Octopus Energy's Energy Helpers programme completed 218,000 home visits, according to Energy UK's Vulnerability Commitment Good Practice guide 2023, published on 1 September 2023. The report states that the supplier launched the programme in September 20221.
The figure appears in the third annual best practice report from the Vulnerability Commitment, a voluntary industry initiative launched by Energy UK in 2020 and signed by 13 suppliers covering more than 90% of the UK domestic retail market. Signatories pledge to improve how they identify and support vulnerable customers, over and above existing licence requirements1.
Energy UK said the scheme grew at the start of 2023:
"We were pleased to welcome two new signatories at the start of 2023, E.ON Next and Shell Energy."
The report also records that a fourth principle, Keeping Customers on Supply, was added to the existing three principles of Innovation, Collaboration and Accessibility, alongside new sub-commitments including a requirement to drive continuous improvement in digital accessibility1. Compliance was monitored through a board-level statement from each supplier's Vulnerability Champion, a detailed Request for Information covering 12 specific commitments, and expert panel hearings1.
The 2023 signatories were British Gas, E, Ecotricity, EDF, E.ON Next, Good Energy, Octopus Energy, Outfox the Market, OVO Energy, ScottishPower, Shell Energy, SO Energy and Utility Warehouse1. The report also notes that following Bulb's placement into special administration, its 1.5 million customers were migrated to Octopus Energy1.
The guide describes 2023 as a year of "bounce-back" for suppliers after 2022, when the industry focused resources on identifying customers in financial hardship. It states that supplier treatment of customers in financial hardship made negative headlines in 2023 over the use of court warrants to force the fitting of prepayment meters, and that the resulting regulatory changes will require a further review of the Commitment, as some voluntary sub-commitments will become mandatory requirements1.
Why it matters for households
Home visits of this kind are one route by which a household gets advice on cutting its own consumption rather than relying on the wider market. The report does not set out what an Energy Helpers visit involves, what measures were installed, or how the 218,000 visits were distributed across the UK, and none of that has been reported1.
The Commitment sits alongside the formal routes for help. Energy Consumer Bodies: Citizens Advice, Consumer Scotland and the Consumer Council covers the statutory advice services, while Energy Suppliers and Household Energy Independence sets out how supplier-level support relates to a home's control over its own energy use. For households comparing suppliers on the strength of this kind of support, Octopus Energy vs British Gas and Octopus Energy vs EDF cover two of the other signatories named in the report1.
The report's own framing is that these programmes rarely feature in the media, and that the more customers disclose their needs to their supplier, the greater the chance they get support1. The Commitment's coverage is measured by market share rather than by household outcomes: Energy UK reports that signatories serve over 90% of British households, but the guide does not publish visit numbers for any supplier other than Octopus1.
What happens next
Energy UK states that regulatory changes on prepayment meter warrants will require a further review of the Vulnerability Commitment, because some of its voluntary sub-commitments will become mandatory requirements. No date for that review is given1. The report's independent chair, Steve Crabb, writes that he expects another challenging winter for customers in vulnerable circumstances1.
Sources1 cited
- Vulnerability Commitment Good Practice guide 2023 - Energy UK, energy-uk.org.uk