Octopus refer a friend: £50 credit when switching – 2023 code

Switching your energy provider is an easy way to save money and usually takes just a few minutes. Take a look at my Octopus Energy review to see how I saved £100’s off my bill. And use my Octopus refer a friend link when you join and you’ll earn £50 credit to your account (and I’ll earn £50 credit too). Plus, when you join, you can refer your friends too!

You may find that Octopus will not accept new customers through their website but this seems to come and go. If you click on the Octopus Energy referral button below and are asked to enter your postcode, then you should be good to go. Otherwise, you may have to do it by email or phone. In some cases, they are only doing this if you have a referral code. You’re welcome to use mine if you don’t know somebody, which is smart-fox-386. The account is under the name of Peter Chatfield, account number A-3FFA3062.

Octopus Energy recommend a friend

2021 saw a bit of a shake-up in the gas and electric market with many smaller firms going out of business and no longer providing energy.

But one of the companies still going strong is Octopus Energy. And although switching your provider might not save you much money, it does come with some other benefits.

Let’s take a look at what Octopus Energy is all about and why I recommend them so strongly.

Who is Octopus Energy?

Octopus is fairly new to the energy market, having only started in 2015. However, they’ve come a long way over such a short period and have now reached over 500,000 customers.

Octopus doesn’t just focus on cheap prices but customer service too. In 2018. they were voted the top energy company by Which? customers, and in 2019 it became a Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) for energy; the only company to be awarded this sought-after accolade. Also, in that year, they were given the title of company of the year by The Association For Renewable Energy & Clean Technology.

And if that isn’t enough… In 2020, they were named as uSwitch supplier of the year. Take a look at my Octopus Energy review to find out more.

How to join Octopus

Signing up to Octopus Energy is a simple process.

1. Click on this link
2. Enter your postcode and click ‘get a quote’
3. Select whether you need gas and electricity or electricity only
4. Share the type of meter you have – either standard, Economy 7 or smart
5. Enter how much energy you use. If you have actual figures, this will give you a more accurate quote. If not, you can add some details about your general usage
6. Click ‘quote me’. You can view your quote on the webpage or have it sent to your email address.
7. Choose the tariff you want and sign up.

Is Octopus Energy cheap?

Due to changes in the market, I wouldn’t consider Octopus Energy a cheap provider, but then nobody is. However, they are certainly competitive and who else will give you £50 for joining?

And Octopus Energy has several decent tariffs you can choose from depending on your needs:

• flexibleOctopus
• Agile Octopus
• Octopus Go
• Octopus Tracker

Finally, there are no exit fees if you decide to leave. If you have enough of Octopus or just find a better deal, you can change suppliers without having to pay a charge.

Keeping track of your energy

Each month, Octopus will send you a statement about how much energy you have used by email. If you miss it, don’t worry. You can also log into your account and find it there. Octopus also provides a handy app to check these things if that’s how you prefer to keep an eye on your account.

Requesting a refund

Long-time energy customers will know that plenty of energy companies have a habit of overestimating the amount you need to pay each month. Then, one day you check and find that the company actually owes you £100s! Well, requesting a refund from Octopus is very easy. All you need to do is visit your account online and click a button. Octopus will check that everything is good to go and will refund you, usually within seven to ten working days.

From your online account, you can also make one-off payments if you owe money or change your direct debit. In all the time I have been with Octopus, I have never had to call them.

Green energy

If you’re not bothered about customer service or prices, how about the fact that Octopus uses 100% green electricity as standard? And they’re backed by Octopus Investments, the UK’s largest investor in solar power, responsible for nearly 40% of the nation’s large-scale solar generation.

Switching isn’t the only way to save money. Take a look at how to cut 40% off your energy bills.

Is it difficult to switch providers?

Not at all. In some cases, it will take just a few minutes. You just need your address and bank details. Even if you don’t know how much energy you use, Octopus can estimate it for you by using the size of your house. It’s best if you have a bill from your current supplier with your annual usage, as this will give you a more accurate figure, but it isn’t essential. Your switch will usually be complete within 3 weeks.

There is no need for an engineer to visit, you won’t lose the supply of your electricity and Octopus will inform your old supplier that you are leaving.

What if my current supplier charges exit fees?

Often, if you have a fixed contract with an energy company, you will be charged a fee to leave early. However, once you receive notification that your contract is coming to an end (usually between 42-49 days before), you can leave without penalty. 

Octopus Energy smart meters

If you choose to, you can have a smart meter installed by Octopus. The good news is, it’s not compulsory and the choice is yours. In fact, I’m not convinced how useful they really are and have never seen any benefit from mine. If you would like to request one, then you can do so through their website.

If you have an old smart meter (known as SMETS1) already installed by your old supplier, it may not necessarily work when switching over to Octopus. Newer meters (SMETS2) will be compatible with all suppliers.

However, Octopus does offer three extra tariffs for smart meter users.

agileOctopus

• Half-hourly electricity prices that update daily based on wholesale costs.

• Shift your energy use outside the 4-7pm peak to save money.

Octopusgo

• Four hours of 5p/kWh super off-peak electricity every night from 12:30-04:30am.

• Perfect for charging an electric vehicle.

outgoingOctopus

• Get paid for the electricity you export. Choose from a fixed rate or dynamic wholesale rates.

• Perfect for those with solar panels or battery storage.

How much money can you save by switching to LED bulbs?

Save even more money with Octopus Energy refer a friend

Fortunately, on my search for a new energy supplier, I heard about how Octopus Energy allows you to refer a friend. This little beauty not only gives the referrer £50 credit towards their bill, but it gives the new customer £50 off too! So, in total, you can save £100 between you!

If you become a member, you too can refer a friend to Octopus and receive a £50 credit to your account. And you can recommend as many people as you like.

How do I refer a friend to Octopus Energy For £50 credit?

All you need to do is log in to your account and find your unique Octopus refer a friend link. Then, send it to your friends and you’ll both earn £50 credit to your accounts when they join and complete the switch. You can keep a track of all your referrals through the Octopus website or the app on your phone.

Is there a £100 Octopus referral link?

You may have read about Octopus offering new users £100 credit on joining. Well, it is true and is often used to celebrate World Octopus day. But it’s not 100% certain they’ll do it every year though. The last time I saw it offered was back in 2020.

£100 referral bonuses are available if you open a business account with Octopus.

How much did I save when switching?

When I entered my figures into the Octopus Energy website, it told me I would save £229 over the year. This figure does need to be taken with a pinch of salt though. The figures quoted assumed that I would go onto First Utility’s (my previous provider) standard tariff. I would have actually swapped to one of First Utility’s discounted tariffs, but this was still £130 more expensive than Octopus. With the £50 Octopus referral, I was still looking at a £180 saving.

Any downsides?

With saving money, of course not!

To keep your bills as accurate as possible, it is best if you send in your meter readings every month. However, when you submit your meter readings, there is a nice little roulette game. Just spin the wheel and you could win credit towards your account. Although, if you have a smart meter, you won’t get to spin the wheel.

What others say

If you take a look at reviews over at Trustpilot, Octopus has a rating of 4.8 stars out of 5 from over 33,000 reviews and is rated as ‘excellent’.

Positive reviews include:

Best supplier in Uk

Energy made easy!

Easy to understand options

Great service from octopus

My Octopus Energy referral code for 2021

If you want to see how much you can save, click on the image below which contains my Octopus Energy referral link, or use my code smart-fox-386. If you do sign up, we both receive £50 credit. And once you’ve joined, you can start to refer friends.

And why not take a look at whether solar panels are worth installing?

Octopus Energy vs Bulb

Please note that Octopus now owns Bulb.

I thought I would add this after being asked several times which is better, Bulb or Octopus? It probably won’t surprise you that I have also previously been a Bulb customer before.

When it comes to pricing, both are very competitive. Depending on your region, you’ll find that both will be near the top of the list when it comes to finding the best deals.

Both companies also offer a £50 credit to your account when you join.

The only real difference I have found is when it comes to customer service. I have found Bulb much slower to reply to emails with any questions I have. In fact, it took me several weeks to receive a refund from them.

Unless they have updated their systems, Bulb requires you to email them when you want credit returned to your bank. When I requested this, it took them a week to reply, only to ask where did I want my refund sent. All other companies just return it to your bank where the direct debit is set-up, so I’m not sure why they even asked.

Please note that all opinions are my own and not associated with Octopus Energy.

FAQ’s