Octopus Energy - £4k elec bill for 11 months?

[Watchoka]

Trying to help my brother.

He lives in a 2 bed flat on his own and works in an office during the day. Only has electric.

When he moved in in 2023 Shell was the electricity provider.

Octopus took over Shell in Feb 24

Since he moved in he has paid £135 per month for electricity.

In January 25 Octopus sent him a bill for £4k without explanation.

There were a series of charges made to his account in one day and then credits made on another day and then charges made again (all on one day) all adding up to approx £4k. Again no explanation.

my brother called them and they said he had only been paying estimated amounts and he had now been billed for actual usage for the last 11 months (amounting to £4k in 11 months)

I queried with Octopus whether the charges related to electricity used more than 12 months ago (back-billing) and they said no. They said they checked the account and the charges were correct. They did say that they attempted to install a new meter in May 25 but couldn’t. They didn’t say why they were installing a new one or whether the old one was faulty.

I’ve checked the usage amounts on all his bills and they just don’t add up for one person in a small apartment who is out most of the day.

The Customer Service Advisor appeared almost ecstatic when he came back to say the £4k for 11
months still owed.

I’m not sure where he goes now. The billing just doesn’t make sense and no real explanation has been given about the charges piled on in Feb 25.

Anyone had a similar experience please?

any help would be very much appreciated please

Have you/he checked his actual usage in a day? Checked whether he had left an immersion heater turned on? Turned off everything and checked if the meter is still running? The first thing is to try to work out if the bill is actually potentially accurate.

The first question is always do you have actual meter readings or is it a smart meter

Thanks @RollerSkateLikePeggyill get him to do this tomorrow.

@cyvguhbhe can’t apparently have a smart meter. I think it’s odd they have suddenly tried to replace his meter but haven’t confirmed if his current one is faulty.

I’ve no idea how to unpick all the readings and changes. Octopus just say - it’s fine we’ve checked it and you owe £4k

That’s ridiculous and i would think its wrong. I pay no where near that for mine and im a family that leave lights on/tvs blaring (thanks kids). Is there an ombudsman you can complain to? Any of his neighbours in similar situation?

We live in a 5 bed detached, family of 5. We have an immersion that gets used too frequently, underfloor heating, an electric car and our usage (actual usage not the DD) is approx 130 pm in summer rising to 190 ish in winter. There is no way he can be using that much electric unless someone has tapped his meter!

I’m with octopus, 3 bed townhouse, 2 kids and me. I work from home. I pay around 140 a month for gas and electric. I have a smart meter. That amount sounds insane. The amount he’s been paying seems very high as it is but guessing maybe his heating and cooker etc. is all electric.

I’m with octopus. House is a three bed/three reception room 1500 sq ft and is totally electric for heating, cooking and hot water. Two
people. £100 per month in the summer and around £180 in winter. Total over a year is around £1700, we are also home most of the time as retired. Something is clearly wrong. He needs to take a meter reading every day for seven days to work out the amount of kWh he is using every day and multiply it by his kWh price and add the daily standing charge. I’d suggest If it’s more that £4 a day this time of year something is wrong. Turn everything off at the mains and see if the meter still moves significantly, also properly check the immersion if he has one as if he leaves it on 24/7 it will eat it up.

That sounds clearly wrong. At tbe height of high energy prices ours was that for a year for five people gas + electric for 12 months.

And he's already paid about £1,500 and they want four grand on top of that? Fuck off.

Octopus are better than some but I still don't trust any of them. They are supposed to do monthly billing but can't seem to manage that and keep leaving it two months, or randomly deduct money from my credit several days before the bill is produced. I wanted bills on 1st of the month, but they do it on 8th. When they remember as half the time they seem to forget and do it on a random day. Does my head in.

No way that can be accurate, is he paying for the whole block?
We're with octopus, have underfloor heating in kitchen and bathroom, do 8-10 loads of washing a week, live in an old house with high ceilings and I'm not swaddling up in Oodies and blankets in the winter, the heating is on. We pay £200 a month and usually end up with a little credit left by the end of the winter.

Also they owe me for electricity export as we have solar panels. No credit since May. There has been a lot of sun since then and they owe me £150.

We had a similar overcharging problem with octopus. Basically the old meters (with dials rather than digital displays) are in imperial measure rather than metric. This means the numbers go up approx 3x faster due to the conversion.

When we moved to octopus they marked us as imperial and charged us 3x amount even though display was clearly digital.

As your 4k figure is approx 3x larger than expected this may be the same issue. So check your daily usage and that the meter is digital and if approx 3x then ask for it to be logged as a formal complaint.

Edit: you can see on gas bill what unit you are being billed in matric should be in m3

I used to work for Octopus. I haven't worked for Octopus for nearly 2 years now, so some of my knowledge may now be outdated, but I am hoping it isn't so that I can be of some help. Sorry in advance for the long reply.

Firstly, you need to ask them to re-bill his account up to date. The general advisors you talk to on the phone can do this, but if it's a more complicated case, they may pass it onto a billing expert.

If your brother doesn't have a smart meter, does he send in his meter readings every month himself, or does he not do this and therefore Octopus have to estimate the usage? This can also massively contribute to "debt" that isn't really debt, but because they're going off of estimates rather than actual readings, they'll be using estimates from other similarly sized properties.

If your brother can't access the meter due to mobility reasons, he can ask Octopus to come out and read his meter every 3 months (I believe it is).

Second of all, get the MPAN from his electric meter and check that it matches the one they have on his account. MPANs get mixed up more often than you'd think.

I also agree with @RollerSkateLikePeggy. Get him to write down the kWh usage that is currently displaying on his meter. Then, get him to turn off all of his appliances at the sockets for 10-15 minutes (except for the fridge and freezer). After 10-15 minutes, he needs to go to his electric meter again and write down the new kWh usage. If it's the same, it's unlikely that the MPAN is wrong or that someone is stealing his electricity supply. If it's gone up, more than you would expect it to with everything being turned off, it's more that it could be a crossed meter or that someone else is using his electricity supply. You can contact Octopus and they will tell you specifically how to do this, if I haven't been clear enough.

Also, start an email thread with them. They say the calls are recorded, but sometimes the recording fails and advisors can't listen back to previous calls (though they need to ask for your brother's permission to do this).

It could also be that his day rate and night rate run separately. Day rates are usually more expensive because more appliances are being used, whereas night rates are generally cheaper. (This is called Economy 7, and is common in electric-only households).

Octopus are fantastic and will help you to the best of their ability.

Ridiculous amount!

Write to the Guardian!

https://www.theguardian.com/money/series/yourproblems

how long does the 4k span over.

There’s something about it charging back over 12 months.

He needs to do a reading and then submit another possibly each week to get a base line on what the meter is reading/what he’s using.

how long does the 4k span over.

There’s something about it charging back over 12 months.

He needs to do a reading and then submit another possibly each week to get a base line on what the meter is reading/what he’s using.

I'd refer it to the energy omsbudsman. If the readings are wrong, they'll sort it out and they'll find out.

Thanks all. Meter is in the basement of the block and I’ve asked him to check that the MPAN on his meter matches the MPAN on his bill.

he moved into the block in 2021 he rents via an agency. He can’t recall whether a reading was taken by agent when he moved in. Octopus account refers to him moving in in June 2020.

Usage according to account was at an all time high in 2024 and then dived in 2025 but no change in circumstance.

Octopus has no interest in helping get to bottom of it or admitting that the amount doesn’t make sense for a single man in a flat over 11 months. The service bloke talked about realizing previous amounts were only estimates and then the apportionments weren’t fair so then it was reapportioned and this is why numerous large charges and credits on accounts. This told me nothing.

All they said was pay. They said to him he could pay £990 for the next few months to pay it off so even the repayment they offered wasn’t reasonable or affordable for him.

I’ll ask him to ask his neighbours about this

thanks all

Is he able to find the documents he was given when he first moved in? He can then do 2 things. 1.)Take a picture and email it over to Octopus showing the date that his tenancy agreement started. 2.)See if there's an opening meter reading on any of the documents.

Ideally, he needs to call Octopus to get them to check the MPAN on the National Database, which Octopus employees have access to. Check that the MPAN on his account matches his exact address and the MPAN on his meter box.

Did they give a reason as to why they can't install a smart meter? Generally, tenants need permission from the landlord to install a smart meter for their property. If this isn't the reason that they won't install one (that he hasn't asked for permission), then he needs to ask for the exact reason for the refusal.

Also, you can email the CEO of Octopus (though I believe he doesn't read his own emails. People who work with him do) and don't be afraid to lodge a complaint with the Energy Ombudsman.

Open an email thread, too. I always recommend having a paper trail where possible.

The agency will have a record of the meter reading I would have thought on file.

he absolutely shouldn’t pay as there’s no way it would be that much for 11 months definitely seek help

Sorry just realised I missed some of the newer responses posted . Thanks all for your advice on what to do next - invaluable. He’s burying his head in the sand about this as he can’t cope but he also can’t pay hence me and my sister looking at this for him.

thanks again

If you refer it to the energy ombudsman, they'll start investigating it and they'll also call off the dogs. Meaning, the energy company will stop chasing for a while.Because the ombudsman is involved. He won't be on the receiving ends of any demands while it's being investigated

Does the latest meter reading match with the latest statement?

Thanks @OneNeatBlueOrca I’ll do that

@GAJLY- I’ll check

I do wonder why out of the blue they recently tried to install a new meter. Makes me suspect that they are aware the meter has been faulty (and this relates to the large historic charges) and they’re changing the meter rather than admitting it but I could be way off course. Good way to check will be to see if readings match latest charges

the meter exchange will most likely been to do with the smart meter programme - suppliers are under pressure from govt to change old meters for smart meters. However, about 1/5 properties can’t have one because the meter won’t commission due to location, thick walls, too many storeys up in the air etc. Meters in basements of blocks of flats often won’t commission.

Your brother’s next avenue is to formally complain and that then gives him a route to the Energy Ombudsman. You might find he does owe the money but you’ll probably get a better explanation because octopus will have to look into it thoroughly.

if the move in date octopus have is incorrect that’s easily rectified by providing his tenancy agreement. That will knock a year’s usage off.

someone I worked with recently got a huge refund from octopus in similar circumstances, they couldn’t really explain it - same situation but a credit rather than a debit.