In the UK, companies often run a credit check before providing credit to customers. This might happen when you apply for a loan, or a new mobile phone. 

Utility companies also use credit checks because most homes receive their energy on credit. Unless you have a prepayment meter, you’re probably using energy on credit - meaning you use the energy first, then pay the bill afterwards. 

When you register with Octopus, we’ll ask for your permission to check your credit data with TransUnion. That means we’re obligated to provide information back to TransUnion, such as data on your payments with us, which ensures that your credit score stays up-to-date. 

At the end of each month we share information with Transunion to update their records. It can take up to two weeks for any changes in your credit score to be reflected on third party sites like Credit Karma. 

We want to make sure our customers don’t end up in a position where they’re unable to cover any debt or missed payments on their account. If you do miss a payment, then a late payment marker could be added to your report, which can then negatively affect your credit score. If you’re struggling to pay for your energy, 

Regular late payments will have a longer lasting impact on your credit score (which could make it more difficult to get accepted for other credit like loans or mortgages) and the report can stay on your credit records for up to six years.

All accounts joining us from Bulb will have their information shared with TransUnion. Making regular payments on time should positively impact your credit score. If you miss payments or regularly pay late, then your score will be negatively affected as outlined above.

What is credit data sharing?

' is a credit balance. This means if you left Octopus tomorrow - and your bills were up to date - we'd refund you this money to take your balance back to £0.

' is a debit balance. This means if you left Octopus tomorrow - and your bills were up to date - you'd need to pay us this amount to bring your balance back to £0.

What does 'above zero' or 'below zero' mean on my account balance?

If you have a smart meter, you’ll receive a statement every month. If you’d like to change the date you receive your statements, 

If you have a non-smart meter, we do things a little differently. We won’t send you a statement every month. Instead, you can 

 and we’ll send you a statement within a few days. If you don’t send us readings, we’ll send you an estimated bill every three months.

We do it this way because we want to avoid estimating your energy usage where possible. Real meter readings make your statements a lot more accurate. There’s more information about 

When does Octopus send my statements?

It's common for your old supplier to offer a better deal to try and stop you from switching. Before accepting, ensure it's as good as they say by asking the following questions:

1. What are the unit rates and standing charge?

Check your old supplier's unit rates and standing charge are cheaper than ours, as some suppliers may reduce your monthly Direct Debit without reducing the actual price of your energy. This could result in you building up a substantial debit with them.

Your old supplier might also divert your attention from unit rates to the standing charge, especially if theirs is cheaper than ours. But please bear in mind that standing charges have a much smaller impact on your energy cost than the unit rates.

2. Can I have full tariff information, including the annual usage estimate?

Not only will this show unit rates and standing charge, but you'll be able to see what annual usage estimate they've calculated savings on.

We use the estimate you gave us, or Ofgem's Low, Medium, High values (as indicated by you). Your old supplier's usage estimate might be different, meaning your payments might not be enough for your usage.

3. What tariff will I default to once the cheap deal ends?

Many suppliers will move you to an expensive tariff once a cheap one ends, in the hope you'll forget to switch. We covered this in 

. This might be alright if you're a regular switcher, but if you're after long-term value you'd be better sticking with us.

My old supplier has offered me a better deal to stay with them – should I take it?

If you were born on or before 23 September 1958, and receive 

, you could be eligible to receive between  £250 and £600 from the Government to help you pay your heating bills.

This is known as a ‘Winter Fuel Payment’. 

Check you're eligible and find out more on the 

With recent changes to the Winter Fuel Payment scheme,

 we're offering our own grants of £50, £100 and £200 to customers who'll struggle most 

Am I Eligible For Winter Fuel Allowance?

The Warm Home Discount has changed as of 2022/2023. 

There are two separate Warm Home Discount (WHD) schemes: one for England and Wales and a separate one for Scotland. You can find more information at our 

Do you offer the Warm Home Discount?

If a friend switches to Octopus Energy using your unique referral link, you’ll both get £50 energy credit. Our 

 has all the answers you need, but here’s a few quick things to know.

Just send them your unique referral link. Every Octopus customer has one: it looks something like 

http://share.octopus.energy/adjective-noun-number.

 You’ll find yours a little way down the home screen of your 

Once the new customer has fully switched over and their first month’s Direct Debit has been successfully taken, we’ll be able to add £50 to both accounts. This will happen automatically within a few weeks. You’ll be able to check whether you’ve received your referral credit via by logging onto your account and viewing your 

 - there will be an option to check your balance history, which will show any credit as +£50 from Octopus Energy.
It typically takes around four weeks from when your friend joins (although it can take longer if anything delays their switch)

If you’ve still got questions, you can find out everything there is to know about referrals here, in our 

I have a question about Octopus £50 referrals

We pass savings to customers however we can, and different methods of payment are more expensive for us to manage. 

Not having a Direct Debit (and instead Paying on Receipt of your Bill) costs us more in admin and managing your account. We don't think it's fair to make everyone cover that extra cost, so we sometimes have cheaper rates for those who choose to pay by Direct Debit. 

Because we operate a lean and efficient business you’ll still get a great price if you choose to pay a different way.

Why are tariffs sometimes cheaper if I pay by Direct Debit?

We take this first payment to make sure your account opens in credit. It acts as a bit of a buffer so that if you're using more energy than we expect, your account won't fall into debt early on. You'll be able to adjust your payment in your account once we have more information about your usage.

We've got more information about how we bill you for your energy usage at 

Why do you take an initial payment when my supply starts?

When you switch to us, we ask for an opening meter reading to send to your old supplier so they can close your account and issue a final bill. On the way over, your reading goes through a series of third–party checks to ensure your old supplier agrees with it.

Sometimes, your old supplier might tell you we haven't sent them the reading. This is normally because the readings are still being checked, or your old supplier has yet to agree them.

Since your old supplier is responsible for issuing your final bill, we can't say for certain when you'll get it, but from our experience it usually happens in four to six weeks.

When will I receive a final bill from my old supplier?

When will I receive a final bill from my old supplier

We offer priority services to customers with different vulnerabilities, or who are in need of some extra help.

To join our Priority Services Register, just 

update your preferences via your online account

You’ll be able to let us know why you might need a bit of extra support, whether you or someone in your home has a disability or chronic illness, you use essential equipment that relies on electricity, or anything else we should know.

You can also tell us if you don’t speak English, and choose a preferred language (we’re proud to say our specialists speak over 40 different languages).

Or, you can even set a private security password to help you identify that our team or partners are who they say they are when we get in contact.

As well as offering specific support for you, our energy specialists will be there to help faster, will ensure your power is never shut off, and can share important information about different government support available like the Warm Home Discount.

Accessibility and Inclusion at Octopus Energy

What extra support is available to customers in vulnerable circumstances?

If you’re in credit, your old supplier will transfer the credit directly to your bank account once you’ve received your final bill.

If you’re in debit, you need to clear it as soon as possible, otherwise they might object to your transfer (which can cause severe delays to your move). If you’re having trouble paying, you can ask for a payment plan, which will still allow you to switch.

What happens if I'm in credit or debit my old supplier?

Some suppliers will charge you an exit fee for leaving your contract early but an important note on this — if you apply to leave your old supplier within 49 days of the end of your contract, they are not allowed to charge you any exit fees. You can see a more detailed explanation on the energy regulator 

. The bit you need to know is highlighted below:

"Suppliers will be required to notify customers that their current fixed-term is coming to an end between 42 and 49 days before the contract ends.

Between this notification period and the end of the fixed term contract, suppliers will be banned from charging a termination fee should the customer decide to switch."

If you do think you're still liable for an exit fee, then let us know — you can defer your switch to us by up to a month — just drop us a line to 

Will I be charged cancellation fees?

Although you'll never have to pay twice for the energy you use (any overpayments are always refunded), you could find yourself with two active Direct Debits until your old supplier closes your account.

To avoid this you could cancel your old supplier's Direct Debit. This does mean that any closing credits or debits have to be made another way – by cheque, for example – so it's worth thinking about the impact of the cancellation before deciding to do it.

Should I cancel my old supplier's Direct Debit?

Our preferred method, we recommend paying by Direct Debit for a few reasons:

Customers can also switch to us with a prepay meter or request to move onto a smart pay as you go meter - 

Pay us directly from your bank account. Our bank details are:

. Alternatively you can pay by debit card at your local PayPoint with the barcode at the bottom of your bills.

Use the barcode at the bottom of any bill we’ve sent to your local Paypoint. Cash payments will be transferred onto your account.

Fuel Direct payments come directly out of your benefit payments, so you can cover your usage in smaller amounts. To set up Fuel Direct, you’ll need to 

Make your cheque payable to Octopus Energy Ltd and post it to Octopus Energy, UK House, 5th floor, 164-182 Oxford Street, London, W1D 1NN.

Make sure you write your account number (it’s on any bill or communication from us and will look something like A-12345678) on the back of the cheque. It may take some time for the amount you’ve paid to appear on your account balance using this payment method.

 What payment methods do you offer?

When you first join us, we calculate your Direct Debit amount based on the information you give us in your quote. We take your expected energy usage for the next 12 months, work out the cost, and divide it by 12 so you’re spreading your energy costs over the whole year. 

We receive your meter’s historical usage information from your previous supplier once your switch is complete, which gives us a much more accurate idea of how much energy you use. If you don't have a smart meter, you can make sure your payments are as accurate as possible by 

. If you have a smart meter, we should receive your readings automatically.

After you’ve been with us for a few months we may suggest changing your monthly payment amount as part of an 

. That could be because you're building up a lot of credit, or you’re not paying enough for your usage. We'll always notify you via email before making any changes to your monthly payment. If you haven’t received a bill recently, or your account’s in debt, we ask that you 

 helps you make an informed decision about your payments. Balance Forecast maps out your energy balance over the next year, so you can see the impact of increasing or lowering your Direct Debit. You can use it to test out different payment amounts, decide on one you're comfortable with, and clearly see what your balance should look like in a year's time. 

You can check your current balance and manage all of your payment details, including amount and payment date, from your online account or app. You can 

 from the App Store or the Google Play Store.

How do my monthly payments work?

If you've had a meter reading in the last 14 days and your account is up-to-date, you can refund some or all of your credit by going to your

Building up credit during the summer helps to offset the sting of higher winter payments. Without this buffer, you may need to start paying more to cover any debt accrued. You can read more about this on 

We'll let you know if we think you're paying too much or little each month to help keep your account balance on track, but ultimately, you're in control. You can refund as much as you like – 

just be aware that doing so could increase your monthly payments in the future. 

If you think you're due a refund but don't see an option on your online account, email

How do I refund the credit on my account?

We’ve worked hard to make our energy statements as clear and simple as possible. But, if there’s anything you’re not sure about or something doesn’t look right – whether there’s an unexpected charge or credit, missing charges, or you’re waiting for a £50 referral reward – we can help.

, which also includes a downloadable sample bill with handy annotations and tips.

I need help with my energy bill

Octopus Energy will take your first Direct Debit on the date we start supplying your energy, and every month on the day you've asked us to. We estimate your annual usage when you join us, so having some credit when your account opens can help while we learn more about your energy consumption. 

When will my first Direct Debit go out?

At the moment, you can earn cash back with a Santander 123 account. For other accounts, please get in touch with your bank and ask them to include us. Once they agree, let us know.

Can I get current account cash back on my energy with Octopus?

Most people use more energy in winter and less in summer but pay the same amount each month via Direct Debit. That means your balance can vary throughout the year as you build credit over the summer to help offset higher winter bills. 

If you pay by monthly Direct Debit and are on a standard Fixed or Flexible tariff, our

 is a clever way to stay informed and see how your balance will change over the year if your monthly payments increase or decrease.

But don't worry. We'll always let you know if you need to pay more or less each month to help cover the cost of your energy. 

Bills And Payments