Octo Assist: our customer help fund
Octo Assist is a £30 million customer help fund and a collection of support schemes designed to give extra help to customers most in need.
We started the Octo Assist fund during the energy crisis when prices were at their most unstable. Octo Assist started at £2.5 million of funding, and has now grown to £30 million as the crisis went on.
Different types of support from the Octo Assist fund
Financial support
How do I apply?
Get financial help from Octo Assist
If you're an Octopus customer, fill out our quick and simple online tool to get things started. It'll ask you some questions about your financial situation, and based on that we may offer you help from a number of support options including direct bill grants and standing charge holidays based on circumstances and need.
Energy saving support
What if I’m not eligible to receive help from Octo Assist?
Our support is designed to target those in the greatest need. The families who struggled to afford the bills even before the energy crisis, and those whose health and safety relies on heat and power. That means Octo Assist sadly won’t be able to give absolutely everyone extra help.
We’re always here to talk to you about your individual circumstances, and suggest different ways we can help.
Here's some extra things we’re doing that aren’t limited to the most vulnerable:
Energy saving challenges
What else can I do?
- Buy an electric blanket. These cost from £40, but could save you £300 a year, or even more.
Our blankets are from Dreamland or Cosi but you can also find blankets in many other places, such as Amazon, Curry's, Argos or Dunelm.
Please be aware of Fire Brigade guidance around the safe use of blankets, and that to prevent mould, it's recommended to keep homes above 15 degrees celsius.
- You don't need a thermal camera – test for draughts around your house using the back of your hand and put some of our heat loss-busting tips into practice.
- Pay by Direct Debit – the rates work out around £80 cheaper than not paying by DD, because it costs us a lot less in admin. It’s easy to set up a Direct Debit online.
- You can always get in touch for personalised account help – anything from talking to you about different ways to pay, organising payment holidays or long term payment plans, or returning credit.
Why did we start the Octo Assist fund?
From day one, our goal has been to pass the fairest possible prices on to our customers. But where our cost to buy a years’ worth of energy for customers would usually be around £1 billion, it's now more like £9 billion.
We’ve absorbed what we can of that — spending £150 million from our own reserves to keep high energy costs off bills, and more recently, another £40 million to keep standing charges lower. We've also invested in innovative programs like Saving Sessions Octoplus and Power-ups, where we provide customers with the ability to optimise their energy usage during specific times, ensuring they benefit from cheaper rates.
We think the best way we can help is by pumping additional efforts and resources into specific schemes designed to support our very most vulnerable customers – so we created Octo Assist, initially with £2.5 million funding, and now £30 million to support even more customers this winter.
We'll keep doing absolutely everything we can to help our customers. If you need help, please, please talk to us.
Published on 9th October 2022 by:
Hey I'm Constantine, welcome to Octopus Energy!
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