Your first month with Octopus

You’ve signed up, the switch has gone through and Octopus is now supplying your energy. The hard part is done. Here’s what happens next and what you should do in the first few weeks to make sure everything is running smoothly.

The welcome email sequence

Within a day or two of your switch completing, you’ll get a welcome email from Octopus. This includes your account number, a link to set up your online account and confirmation of which tariff you’re on. Over the following week, expect a few more emails covering things like how to download the app, how to submit meter readings and an introduction to the Octoplus rewards programme.

These emails are actually worth reading. They’re short, clear and occasionally funny. Octopus has a distinctive communication style that’s refreshingly human for an energy company.

Setting up the app

Download the Octopus Energy app as soon as your account is active. It’s available on iOS and Android. Log in with the email address you signed up with.

The app is where you’ll do almost everything: check your balance, submit meter readings, view your usage, change tariff, update your direct debit and contact support. It’s genuinely well designed. Most things are two taps away rather than buried in menus.

If you’re on a smart tariff like Agile or Go, the app becomes even more useful. You can see your half-hourly usage, check upcoming prices and track how much you’re spending in near real-time.

Check your tariff is correct

This is worth doing early. Log into your account (app or website) and check that the tariff shown matches what you signed up for. In most cases it will be fine, but occasionally during busy switching periods things get assigned incorrectly. If it says Flexible but you signed up for Agile, contact support through the app. They’ll fix it quickly.

Also check that your standing charge and unit rate match the rates shown on Octopus’s website for your region. Rates vary by area, so make sure you’re looking at the right region when comparing.

Submitting meter readings

If you have a smart meter that’s communicating properly, you don’t need to do anything. Readings get sent automatically. You can verify this in the app. If it shows recent half-hourly or daily data, your smart meter is connected.

If your smart meter hasn’t connected yet (common in the first few weeks after a switch), or if you have a traditional meter, submit a reading through the app. Do this as soon as possible after the switch date. This establishes a clean starting point so your first bill is accurate rather than estimated.

Octopus will prompt you to submit readings if they haven’t received any. You’ll get a friendly email or app notification. Don’t ignore these.

Your first bill

Octopus bills monthly. Your first bill usually arrives about 4-6 weeks after the switch completes. It covers the period from your switch date to the end of that billing cycle.

The bill is straightforward. It shows your electricity and gas usage in kWh, multiplied by your unit rate, plus the standing charge for each fuel. If you used a referral link when signing up, you should see the £50 credit applied to your account. This shows as a credit balance, effectively meaning your first month (or two) of energy could be free depending on your usage.

You can view the bill in the app or online. Octopus also emails a PDF if you prefer something to file away.

Setting your direct debit

When you signed up, you chose a monthly direct debit amount. Octopus suggests a figure based on estimated usage for your property, but you can adjust it.

Here’s the thing: Octopus doesn’t lock you into a fixed direct debit the way some suppliers do. If you think the suggested amount is too high or too low, change it through the app. You can adjust it at any time, as often as you like.

The goal is to keep your account roughly in balance over the year. In summer you’ll use less energy and build up credit. In winter you’ll use more and that credit gets drawn down. If your direct debit is set right, you should end up close to zero over a full year.

After a month or two of real usage data, Octopus may suggest adjusting your direct debit. These suggestions are usually sensible, but you’re never forced to accept them.

Smart meter enrolment

If you already had a smart meter with your previous supplier, Octopus needs to register it on their systems. SMETS2 meters (the newer standard) usually connect within a few days to a couple of weeks. SMETS1 meters (the older type) can take longer, sometimes several weeks.

During this period your meter still works as a normal meter. You just need to submit manual readings until the smart connection is established. Once it’s connected, the app will start showing your usage data and everything becomes automatic.

If you don’t have a smart meter, Octopus will offer to install one for free. There’s no obligation, but it’s worth doing. Smart meters mean accurate bills (no more estimates), access to smart tariffs and the ability to see your usage in the app. The installation takes about an hour and the engineer handles everything.

The Octoplus rewards programme

Once you’re set up, take a look at Octoplus. It’s Octopus’s rewards programme, available to any customer with a smart meter who pays by direct debit. You earn Octopoints for things like reducing usage during Saving Sessions (grid stress events), joining free electricity sessions and completing challenges in the app. Points convert at 800 Octopoints to £1 and can be redeemed as credit on your account.

Beyond points, Octoplus regularly offers perks like free coffees from Greggs and Caffe Nero, discounted cinema tickets and other rotating offers. Saving Sessions earnings depend on how much you reduce your usage during each event, so the payoff varies. Worth signing up for as soon as your smart meter is connected.

If something doesn’t look right

Contact support through the in-app chat. Octopus’s customer service team is genuinely good. They consistently top the satisfaction rankings and they respond quickly. Most issues in the first month are minor things like tariff assignments, meter connections or direct debit amounts. All easily resolved.