By James Rodger

Copyright birminghammail

Octopus Energy is handing some customers free £512 payments amid the Cost of Living crisis. Octopus made the pledge as it wrote to consumers via email last week. Octopus said: “Ofgem (the energy regulator) has announced the energy price cap is rising around around £3 a month for a typical home from October 1 to December 31 You can avoid the rise altogether and save money by fixing now. “Compare costs and make the switch here. From October, Octopus prices will again be lower than other suppliers . Our standing charges will remain the cheapest standard tariff rates of any large supplier. READ MORE NS&I warning for anyone with over £350 invested in Premium Bonds “For most customers, we won’t increase your monthly payments. If your payments cover your costs now we can usually keep them where they are. We continually check to ensure they are set to a sensible level for your usage, and will suggest changes if it looks like you’re paying too much or too little. “Energy prices must fall — and we want your help. We’re launching Rewire: your guide to why prices are so high, the solutions to bring them down, and how you can help. Sign up for updates here. “Octopus remain the only large supplier to have never charged the full Ofgem price cap.” Greg Jackson said: “Ofgem recently announced energy prices will rise slightly between October and December, by around £3 a month for a typical home. “You’ll find the key facts for you in this email. I’ve also recorded this quick 3 minute video that covers what’s going on with energy prices, the potential solutions to make energy bills cheaper for both homes and businesses, and how you can help.” He said: “While gas unit rates are dropping slightly in most areas, electricity unit rates and standing charges for both fuels are rising. Collectively this means an increase of around £3 per month for a typical home. ” We will continue to discount our standing charges — we offer the cheapest standard rates of any large supplier, a choice that has left 10s of millions of pounds in customers’ pockets over the last year alone. There’s a personalised breakdown for you in the PDF attached to this email. “If your monthly payments already cover your costs, we won’t need to adjust them. We’ll continually check to ensure they are set to a sensible level for your usage, and will suggest changes if it looks like you’re paying too much or too little. “You can avoid the rise altogether and save money by fixing now. Our Octopus 12M Fixed tariff is already cheaper than your current rates , and will save a typical home over £90 compared to prices from October 1, with no early exit fees. Compare prices and make the switch here in your online account. “If you are struggling with your bills, please let us know — you can apply or find out more about our support fund, standing charge help or our electric blanket scheme. “I hope this email has been helpful — please let me know your views, and any suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover via this short survey. “Your candid feedback makes a real difference — as a thank you, we’ll randomly select 8 responses (positive or negative!) to win £512 credit to their Octopus account.”