Octopus customer had almost £1,000 ‘wiped’ from her energy bill – are you eligible? | Personal Finance | Finance

The Octo Assist fund offers grants to help offset some of the high energy bills which are added as credit on someone’s Octopus account. One customer had £952 credited to her account last week, taking her energy account balance to zero.

The customer, who wished to remain anonymous, wanted to share her story to help others seek out support from their energy supplier if they are struggling with rising energy bills.

She filled in a form with Octopus before winter as she was a direct debit customer.

At the time she was paying £375 a month, however, her energy bills were predicted to rise to around £700 to £725 per month in December and January.

The Octopus advisors told her that if she was in debt they could help her and would look at her account by this summer.

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She told the Daily Record Money Saving Scotland Facebook group: “Two advisors told me the same thing and to set my Direct Debit low, so I set it for £108, which included the £67 government energy discount.

“After the January bill came in, I had £952.34 on my account, but I got a phone call from Octopus on February 8 to tell me they have wiped the account to zero.”

She also received an email from Octopus confirming the credit to her account shortly after the phone call.

The most vulnerable customers have the chance to have their standing charges waived over winter.

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This is available to 100,000 customers in need.

Even with the Government’s extensive support, many people may still struggle with their bills this year.

To help vulnerable customers, Octopus is offering different types of support from the Octo Assist Fund.

This includes
Direct financial support
Apply to have your standing charges waived over Winter
Personalised account help – from returning credit to long-term payment plans or payment holidays.

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In order to find out eligibility, Octopus customers can create a Paylink account, which they use to assess one’s financial situation and what help they can receive.

People can find out more information on the Octopus website.

A limited number of electric blankets are available to help struggling Britons reduce their energy bills.

Octopus Energy said in an update on their website on January 27: “We have a limited amount of electric blankets to give away, so we have to prioritise those in greatest need.

“If you are struggling with your bills, please do contact us, as there are other ways we can help.

“If you can, do think about buying an electric blanket yourself: they tend to cost around £60 and our research shows the typical home could save £300 by using an electric blanket to keep warm rather than always heating the whole house.”

The supplier purchased 7,000 blankets last winter and offered them for free to customers who Octopus deemed would benefit from them most.

Customers who received a blanket saved between 10 percent and 20 percent on their bills in the winter months after getting the device.

This adds up to a saving of some £300 over a year, the supplier concluded.

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