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My wonderfully low cost 2 year fixed energy deal with Sainsburys Energy has recently expired. Having seen posts on here about manual top ups, I had cunningly planned to keep the DD the same (or lower if they let me) and pay a monthly top up, probably via Curve, linked to Barclaycard Avios, to get some extra rewards.
Yet Sainsburys Energy seem to struggle with that concept, and just want to increase my DD, so I just wanted to ask other people how easy they found it making manual top-ups. Ultimately I expect I’ll need to have a real call, or maybe a web chat, rather than just exchanging emails, to get them to understand, and relent.Octopus are fine for manual card payments and happy for you to set your direct debit payments low too. Mine is set at £5 a month. If you sign up using the link below, we’ll both get £50.
https://share.octopus.energy/metal-cliff-443Every provider is different.
EDF would not reduce my direct debit so I just kept making manual payments until the algorithm reduced it. This has the side effect of me running a credit balance averaging a couple of thousand pounds which was fine when banks were paying diddly squat but is not as good a plan now.
Octopus are fine for manual card payments and happy for you to set your direct debit payments low too. Mine is set at £5 a month. If you sign up using the link below, we’ll both get £50.
https://share.octopus.energy/metal-cliff-443Thanks, I will bear that in mind. But if I can stay with Sainsburys, to benefit from the bonus Nectar points each month, I’d like to. However, if they play hardball, a move looks likely. And the Octopus tariff is slightly lower than Sainsburys.
Every provider is different.
EDF would not reduce my direct debit so I just kept making manual payments until the algorithm reduced it. This has the side effect of me running a credit balance averaging a couple of thousand pounds which was fine when banks were paying diddly squat but is not as good a plan now.
That’s my thoughts. I don’t want them to have my money in a big credit balance, when I could be earning interest.
I think the inability to manually adjust your direct debit is a big turn off for me. I hate having to have a DD to get a better price especially when the energy companies set the DD to make you over pay and build up a credit balance. I’d rather the money was in my account, not theirs. I’d be happy with a variable DD ie pay what I actually owe. I’m also with Octopus and they at least allow you to adjust the DD and also make one-off payments by Amex.
With Sainsburys, you can request a change in your DD amount on line. My changes have always gone through instantly. Before the latest price changes, I was paying them £30 a month less than they suggested. Not sure how low you can go and get approved.
No need to use Curve. You can pay Sainsburys Energy on line with a Barclaycard.
But as Santander give me 2% cashback on my energy DDs, I aim to pay an appropriate amount. I wouldn’t pay 2p a time for Avios.
I think most energy companies accept MC and Visa, if not Amex, so wouldn’t require Curve. OVO pays 5% interest on our balance (I don’t know if this is available to new customers), and you can top up, adjust your DD and request a refund (to the DD account) online.
No, the 5% isn’t available to new customers. I used to be an OVO customer and found that although you can set your direct debit manually, OVO dictates the minimum it can be set at and review it every quarter and aggressively change it if they think it’s too low.
You also now get ‘Octopoints’ with Octopus which can be redeemed for money off your bill.
I’m on their wholesale tracker tariff and since moving to it on the 1st July has saved me around 35% on the Ofgem price cap tariff.
You also now get ‘Octopoints’ with Octopus which can be redeemed for money off your bill.
I’m on their wholesale tracker tariff and since moving to it on the 1st July has saved me around 35% on the Ofgem price cap tariff.
+1. From lunchtime each day as well you can see what the following days rate will be via the mysmartenergy website (and historical values), so can judge whether to run the dishwasher late at night/early morning, etc..
I would suggest that any nectar points gained through Sainsburys would likely be offset by the higher cost of the energy. I too have a low direct debit and do chunky top-ups by card.
Also, the value of nectar points being earned is very minimal and not worth getting out of bed in the morning for. You get far more value in points topping up your account with an Amex, Avios/Hilton Barclaycard etc.
No, the 5% isn’t available to new customers. I used to be an OVO customer and found that although you can set your direct debit manually, OVO dictates the minimum it can be set at and review it every quarter and aggressively change it if they think it’s too low.
I generally get round this by leaving a high credit balance in the account – there’s a tool which shows you how much credit you need to reduce your DD to the level you want (mine is £5). If they do increase the DD, you can always ask for a refund.
mmm, not in my experience. I constantly had just over £2,000 of credit in my account and at the height of the fuel price crisis during 2022, they were constantly putting up my direct debit from £5 a month to around £100 a month. I spent ages on the phone to get it dropped back down just for them to increase it again at the next quarterly review.
Looking back, moving to Octopus in March of this year was the best decision I could’ve made. No complaints at all.
You also now get ‘Octopoints’ with Octopus which can be redeemed for money off your bill.
I’m on their wholesale tracker tariff and since moving to it on the 1st July has saved me around 35% on the Ofgem price cap tariff.
+1. From lunchtime each day as well you can see what the following days rate will be via the mysmartenergy website (and historical values), so can judge whether to run the dishwasher late at night/early morning, etc..
I would suggest that any nectar points gained through Sainsburys would likely be offset by the higher cost of the energy. I too have a low direct debit and do chunky top-ups by card.
+1 I joined very early in Feb and it took me just 9 months to save £1,000 vs Energy price cap rates. Savings are a bit less now as the price cap reduced 1/10/23, but I think with wholesale prices where they are the price cap will go up again for 1/1/24.
Octopus is very flexible with payments, I’ve set my DD to £1 and keep topping up with a card (initially they kept reversing it, but now stopped and for the past 6 months it’s been £1 fine) – it goes through as a normal transaction, so even Chase gives you 1% back on top ups.
Slightly off topic but related I just saw this article on the BBC News website where billpayers, charities and businesses are being urged to give their views on daily standing charges on energy bills, as part of a review.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67431758
We can send our views to StandingCharges@ofgem.gov.uk by 19 January 2024.
Apparently the standing charges are supposed to be a fixed daily charge covering the costs of connecting to a supply. But it is also used to cover other costs such as dealing with the failure of some suppliers??
Personally I would rather they scrapped standing charges entirely and just increased the unit cost of gas and electricity. Priced correctly I think it would not add a huge amount to each bill and those that use more electricity and gas would subsidise those who use less. I think that would be fair
Of course you are relying on Ofgem for any changes…a regulator that simply isn’t fit for purpose, unfortunately.
No standing charges would be a massive subsidy to the rich who own multiple ones. That’s why such tariffs were, with some exceptions, abolished a few years ago.
My response for electricity:
Scrap standing charge, set a fixed discount from the “normal” price for the first small amount of electricity, the company’s normal price thereafter. Possibly a levy (businesses pay something like this with a Green Levy) for higher consumption after that, with exemption for those not connected to gas.
It would be a reversal from the old high price for the first X units and then a lower one afterwards, which was to encourage people to use electricity. Now we are “green”, it would be perverse to go back to this and so have people with PV etc only save the standard rate and not the high rate. By reversing, people would really be incentivised to self-generate.My response for electricity:
Scrap standing charge, set a fixed discount from the “normal” price for the first small amount of electricity, the company’s normal price thereafter. Possibly a levy (businesses pay something like this with a Green Levy) for higher consumption after that, with exemption for those not connected to gas.
It would be a reversal from the old high price for the first X units and then a lower one afterwards, which was to encourage people to use electricity. Now we are “green”, it would be perverse to go back to this and so have people with PV etc only save the standard rate and not the high rate. By reversing, people would really be incentivised to self-generate.That’s going to make it more complicated.
Keep it simple. Cap the standing charges or remove them completely.No standing charges would be a massive subsidy to the rich who own multiple ones. That’s why such tariffs were, with some exceptions, abolished a few years ago.
Still doesn’t make much sense. These charges will be peanuts for rich people.
Keep it simple by charging a flat rate for usage like petrol. If the poorest need subsidies, target them directly.No standing charges would be a massive subsidy to the rich who own multiple ones. That’s why such tariffs were, with some exceptions, abolished a few years ago.
Still doesn’t make much sense. These charges will be peanuts for rich people.
Keep it simple by charging a flat rate for usage like petrol. If the poorest need subsidies, target them directly.It’s the other way round – if a rich person has 10 in UK they hardly ever in, they won’t be paying fees. If there are multiple people renting and sharing a house they will be paying more, paying for the empty rich houses.
Anyway, not sure what the big deal is?
Internet has a socket charge, TV has a “TV license” on top of any other live TV subscription, even cars have a road tax. It’s all there under different names – so what’s a big deal with 30-50p a day electricity connection charge?It’s the other way round – if a rich person has 10 in UK they hardly ever in, they won’t be paying fees. If there are multiple people renting and sharing a house they will be paying more, paying for the empty rich houses.
Anyway, not sure what the big deal is?
Internet has a socket charge, TV has a “TV license” on top of any other live TV subscription, even cars have a road tax. It’s all there under different names – so what’s a big deal with 30-50p a day electricity connection charge?“so what’s a big deal with a £182pa electricity connection charge?”
Guess you’re one of them rich people, with talk like that. My mum on the other hand has to be very frugal with her energy usage and the standing charges amount to a significant percentage of her overall costs.
No standing charges would be a massive subsidy to the rich who own multiple ones. That’s why such tariffs were, with some exceptions, abolished a few years ago.
Still doesn’t make much sense. These charges will be peanuts for rich people.
Keep it simple by charging a flat rate for usage like petrol. If the poorest need subsidies, target them directly.Instead your solution is to *checks notes* subsidise the rich! *facepalm*
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