Octopus Energy hands lifeline to 500,000 Brits to help slash bills

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The firm’s ‘Energy Helpers’ scheme is a brand new in-home service offering households across the Britain actionable, bespoke advice on how to save energy and cut bills as gas and electric costs soar. Customers will get advice tailored to their individual needs, which will be provided by a team of trained energy saving experts. The new service has already been trialled over the summer and is now being rolled out across the UK.

Octopus claims that the assistance will guide households through slashing energy consumption without them having to compromise on comfort.

This could include certain advice such as turning down the water flow temperature of the gas boiler that is heating the home, which could knock as much as 8 percent off a household’s gas bills.

A lot of advice can reportedly also be offered right from customers’ doorsteps. But If invited in, Octopus experts should be able to identify hidden draughts in customers’ homes which have the firm’s thermal cameras installed, and will offer low-cost solutions to help close them.

Under the scheme, Octopus is hoping to make personal visits to at least 500,000 customer homes during the approaching winter under the scheme.

Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, Chief Product Officer at Octopus Energy Group, says: “We speak to over 30,000 customers each day and know that many people are worried and struggling to pay their bills this winter.

“We’re doing all we possibly can to cushion the impact of the crisis on people. 100 percent of our profits have gone to keeping prices lower for our customers, and we’ve already absorbed £150million of the cost increase on behalf of them.

“We also recently doubled our ‘Octo Assist’ fund in size to £15million, which has already helped over 55,000 people.

Octo Assist is part of the firm’s campaign to support households which are worried about paying their bills over the upcoming winter. It can offer financial support for those who meet the criteria, access to existing schemes and loans for the company’s special thermal cameras.

Ms Dibb-Simkin continued: “Our ‘Energy Helpers’ scheme adds a new layer to this support network and means we can provide even more personalised help to our customers this winter.”

Octopus will notify customers about the scheme, which opens from Tuesday, when they will be in their area. Or if customers or local authorities want our Helpers to come to their community, they can register their interest here.

Customers worried about their energy bills can get in touch at [email protected] and can fill in this online tool asking a series of questions so the firm can make tailored recommendations.

This comes as the October price cap is set to reach a staggering £3,549, according to industry regulator Ofgem.
Forecasts have indicated this could get even worse in January, reaching up to £5,000 according to some estimates.

Philippe Commaret, a senior executive at EDF Energy UK, warned that this could push half of UK households into fuel poverty over a “catastrophic winter” unless the Government intervenes.

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But Prime Minister Liz Truss is expected to announce a bill freeze on Thursday as one of her first steps in her new role.

Under the plan, the cap would be frozen at £2,500, allowing households to swerve to horror 80 percent rise that Ofgem announced previously.

Households will also have access to a £400 winter discount from October, which will be administered over six months. Ms Truss said during her leadership campaign that she would not provide “handouts” to struggling families as a means of addressing the crisis.

She has also ruled out imposing a windfall tax on energy companies which have been raking in record profits worth billions, while millions of families face choosing between heating and eating over the winter as the cost of energy soars.

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