Difference between tariffs at Switch and Renewal?

@Firedog I don’t see a ‘get-out’ if you sign up to a particular rate. I do see both costs are estimated so your only sure fire way of seeing which is best for you is if you work out the detail using the different rates. 
I know that wasn’t your question as such but I would have thought that at the point of your sign up, you would see the rates confirmed?

Oh yes - sorry - it’s been a long day...

I found my old renewal screenshots. Does look like we have never been able to select the variable rate when coming off a fixed rate. It is just the auto do nothing option. 

Interestingly the section on 30 day notice for changes to the variable rate plan tariff has been removed in the most recent Terms and Conditions

https://www.ovoenergy.com/terms/2022

Interesting i think the opposite. You aren't on the tariff yet so the 30 days doesn't apply? 

In normal times the rates would go up on 1st Jan.

The renewals page has always had the old variable rate tariff info right up to the switch date to the updated price cap. We went through an example like this with my switch over and the  variable rate when Jess was around. It makes the variable rate tariff info on the Renewal page of rather limited value, particularly with quarterly updates to the variable from 1st Jan in normal times. 

I will see if I can find the thread again.

We didn't get 30 days notice last time for the variable rate. 

Fixed rates would be eye watering expensive at the moment as the wholesale gas price has shot up again, up 60% since October, feeding through to electricity prices. We had a record next day electricity price recently.

The 20% increase in the Energy Price Cap on 1st April from 2500 to 3000 could be better communicated as well... Am not sure how many people are budgeting for this... This was in the Autumn statement. 

I think it will be a shock for some just how high their bills will be over the summer and how high their DDs get after 1st April. 

The DD calculator doesn't include the 1st April increase yet as far as i know, be interesting to see when OVO tweak the DDs. I expect this will cause a run of posts on the forum as the calculator will then look ahead 12 months after the update with the higher rates, including next winter. All the increase will fall on the unit rates i suspect. We can probably work out illustrative figures for a few customers if necessary on a few threads in the future. 

Also the Energy Bill Support scheme finishes in March and won't be available as a universal offer next winter. 

It is going to get much harder for a cohort of customers unfortunately. 

More important than ever for people to get smart meters to get to know their usage. Or at the very least take manual readings more frequently than they usually do. 

Hey @Firedog,

I’ve responded to you on this thread:

They are showing you the current rates as of now, because that is what you’d pay now. VS what the rates will go up to as the rates for your region will be changing shortly. 

So you have both the current rates, and what they will go up to in January. If you were currently on the Variable Tariff you would have been sent a communication advising you what your rates will increase to.

OVO aren’t offering a ‘renewal’ option at the moment, as there is no point having fixed tariffs. So all customers will ‘roll onto’ the variable plan at the end of their contract. 

Thanks, Emmanuelle, but that won’t wash. Rates are either today’s rates, which are current, or they’re next month’s rates, which aren’t current. The Renewal page, showing today’s rates as if they are the ones I’d be charged, is the one I’m directed to from the OVO account home page. The Switch page, showing the true picture, I was referred to from a third-party comparison site. Deliberately misleading existing customers to dissuade them from switching to another provider is sharp practice. But perhaps ‘renewal’ means something different in OVO-speak.

While I’ve got your attention, could I pose a supplementary question?

Because the E7 rates have increased so dramatically, I can no longer afford to heat my house with electricity. Even so, I have so far been able to make use of the (2020) E7 tariff to minimize the costs. This will no longer be the case once I’m rolled on to the SVT, based on my usage pattern for the past six months. It would in fact be slightly cheaper, and much more convenient, to use the single-rate tariff. 

I can’t do anything about the wiring or the meter (it’s a rented property), but I understand it is possible to apply the same single rate to both registers, which would have the same effect. How do I go about arranging this - quickly - without using the telephone which I’m afraid I’m unable to use for making calls?

The last time I asked for a tariff update to the meter (they’d got it wrong at one stage), I did it by email and it took weeks, and even then it was still wrong. The right figures have always been used for billing, so I’ve let it ride. But now I gather that even the email option is no longer available. I’m sure I’m not the only customer not able to use the phone …

If you need to, you can use SignVideo with OVO now, as well as Relay UK.

The Relay UK number to call is 18001 0330 303 5063. Or for SignVideo, you can select OVO from the list at https://signvideo.co.uk/sign-directory/

Sorry @nealmurphy!

Was a busy day yesterday- I’ll get that updated now 😊

No worries. Relay UK is a free service that anyone can use for any reason. While it is designed for people with hearing or speech difficulties, there’s no strict rule saying you have to have such difficulties to be able to use the service. If you’ve just lost your voice temporarily due to a cold but still need to make phone calls for example, that’s perfectly cool with them too.

All I’d suggest is that it’s worth reading the user guides at https://www.relayuk.bt.com/ first as they’ll make your life a lot easier.

They never ask you the reason why you use the service either. It’s provided there for anyone who may benefit from it. If it’s easier, you can just use the Relay UK app on any smartphone rather than playing with the desktop software. Or if you’d rather use a full mouse and keyboard, you can get the desktop app instead.

Just for accessibility reasons (and because I really do genuinely like to recommend this thing to people a lot!):

Windows 10/11 (Via Microsoft Store): https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/relay-uk/9N6QLQ67VWVG?hl=en-gb&gl=gb

Mac: Search Relay UK Desktop App on the Mac App Store

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bt.relayuk

iOS/iPadOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/relay-uk/id1483202788

They’ve considered that exact possibility. The Relay Assistant stays with you during the entire call, but if necessary they can move the call to another Relay Assistant - you’ll always be notified if that happens. BT has loads of them so the chances of you blocking another call are pretty low. And emergency calls always take priority anyway.

They won’t mind if the call takes a while to reach an agent, and you can talk to the Relay Assistant at anytime if you need to, such ask to ask for advice on what to do to make the call work.

As for OVO’s priority queue thing? It does exist, but not for PSR. If you have an account management flag against your account (like I do) you get redirected to your squad rather than the general queue whenever possible. It effectively speeds up queue times massively. :)