was in the council flat and living on vapours, it was the kind of financial planning I was happy with... someone else forcing me to pay a bit more in the Summer so I could heat and cook through the Winter.

Igloo paid 3% on balances which (even after tax) was better than any bank.

This is why I stuck with them. Pity the business didn't work out.

Because you want a £50 bonus.

So it's not up to me to make an excuse to swap when even Martin Lewis says no.

You've made it it a reason to swap because you get 50 Quid in the bank..

Bulb are probably going bust.

Me a month ago , just sayin' ;)

Bump because I know there are quite a lot of people on here with Bulb and it seems they might be about to go bust unfortunately

Wise people like @dbr switched to Octopus, got £50 then referred a bunch of people themselves, instead of probably being switched to one of the big (bad) six.

But obviously I wasn't trying to help people who were just going to be paying the same SVR anyway, I just wanted my £50s! #lol

In what way are Octopus better than the big (bad) six? Given that prices are much of a muchness at the moment what else do they offer?

which company would want to take the millions of bulb customers and still subsidise them as the price is capped below wholesale?
maybe time for the government to step in and kick start nationalisation...

Cut and paste below from a news article, maybe the taxpayer stumps up the cash?

The latest developments in Bulb's rescue efforts pave the way for the inaugural use of a resolution process called the Special Administration Regime (SAR), which would guarantee funding for Bulb from the Treasury while administrators seek a restructuring deal, buyer, or transfer of the customer base

I think it’s more about being in control of the process rather than being a passenger. If you transfer you can be sure that any balance you had will be settled up. If you get transferred you could be waiting a long time to get it back if at all.

I get that, more just wondering why Octopus are viewed as so much better than the other established suppliers.

I have heard the opposite is true. Okay if you transfer before they go bust, but if you transfer, then they go bust and then you try reclaim your credit you might be fucked because (unlike if you are forcibly transferred) the new supplier probably doesn't have to honour the credit?

I've got a half installed smart meter that I expect will never work now.

Most smart meters (SMETS2 type) that have been installed for some time will work no matter who the supplier is. They replace the older SMETS1 type that was a bit of a free for all with each supplier having their own protocols, and therefore resorted to dumb meters if you changed suppliers.

One area that regulation has helped in standardising…

Roulette each meter reading.

It should be SMETS 2 but the guy never gave us the in-home display and so it never uploads any readings. The IHDs are out of stock at Bulb for the time being. We'd need an IHD from whoever takes over Bulb's customers I think.

Realistically it'll never get sorted before our tenancy ends, whenever that is.

Ah I’d always IHD was just that, a display. If it’s connected at the meter then I thought it should have still sent readings to the supplier. Maybe that understanding was wrong!

The in home display is just a display. The business end of a smart meter is all in the meter box.

Yep, my display hasn't been plugged in for the last month but the readings are all uploaded.