How do I use my OVO Charge public charging credit?

Thank you Ben

Yes, I have at Osprey chargers but I couldn’t get it to work at the Instavolt chargers I tried 6th December so had to use my credit card.

The only chargers available on Sunday at Gatwick’s parking were BP Pulse so unfortunately I couldn’t use my Ovo card. (Or could I have done?)

Thanks for this ​@Gingernut49. I’ve fed this back to our EV teams, as Instavolt should be compatible.

I’ve also asked them about BP Pulse, and I’ll let you know when I hear back.

I am planning a journey from Devon to Scotland, mostly by motorway. I have checked my usual motorway service areas on the OVO Charge app and none of them show a charger. Does this mean that I cannot use my CA account credit as I do not appear to be able to select the charger in the app? I have not used the CA credit yet as I can charge at home normally so do not really know how the process of using credit works. 

Would appreciate assistance!

Hi ​@Nealeb ,

You’ll only be able to use the charging credits at chargers shown in the OVO Charge app I’m afraid - those that don’t show in there aren’t compatible at the moment.

You may be able to find other chargers close to your route though so have a look around the map to see if a slight detour or two might uncover one you can use your credits with.

I’ve found very few motorway services which have Ovo compatible chargers, but it’s not a major issue because as Blastoise said there’s almost always some nearby.  As an example, on a regular route I drive, I used to stop at Worcester services on the M5, but if I want to use Ovo chargers I now go to Horn Hill Road.  It’s less than 20 minutes difference, and it has everything the services has (coffee shop, restaurants, shop and toilets) so it really doesn’t make any difference apart from an extra couple of minutes leaving and rejoining the motorway.

In practice, I don’t think it will be a problem. I’m off to France soon with a 600 mile or so round trip and there do seem to be plenty of OVO-compatible chargers around. And all quite a bit cheaper than the UK as well! I suspect that I shall burn through quite a bit of my credit that way with another trip to Scotland a bit later. What I did find looking through M5/M6 services for OVO compatibility (none!) was that prices were pretty much in line with prices off-motorway, unlike fossil fuel prices. I’ve only had the car a couple of months so still a lot to explore re recharging. Like just how many apps and charge cards do you really need!

Hey ​@Nealeb 

I’m glad to see you’ve already had some helpful responses from our community.

Woodstok2000 left some really good advice about locations maybe ever so slightly off route but still doing the job. 

I’m glad to hear the trip to France will have plenty of OVO compatible chargers along the way.

I did check in with the team who agreed, the best way to check for compatible chargers is through the map within the app. You can also always raise feedback with the team, while it may not ultimately result in a direct addition of the chargers, it will help the team know where they’re being sought after and hopefully look to have them added in future. It’s still early days with Charge Anywhere, so the team are always looking to improve and grow the charger infrastructure available to OVO customers. 

If you wish to raise feedback to the team you can do so via email to ovocharge@ovo.com.

I hope this helps, and do let us know how you get on!😊

I too have just tried to use my OVO card with the credit on at an InstaVolt charger in Skegness and it wouldn’t even start. Just said something went wrong. What’s the point in paying for a service where you have credit offered and then have to use your own money to pay for charge? Also forever having problems with ovocharge app which I have put in a complaint since it doesn’t seem to tell my charger to charge my car then resulting in me having to pay for urgent charge when I have allowance. Seriously putting me off even being with OVO at this rate. 

Has anyone been able to use their credit? We’ve used the ovo charge app to find a local charger.  We have our cc linked to the ovo charge app too.  It just keeps saying ‘prepayment error’ so we the. have to pay at the charger as normal, without the ovo charge app/credit.  

Hey ​@Suze_b18,

I chatted with one of our contacts at Charge Anytime about your issue, and I wanted to pass along what they mentioned could be causing the issues. It seems like you might be logged into a second account. Sometimes, customers create an account with an email and password but then forget about it. When they try to sign in again, they may choose the “Sign in with Apple/Google” option for a quicker login, which can accidentally create a duplicate account.

This might explain why any credits you have are linked to the original account, causing the issues you're experiencing with charging. The team is on a break for the bank holiday today, but I’d love to try and get you help. If you could send me screenshots of any error messages you’re seeing, as well as your credit wallet (find it under Account > Promotions), I’ll do my best to get you some answers.

Also, it’s a good idea to check that your card information under Account > Payment Method is linked and accurate. If any details are incorrect, that could lead to issues as well. 

You’ll be able to speak with a member of the team directly tomorrow who could triage this with you and have a deeper look into your account, you can call our Charge Anytime support line on 0330 175 9678 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or ovocharge@ovo.com.

Hey ​@Jazzygoat,

Similar to the advice I shared with Suze, it's important to check the balance in your credit wallet (you can find it under Account > Promotions). If you used a credit card as your payment method, I recommend verifying with your provider that it is authorised for use with OVO. From my experience, I have to add certain retailers to a trusted list if I plan to use them frequently, to avoid triggering any security issues. Below is an example from Virgin Money, but other brands like NatWest also have similar systems in place, so it may be worth looking into.

Virgin Money - What are trusted retailers?

Hi ​@Chris_OVO 

i have attached screenshots. I have the credit available yet it didn’t work to use it at all at an OVO approved charging station. I only have one account for OVOCharge. 
thanks

Hey ​@Suze_b18 

I’ve sent you a private message as the Charge Anytime team to take a look here. If you could reply, and we’ll pass this to the team.