Government support with energy costs this Winter

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October 1st 2022:

The Energy Price Guarantee kicks in today.

  • Your new, discounted prices took effect from midnight (please note, if you're on a Fixed tariff with prices already below the Energy Price Guarantee discount, you won't be affected by this)
  • Your dashboard and app won't yet display the Energy Price Guarantee discount – we'll update it really soon, but have been prioritising getting individual pricing emails out to every customer
  • You can find your discounted prices in your individual email from us, or see Flexible Octopus prices from October here.

The £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme kicks in too.

  • Sometime in the next week or so, you'll receive a £66 credit from us. It won't necessarily be on the 1st of the month, so don't worry if you don't see it. This is first credit of six you'll receive this Winter, adding up to £400 non-repayable government support.
  • Your Direct Debit will be reduced by £67 so you can immediately feel the impact of the support but you can change this online any time.
  • The Energy Bill Support Scheme is paid by the supplier who provides your energy - so if you only have gas from us, you'll receive it from your electricity supplier instead.

Head to more information and FAQs.

On 26 August, Ofgem, the energy regulator, announced that the energy price cap would be increasing from £1,971 to £3,549 for a typical household. We talk more about the impact of the global energy crisis on gas and electricity prices here

On the 8th September, Prime Minister Liz Truss announced that the government would be launching a significant support package to help with energy costs this winter.

We understand that this support package means that the annual bill for a typical household will be reduced to £2,500 from £3,549. We also know that existing support schemes such as the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme for all households, and up to £1,200 for the most vulnerable households, will still remain in place.

We will use this page to share information on what we know, and the process so far.

8pm Monday 26 September

The £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme kicks in from 1 October. This is a non-refundable £400 energy credit given to every UK household over Winter to help offset higher energy costs. Here's how it works.

Each month from October til March:

  • We’ll credit your energy account £67 if you don't pay by Direct Debit
  • If you pay by Direct Debit, we'll automatically reduce it by £67, and credit you £67 so you can immediately feel the impact of the support. We will send you an email before we take that DD to let you know. Some customers have told us that they'd like to keep paying the same DD
  • If you want to increase your DD back up, the email we send will have a link for you to do this, or just head to payments on your dashboard.

Find out more on our blog.

12pm Friday 23 September

Last Thursday, we received the government's guidance on how to implement the Energy Price Guarantee – and ever since, our team have been working night and day to make it possible and get the information out to customers.

We've contacted all variable tariff customers (which is the majority of customers these days) with details about how the government scheme impacts them. Now, we can start doing the same for those on fixed tariffs.

If you've not heard from us just yet, sit tight: no one will be worse off, and if you'd like an idea of what your prices will be from October now, head to our blog about the Energy Price Guarantee which includes the maximum rates in every region.

5pm Friday 9 September

The information about unit rates is starting to come through from government. We expect to get finalised information over the weekend or on Monday. We will then work through all the data we have, and expect to start contacting customers with what this means for them, and their new rates from the 1 October, at the end of next week.

9am Monday 12 September

We've received most of the information such as unit rates which we need from government and our team have been working through this data over the weekend. We expect to start contacting customers with what this means for them, and their new rates from the 1 October, at the end of this week.

You can find out more about existing support available in our blog or in this BBC article BBC article

12pm Sunday 18 September

We've been contacting customers on our Flexible Octopus (SVT) tariff about what their new rates will be this weekend. Thank you for bearing with us - it's been a complex process to work through all the detail this week and get communications out to you all.
We are also aiming to contact those on Fixed tariffs this week with exactly what this means for them. Those on Fixed tariffs above the rate of the new subsidy are also guaranteed the lower rates from 1 October - you can read more about this on this government factsheet but we will confirm details soon.

We've also announced further support for up to 100,000 customers where we will waive the standing charge for a period of time - our CEO and Founder Greg talks about this here.

Published on 9th September 2022 by:

image of Rebecca Dibb-Simkin

Rebecca Dibb-Simkin

Director of Product and Marketing

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Hey I'm Constantine, welcome to Octopus Energy!

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