How to Beat the Energy Bill Price Rises and Save Money

The past couple of weeks have seen all six of the big energy firms hike their prices following Ofgem increasing the level of its price cap. This price cap now increases to £1,254 per year. If you are with British Gas, SSE, Eon, Scottish Power, EDF or Npower then watch out your prices are soon to rise at the beginning of April. SSE was the last to announce a rise to their prices as reported on Money Saving Expert.

How to beat the energy bill price rises octopus energy

Now is the time to Switch and save on your Energy Bill

NOW is the time to switch. I urge you to do a comparison which will take all of 5 minutes. Just check to see if you can get a better deal. If you haven’t changed energy companies for a while you will more than likely save a HUGE chunk of money. I have had friends and readers tell me that they have saved £50 a month switching their energy. Its worth checking if there is a better deal out there. I have been a customer of Octopus energy for nearly 18 month and always recommend them highly.  You can get a quote by using this link. If you see a saving and sign up to switch, we will both get a £50 credit to our bill.

As soon as the Ofgem price cap increase was announced I got an email from Greg Jackson, Octopus’s founder and CEO, telling me that Octopus won’t be increasing their prices. I was so pleased to hear this and I really liked the personal touch of an email.

“I’ve had a number of customers ask me how the changes to the government’s energy price cap will affect them.

Let me reassure you. We will not be raising our prices as a result of this price cap change”

Another great fact from Greg’s email

The typical Octopus dual fuel customer will pay £248 a year less than the new price cap. This is calculated by looking at a simple average of the unit prices and standing charges of all Octopus customers, and then applied them to Ofgem’s typical domestic consumption value for a medium home.

Beat the Energy Bill Price Rises Octopus
Pulpi the Octopus climbed a tree in my garden

 I am sticking with Octopus as my Energy Company

My energy deal is just about to end with Octopus Energy, so I have done a comparison to see what deals were available on the market. I currently pay £91 per month, living in a 4 bed semi detached house. I work from home and there are five us in the house (so you can compare to your gas and electricity bill). Are you paying a lot more? Do you live in a smaller house and pay more for your energy? Click here to see what you will pay with Octopus.

The best deal on offer on the comparison site was from Scottish Power with monthly costs of £105 per month. I called Octopus and asked for the best deal available that they could switch me to. They were able to move me onto a new 12-month fixed tariff where my monthly cost increased to just £92. An increase of just £1 from my previous deal and £13 cheaper than the best deal I could find on the market. I am very happy with this!

In Octopus’s case loyalty really does pay. I have been a customer since Sept 2016 and am staying for another 12 months.

Do a comparison with Octopus to see if you can save

Its worth looking at Octopus energy to see if they can cut your month energy bill. We can all do with saving some cash. Even more of a bonus, if you use my refer a friend link, we both get a £50 credit on our bill!

Octopus also have the coveted title of the only recommended energy company by Which. For the second year in a row. Customer service is something that I am very passionate about and did a bit of research myself into the customer services of the big 6 energy firms. See who did well and who did not so well.

Great Customer Service is so Important

I believe customer service to be important with an energy firm, I want a quick response from a Tweet or an email if I have an issue. I have recently claimed a refund from my Octopus account that was in credit. This is such a common query from customers. There was a simple button in my online account where I can claim for the refund, I received a follow up email and the money was in my account within three working days.

There are many ways to talk to Octopus is you have a question, I have tried them all! I mostly talk to them on Twitter DM for a speedy and personal response. They offer customer service support via email, Facebook messenger and Twitter DM, 8am-10pm every day. They have a fantastic self-service online account, which lets you check your balance, view all bills, submit meter readings (with a fun ‘wheel of fortune’ game to win account credit up to £512 every time you spin), request refunds, change your Direct Debit details and more. If you do need to give them a call, you won’t wait long, again tried and tested. Whoever you speak to is trained to help you through a solution end-to-end, so you won’t be passed around a million different teams.

Beat the energy bill price rises
Then Pulpi played Basketball

 Renewable Energy & Smart Meters

An important point to mention is that Octopus offer 100% renewable energy tariffs, you don’t have to pay extra to be environmentally friendly. They also offer a Smart Meter installation giving you real time meter readings and complete control over your energy usage and spend.

My last word is to take action, don’t sit back and think ‘Oh I’ll sort this out at another time’ Spend the teeny amount of time to compare your current bill and see if you can save. It can make a huge difference to your monthly budget! If you decide to switch Octopus will take care of everything for you in terms of the switch from your company and you will get a nice £50 credit to your account.

This is a collaborative post with Octopus and as mentioned if you decide to switch over to Octopus, I will receive a credit to my bill as well as you. Thank you.

Beat the Enery Bill price rises
Then Pulpi climbed on the garage in the beautiful sunshine
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Lynn Beattie

Aka Mrs MummyPenny

Personal Finance Expert

I write about personal finance made simple, lifestyle choices that will save you time and money, as well as products and services that offer great value.

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