Thanks for the update, if you post how you get on i am sure it will help other customers in the future. 

I am incensed that  OVO have set a minimum direct debit calculation on figures with increased Electric future consumption by 10% and gas future consumption by about 17%.  On current rates for electric that is approximately £25 per month and gas is £32.   The fact that this is set as a minimum means I have no choice in the matter, even though this is my money OVO energy are accumulating in advance.  I keep a spread sheet of my usage and have kept in credit with SSE until OVO took over my account.   Furthermore, the practice of calculating the direct debit amount for the whole year  in spring and before the summer months means that OVO energy are accumulating my money, unnecessarily for a period of six months.  At current interest rates it seems to me that this practice is rather dubious and estimate they will be sitting on £1000- £1500 of my money by the end of August.

I can’t help, I’m afraid: I’m just a user like you with no affiliation to OVO. However, I’d be interested to see:

• How long is it since you were migrated from SSE to OVO.
• Whether you have a smart meter.
• How much your current Direct Debit (DD) is.
• What the ‘recommended’ DD is now.
• What kind of plan you’re on:
  • Dual-fuel, electricity and gas
  • Electricity only: single-rate
  • Electricity only: dual-rate
  • Something else
• What your new Future Annual Consumption (FAC) figures are.
  You can see these details on the Plan page.

My own FAC jumped alarmingly last week, a few weeks after an account reset. We have a theory, and your answers might help us work out what’s happening.

Hey @DataCalcExpert,

Sorry for the issues you’re having,

An out of line Estimated Annual Consumption is usually the result of an out of line meter reading. I’d advise checking your meter readings to see if you’ve been billed to an incorrect opening and closing reading. Your account may be eligible for a read dispute, The following topics and FAQs might be helpful to you:

Hope this helps. 

Hi @DataCalcExpert

Welcome to the customer forum, i am just a customer like you. 

If you call collections rather than the regular OVO number you can ask for your direct debit to be frozen at a lower level for 3 months, once that is elapsed you can ask for another 3 month freeze if  needed. 

You can also ask collections for a refund of your credit. If you are on the default variable rate plan you can ask for 100% of your credit to be returned. I wouldn't recommend that much, also worth bearing in mind it may well impact your recommended Direct Debit when you ask for credit to be returned. 

0800 0699 831

If you have any further questions, you may well find one of the regular posters can offer some useful insight.

If you post what you decide to do and how you get on i am sure it will help other customers. 

I thank you all for trying to answer a rhetorical question.  New to the forum, I apologise that I have asked a question when I am actually giving a statement of fact, complaining of the bad practice of accumulating money from customers through direct debit during periods of low usage based on projected usage for the whole year.  By setting this exaggerated rate at a minimum, it does not allow me to easily stop this payment being made before it is due at the beginning of May.  I have work to do to earn money and will take some time to accurately get the figures together to argue a case to freeze my direct debit at a lower level.  It is also true that even though I have a smart meter, hugely inaccurate estimates appeared on one bill during the transition, even though data should have been available.  A years bills form SSE are also available on my account to calculate a more reasonable estimated usage.  When I do get time to compare my usage against these transition bills I will be looking into a 3 month freeze.  OVO energy do not want to force me into being a campaigner for fair billing.  Once I get my teeth into something like this, I tend to be relentless.

Thanks for the update. 

Keep an eye on the Future Annual Consumption on this page on the website not the app.

https://account.ovoenergy.com/plan

It is this that is updated automatically and drives your DD.

There is no manual intervention on the Future Annual Consumption. There are no plans currently to change the process

Feel free to add to this Idea as part of anything you do. The DD topic generally has been discussed for many years and picked up by many people, including complaints. So there is nothing new in the subjects you mentioned. 

If you feel strongly it would help to add to the Idea or add new ideas that customers can contribute to.

Just FYI, you don't need detailed calculations to call collections as they freeze DD for a variety of reasons. Don't feel you need to spend a lot of time on calculations. Someone who recently froze their DD

If you post your progress i am sure it will help others.

Ultimately if you are really unhappy with the DD calculation process, you might find an alternative supplier is better for you.

i have been arguing with ovo since new smart metres fitted  21/11/22 not paid for any gas since  and hopeless at sorting out problems

Did you ever put in a formal complaint, as you then only have to wait 8 weeks before asking the Energy Ombudsman to sort out this issue with OVO?

https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

not yet

Hey @taxijim33,

Really sorry to hear this,

Have you sent in a photo of the yellow/white sticker on the meter and the new meter serial number? Usually when a statement is delayed following a meter exchange it’s because the engineer hasn’t passed on the removal meter reading from the old meter or the install reading from the old one. Or it may be OVO doesn’t have your new meter serial number. 

We don’t have access to your account on the forum so can only make assumptions based on the information provided. I’d advise keeping your direct debit up and running for both fuels, this should hopefully cover the delayed statement once you are billed.

Hope this helps. 

1 am 1100 pounds in credit so d/d not the issue i reckon i owe 250.00 for the gas used they have all metre numbers so i am not worried just bothers me that they are not doing their job to a standard i would expect from a large company

Hey @taxijim33,

I’m afraid we don’t have access to your account here on the Forum, so without knowing details of the account issue it’s hard to advise. 

In this instance if you aren’t getting anywhere with customer support, it may be worth following @Jeffus’ advice.

i have been onto ovo again and they say it will be sorted out in a few days will keep you posted

OVO at it again they have put my DD up by £30 even though I told them last time I was not paying more than £200,they did it behind my back without permission  and I have a smart meter but here the stupid thing my usage up to today is £100 24th Aprill and I'm using £4.50 a day now so worst case I'm going to be at £150 for the month I'm £120 behind but based on my usage by the end of next month I will have caught up and then by September I will probably be £250 in credit.Im about to have the same argument as last time when they wanted to put it up to £300 pm,If I listened to them then I would be £400 in credit and paying twice what I use, will just cancel the dd if they don't put it back and just pay what I use as I'm legally entitled to. Why do we allow these companies to hold on to OUR money I've now switched to standing order I would rather have my money in my account rather than OVO dictate what I should pay if you went to a petrol  station and they said we think you should put 70 quid in and that's all we will let you do there would be riots, pay what you have used don't let your money sit in OVO account making them interest.

Pay by standing order and fight back.

Hi @Alistair 

Welcome to the customer forum, i am just a customer like you. 

If you are in on the default variable tariff you can of course cancel your Direct Debit and pay on receipt of bill

Just be aware your bills will then be higher as the rates will then be higher. Chat to OVO if you want to confirm how much more you will pay.

You will now end up worse off financially.

Did you know that?

You can call collections and ask for up to 100% of your credit balance to be refunded if you are on the variable plan, but I wouldn't recommend quite that much to anyone. 

0800 0699 831

So if you build up a lot of credit over summer you can always do that. 

Hello @Alistair,

Sorry for the issues you’re having, 

If you feel your direct debit review is unfair it may be that your estimated annual consumption is out of line, you can find out more about this topic here:

You can contact our Collections Team as advised by @Jeffus for your credit balance to be refunded, they can also put your direct debit on a three month review suspension meaning it won’t be reviewed or increased for this period. If you don’t already have a smart meter I’d advise getting one booked in so that your billing is accurate to meter readings. 

You can find out how your direct debit is calculated by logging into the Online Account and using the direct debit calculator tool: 

Customers can pay on demand if they’re on the variable tariff, however, as pointed out by @Jeffus the rates would be more expensive. 

Hope this helps. 

because I used a lot of power in January for some reason, OVO demanded I increase my DD from 60 to 83, even though I was massively in credit. After a lot of shouting and screaming down the phone, I grudgingly accepted an increase to £66.

Three months later, with (slightly) warmer weather and more daylight, they’re telling me I could reduce my DD to £55. Funnily enough, they don’t insist on this when the amendment is to reduce, they just advise.

Aren’t their computer models wonderful??

Shouting and screaming ?

maybe shouting and screaming was a bit OTT, but there was certainly an argument. They wouldn’t countenance my suggestion of leaving the DD at £60 until the end of the contract and whoever owed money doubled it - that’s how confident I am that their computer algorithm is rubbish.

Phew! That’s a relief! 

@Alistair

You could add a comment on this idea about what you have experienced and what you would like changed. Ultimately the Direct Debit is driven by this. 

My usage for this month is £140 Including everything so why am I being forced to up it to £230 fed up with them ignoring me and putting it up without my permission so I've switched to  standing order I have control not OVO

Switching to Standing Order won’t work. You’ll lose any fixed rate deal and be forced onto Pay On-Demand where Standing Orders are even more useless.

Hey @Alistair,

It’s worth checking the below information, it may be that the calculation is incorrect due to an out of line Estimated Annual Consumption:

You can also contact our Collections Team to put a hold on your direct debit review for three months. 

Hope this helps.