Hi there, my direct debits come out my bank on the 1st of the month, at the moment i am able to change the amount on my ovo account so that it’s more in line with the recommended amount. My question is, throughout the year, when is the kinda latest date of the month i can do this for it to have changed in time for the 1st?

Howdy @Ian Phillips !

For this one, I’d recommend doing it at ideally least 11 days before the next payment date to allow OVO enough time to sort out the paperwork behind the scenes. For the absolute safest play, make the changes by the 15th of the month.

It’s worth noting however, that OVO also does this action automatically every six months on your behalf. If OVO thinks you’re massively overpaying, the system will attempt to force your payments down by itself so you don’t have to.

I moved into a new house 12dec on Tuesday by the Friday I had my smart meters installed- on the 18th they took a direct debit for 115 £

im in fixed tariffs for 2 years. Gas and electricity 

I just checked my bank and they have taken another one for 115

i did change my dd to be taken out on 27-29th of month but I thought they wouldn’t had  taken payment until my next bill in Jan. 
 

is there a reason so close together?? 

Unfortunately, there’s no direct relationship between the date your bill is issued and the date of the Direct Debit. When you change the date of the DD, your bank will - unless instructed otherwise - make the payment on the first date it can manage. If you had waited a week or two before changing the date, the situation you find yourself in wouldn’t have arisen.

If this is a problem for you, and your account balance is healthy, you may be able to ask for a refund of the balance less £115: How to request a refund on your online account or OVO app | The OVO Forum (ovoenergy.com) 

Otherwise, if you can do without the cash, the extra will just stay in your OVO account. It will be taken into account when your DD comes up for review in a couple of months’ time and might bring about a reduction. 

Hi there - in my Ovo app where the direct debits are I don’t have a MANAGE DIRECT DEBIT icon instead i have a statement saying “this direct debit can only be changed by the person who set it up” - it was me who set it up!!  The account is in the name of both myself and my husband.  Can anyone please help?  I have called previously about this but the operator simply changed the direct debit but did not update the app for me.  I would like to be able to control this myself.  Any help appreciated - thank you

Laura 

Hey @lcletheroe,

I’m sorry for the late response on this one. Did you manage to get this resolved or are you still needing help with it? 

What would you like to change when looking at the Direct Debit? Just so we have an idea of how best to assist you. I have left a few articles below with more information on what can be done on the app and if you have further questions we would be happy to help. The top link takes you to the tutorial section with lots of handy “how-to” guides! 

I hope this helps! 

Hi there - thank you for replying.  No I still don’t have this resolved.  I looked at the tutorials but the problem  is that i don’t have the ...

“Manage Direct Debit” icon so i cannot click this.  Instead I have a statement that says “Sorry the direct debit can only be changed by the person who set it up” and there is nothing to click.  So there must be something flagged in my account stopping me from changing it.  I dont understand because I am the person who set it up and both myself and my husband are named as account holders.

Hey @lcletheroe,

When did you set up your account? I wonder if you have a new account so aren’t able to change the direct debit for the first three months. If not, it sounds like it may be a technical issue which needs to be raised to the support team.

Are you able to upload a screenshot of what you do see?

Hi - no its not a new account i’ve had it for years.  It used to be in my husband’s name alone but its always been me that operates it so a couple of years ago we added my name so the account is in joint names but I cannot change the DD online or in the app its so frustrating.

i have called the support number, talked to the online bot and emailed help@ovo but no-one is helping me or understands the problem.  They just want to change the DD for me - but i want to do it myself !   Thank you for your interest

Laura

Could it be that he is the primary account holder & the financially liable party on the account & that is why you aren’t able to change it when you log in using your details @lcletheroe?

Its a fair point but the account has always operated using my email address and my login details and it was while initially logged in that i setup the first direct debit.  My husband has been on the phone to Ovo a couple of times advising that I should be able to operate the account and to put the account into joint names so I just dont understand what the problem is.  Its sad because I think its a great app but it’s frustrating not being able to use all of its advertised features.  Thank you for your help.  

It’s a frustrating one! I think it’s worth getting the support team to investigate incase it’s an account specific issue. 

Please pop back if you get to the root of the issue @lcletheroe, it may help other community members in a similar position. 

Does anyone know how to contact ovo to change my bank account details for my direct debit? I've been trying for three days now and haven't spoken to a human being yet, or is it easier to switch supplier! 

Hi @Ianhowe ,

If you used the Current Account Switching Service you do NOT need to inform OVO - your old and new bank will do it all for you.

Otherwise, the fastest way is to revoke the Direct Debit from your old bank account through the bank - OVO’s system will then ask you to set it back up later.

The reason you can’t get in touch is simpler to explain - blame Martin Lewis! He made it so that literally everyone under the sun tries to smash all suppliers to pieces during certain weeks of the year and this week is one of those weeks.

If you wish to speak to someone though, Live Chat is fastest. Please use the keyword Agent to bypass the bot when it asks for what you’re after and it’ll put you through. Contact volumes are through the roof right now though.

Hi @Ianhowe,

Have you managed to get through to someone to get this sorted?

Hello, I tried to change the bank account that my Direct Debit has been registered to but there is no way to change the bank account from OVO app or the website. Has anyone been able to change their bank account?

Hi @melihozcelik ,

If you’ve changed banks using the Current Account Switching Service, you don’t need to do anything else - OVO will be informed automatically and the Direct Debit will migrate to your new bank account as part of the process.

Otherwise, to change it from one bank account to another, cancel it via the bank and wait for OVO to get in touch - the email you’ll get will invite you to set it back up again using your preferred bank account.

Thanks! I just discovered Current Account Switching service… I will do that!

Hi @melihozcelik,

I can see our forum volunteer has already answered this for you. Hope this was helpful. 

Let us know if you have any further issues.

Tried the app on phone and also PC,logged in and it keeps saying “sorry, only the person who set this direct debit up can change it". I was the one who set it up !!!!.Any help please.

Hi ​@Marlman ,

You can do this via Live Chat if you need to - it’s open for another hour at https://ovoenergy.com/help . Otherwise, try talking to them in the morning.

On my favourite theme of computers/phones going doolally on occasions, if you haven’t done it already, log out of your account, restart the phone or computer and have another go. I find that usernames and passwords can get scrambled between the keyboard and what is received by the servers and all sorts of weird things can happen. I find resets fix it more often that not but Live Chat will get the job done as well as ​@Blastoise186 has said. Just a thought.

Peter

Good day Marlman,

I was in credit for quite a large amount , it did not worry me as they paid a good rate of interest. I tried to alter my d/d on line but failed. I phoned and very quickly a refund was organised and my direct debit altered instantly.

Have you managed to get this sorted now ​@Marlman? 

No not yet,don’t have time to phone,just thought you could do it through the app