How can Octopus give me a fixed-rate tariff that isn’t fixed?

Octopus Energy isn’t dealing fairly with my complaint about changes to my fixed-rate tariff.

I started a new contract in August last year, having transferred from Avro Energy just before it collapsed.

The contract was called Octopus Price Promise July 2021 V1 and ran until September 2023.

All the literature confirmed the rate would not change. The welcome letter says the tariff is “fixed” and one of the points in the “eight things to know about your contract” is “the unit price of your energy is fixed for the duration of your contract”.

Despite all of this, my contract was changed to V2 in October, and the length of the term reduced to 12 months. As you can imagine, there was a substantial increase in charges.

Subsequent to making a complaint, I have received two emails offering small amounts of money to effectively drop it.

The last one says: “All we can offer is £75 and a fixed tariff, but at today’s rate, and not the unit rates when you first applied for the Octopus price promise.”

If Octopus can offer another fixed tariff, I fail to see why they cannot maintain my existing one, at the price I accepted, until the agreed contract end date.

JB, Sheffield

Based on the documents you shared with me, I can understand your confusion, but Octopus Energy says it was laid out in the terms and conditions and other emails sent to you that this was a fixed-term, not a fixed-price, tariff.

After you complained, the Energy Ombudsman ruled in Octopus’s favour, but said it should make a financial gesture because the matter could have been handled faster.

Octopus says: “Our price promise tariff guarantees the rates a customer pays for their energy will always be £50 below the price cap. All customers have to accept T&Cs after reading about the tariff they have chosen.

“We’ve given the customer a goodwill gesture of £75 because we’d usually expect to get back to a query more quickly.”

If any customers are finding it difficult to manage their energy bills, Octopus says they should get in touch, as there are a number of support options, including help from a £15m hardship fund.

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