Octopus quote cannot find your address: what to check
By Matt · Published 21 October 2026
If the Octopus quote page cannot find your home, or shows an address that does not look right, ask Octopus to check the supply details before you submit a switch. Do not select a neighbouring property just to get past the form.
The useful distinction is between your postal address, the number identifying the energy supply and the serial number on the physical meter. A lookup problem does not, by itself, establish that your home cannot switch supplier or use the tariff you want.
Start with the supply numbers, not a guess
For electricity, the supply number is the MPAN: the Meter Point Administration Number. Octopus explains that it identifies the electricity supply, rather than the meter itself. On a bill it often appears in a grid starting with a large S. Most forms asking for an MPAN want the bottom 13 digits, not every character in the grid. Follow the particular form's instructions.
Your meter serial number is different. It identifies the physical meter and is usually printed on it. Keep both details when asking for help, rather than putting the serial number into a box that asks for the MPAN.
If you have solar, check that you are looking at the import supply number for the electricity you buy. An export MPAN identifies the separate export arrangement. It is not a replacement for the import MPAN in a household supply switch.
For gas, the supply identifier is the MPRN, or Meter Point Reference Number. Keep the gas and electricity details separate, even if one company currently supplies both fuels.
Read Octopus's explanation of MPANs
Find the current supplier if you do not have a bill
Citizens Advice explains the two lookup routes. For gas, its guide links to Find My Supplier, where you can search using the property's postcode. For electricity, find the local electricity network operator, then use that operator's supplier-search service.
The network operator is not the company selling you your electricity tariff. Its cables can serve your home whichever supplier you choose. Citizens Advice's wrong-bill guidance also explains how to compare the MPAN or MPRN on a bill with the number registered to the address, and to contact the relevant supplier if they do not match.
Use the lookup for your own home. If the results still do not identify the property clearly, ask the supplier to investigate rather than treating the closest-looking address as a match.
Check mismatched supply details
Send a clear question to Octopus
Use Octopus's own contact details and explain which stage has failed: finding the address, getting the quote or completing a switch already requested. A useful message includes:
- the full postal address and postcode;
- which fuel is affected;
- the current supplier, if known;
- the MPAN for electricity or MPRN for gas from your bill or lookup;
- a photograph showing the physical meter's serial number, where safely accessible;
- the exact error message and the date it appeared.
Ask Octopus to confirm which supply point belongs to the home and whether the recorded address or meter details need checking with the current supplier. If different companies give you different answers, keep their written replies and ask them to explain the mismatch. A renamed property, new build or flat may need a closer check, but the error message alone does not tell you its cause.
Share bills and meter photographs only through the supplier's official support channels. This independent site does not need your account number, supply numbers or personal documents.
Moving in is separate from choosing the next supplier
If you have just moved, Citizens Advice says to contact the supplier already serving the property, tell it you have moved in and give it the opening readings. Choosing Octopus as the next supplier is a separate step. An address problem on a quote does not remove responsibility for energy used at the new home.
Once the supply is identified, compare the actual tariff, payment method, exit fees and meter requirements before requesting a switch. Our switching guide explains the ordinary process.
If the wrong supply may already have switched
A quote that cannot find an address is not the same as an erroneous transfer. If you receive an unexpected welcome letter or final bill for a switch you did not agree to, contact the old or new supplier promptly. Citizens Advice explains how to ask for an in-progress switch to be cancelled or a completed mistaken switch to be reversed. Keep the dates and the supplier's response.
Do not start another switch on guessed details as a way to undo the first one. If the problem is instead an incorrect bill after a meter exchange, use the existing bill-evidence guide.
Before trying the quote again
Check that the address and the supply identifiers have been confirmed, the quote is for the fuel or fuels you want and the proposed tariff works with your meter. If you need a smart tariff, confirming the correct supply point is not the same as confirming smart-meter communication or device eligibility.
Then compare Octopus with your current deal. Resolve the address question first; do not choose a tariff or count on a switching reward just to finish the form.