Octo Help is a £30 million buyer assist fund and a set of help schemes designed to provide additional assist to prospects most in want.
We began the Octo Help fund through the vitality disaster when costs have been at their most unstable. Octo Help began at £2.5 million of funding, and has now grown to £30 million because the disaster went on.
Consists of Winter Gas Funds, free electrical blankets, standing cost waivers and extra.
Get monetary assist from Octo Help
In case you’re an Octopus buyer, fill out our fast and easy on-line instrument to get issues began.
It will ask you some questions on your monetary scenario, and based mostly on that we might give you assist from plenty of help choices together with direct invoice grants and standing cost holidays based mostly on circumstances and wish.
Learn concerning the various kinds of help out there
Monetary help
Direct monetary help
Grants to assist offset a few of your excessive vitality payments, added as credit score in your Octopus account.
Winter Gas Funds
We’re giving as much as £200 to prospects who’ll battle with out Winter Gas help.
Standing cost waivers
Apply to have your standing prices waived over winter – out there to 100,000 prospects in biggest want
Personalised account assist
From returning credit score to long-term cost plans or cost holidays.
Vitality saving help
Free electrical blankets
An electrical blanket can save the common dwelling £300 per 12 months (they value between 2 – 4p per hour to run). We’re giving them out free to these in biggest want – notably the aged, or these with medical or mobility points.
Mortgage a thermal digicam without cost
Plug one in every of our infrared cameras into your smartphone to see the place warmth is escaping by way of leaks and draughts round your own home. We’ll share ideas and concepts that can assist you fill these gaps to keep away from losing vitality.
What if I’m not eligible to obtain assist from Octo Help?
Our help is designed to focus on these within the biggest want. The households who struggled to afford the payments even earlier than the vitality disaster, and people whose well being and security depends on warmth and energy. Meaning Octo Help sadly received’t be capable of give completely everybody additional assist.
We’re at all times right here to speak to you about your particular person circumstances, and recommend alternative ways we can assist.
Here is some additional issues we’re doing that aren’t restricted to probably the most weak:
Vitality saving challenges
Saving Periods
A wise power-saving problem, the place we pay prospects for utilizing much less electrical energy throughout peak occasions – with the standard dwelling more likely to earn £100 over winter. Good to know: You want a working good meter to become involved.
Vitality saving ideas
Easy methods to save lots of vitality that might assist you save over £400 over the 12 months. In case you do nothing else, flip down your boiler circulation setting to save lots of ~£112 and really feel no distinction in cosiness.
What else can I do?
- Purchase an electrical blanket. These value from £40, however might prevent £300 a 12 months, or much more.
Our blankets are from Dreamland or Cosi however it’s also possible to discover blankets in lots of different locations, comparable to Amazon, Curry’s, Argos or Dunelm.
Please concentrate on Fireplace Brigade steering across the secure use of blankets, and that to forestall mould, it is really useful to maintain properties above 15 levels celsius.
- You do not want a thermal digicam – take a look at for draughts round your home utilizing the again of your hand and put a few of our warmth loss-busting ideas into follow.
- Pay by Direct Debit – the charges work out round £80 cheaper than not paying by DD, as a result of it prices us loads much less in admin. It’s straightforward to arrange a Direct Debit on-line.
- You may at all times get in contact for personalised account assist – something from speaking to you about alternative ways to pay, organising cost holidays or long run cost plans, or returning credit score.
Why did we begin the Octo Help fund?
From day one, our aim has been to cross the fairest potential costs on to our prospects. However the place our value to purchase a years’ price of vitality for purchasers would often be round £1 billion, it is now extra like £9 billion.
We’ve absorbed what we are able to of that — spending £150 million from our personal reserves to maintain excessive vitality prices off payments, and extra not too long ago, one other £40 million to maintain standing prices decrease. We have additionally invested in revolutionary packages like Saving Periods Octoplus and Energy-ups, the place we offer prospects with the power to optimise their vitality utilization throughout particular occasions, guaranteeing they profit from cheaper charges.
We expect one of the simplest ways we can assist is by pumping further efforts and assets into particular schemes designed to help our very most weak prospects – so we created Octo Help, initially with £2.5 million funding, and now £30 million to help much more prospects this winter.
We’ll preserve doing completely the whole lot we are able to to assist our prospects. In case you need assistance, please, please discuss to us.
