Direct Debit calculation changes?

We  have noticed that there is an issue with how direct debits are being calculated, and shown on the account portal.

We have flagged it up to OVO backstage.

(We have had a reply, but are waiting for confirmation of what it said was happening).

Thanks Nukecad. Let’s hope they Digitum Extractum and not just hoist my DD as they did last time. Regards

I also have a real issue with the way OVO (and other companies tbf) seem to fudge the figures to ensure you will always be paying more than required.

Previously they would forecast ahead to the ‘end of March’ and apply your dd accordingly so your balance was £0 (or not in debit), now suddenly you need to be 1 months in credit?

Basically throughout the normal course of 12 months there will be a natural curve of when you are in debit/ credit which should still balance out. The most important thing is that you are not increasingly under paying for your usage….

It seems now OVO are calculating the figures so that your account is ALWAYS in credit. 

The direct debit always implys this  cant be adjusted under your ‘minimum amount’ however I have noticed today that there is a temporary override for this to change it for 3 months!

TBF I have never really had any issues with SSE / OVO over the years but I am planning to move providers due to the debarcle around them no longer supporting Ohme chargers…..

i forgot to also mention that all of the increased kwh usage for EV charging now seems to be used to overestimate costs for the customer, when in fact any usage used from EV is only charged at 7p (not the approx 22p rate). This results in them over estimating what my costs will be.

Hey ​@margiejay,

I understand your frustration, 

We have made the change to build one month's usage credit by the end of the winter period on our customers accounts. This credit will help to cover any changes to your energy usage or costs throughout the year leading to a smoother payment journey. Your Direct Debit is managed to ensure that you do not build too much credit on your account and also ensures your account does not fall into arrears should anything change with your usage. If you do build more credit on your account than is needed, we will recommend you reduce your payments or alternatively, you can request a refund at any time Our recommended Direct Debit amount is a suggested amount to ensure you pay for your predicted energy and don't end up with any debt or too much credit by the end of the Winter period. Your energy costs may go up or down throughout the year and we want to support you with those changes. Paying by Direct Debit helps to spread those costs so you don't end up with large bills to pay, and paying by Direct Debit is one of the cheapest ways to pay. 

I hope this helps explain further.

Hi Emmanuel_OVO

Thanks for your comments. You are quite correct, it is most frustrating.  OVO say I am in control of our Account, but I’m not.If I want to have a credit balance of more than 1 month’s usage, then for whatever reason reduce my DD for a couple of months to below OVO recommended amount, then I should be able to, but your system won’t allow it.  I said earlier I have never been in debt with OVO or anyone else, and my account should be able to reflect/recognise that. Over the years I have said many times OVO doesn’t treat customers as individuals and the reply has always been that OVO have too many customers to do that. Piffle. Get a better computer data system.   Thanks again.  Margiejay

Hey ​@margiejay,

There is the option to raise a complaint, if you’re unhappy with the changes that have been made. It may be possible for the support team to reduce your direct debit to a lesser amount & put your account on a direct debit review excpetions list for a period of time. I’d say it’s worth enquiring. 
 

Please keep us posted with how you get on. ​​​​​​​

My direct debit gone up by £60 and my monthly charge plan £37

Anyone else had a high increase after swapping from charge anytime?

My bill is due in a couple days will check

Just had a weird one with OVO.

In the last 12 months the DD was £126, totalling £1,512. 
Usage totalled £1.053.
As of the end of October 25, the balance was in credit by £422.

Comparing the last 12 months with the 12 months before that, usage for electricity was up about 18%, usage for gas was down about 9%. Total usage was down slightly.

They wanted to increase the DD to £151pm, an increase of 20%.

I rang to ask why, given the figures above. Apparently because the account needs to be at least one month in credit as of 31 March 2026.

The cost for the period November 24 - March 25 was £649.

Four more payments of £126 total £504. Add that to the current credit of £422, comes to £926.

£926 is way more than the total for the same period last winter of £649.

Apparently OVO were estimating the usage to be just over £1,000.

I couldn't really get an answer as to why they were estimating an increase of over 40%, but the did at least agree to lower the DD back to £128.

Has anyone else had such a ludicrous ‘estimate’ to base an substantial hike in payments that make no sense whatsoever?

 

You’re not alone in being perplexed at an apparently unwarranted change in your Direct Debit (DD) amount. While the change you’re battling with may make no sense to you, it does to the machine that calculated it!

The calculation takes no account of what your bills might have been in the past. This is quite reasonable, because the size of a bill can depend on factors other than energy consumption in the billing period - ad hoc payments, refunds, credits, charges for engineering work and so on. 

You wrote “… OVO were estimating the usage to be just over £1,000.” Sorry if you think I’m being pedantic when I say this isn’t what they’re doing. The DD calculator looks only at what your energy usage - in kWh - is projected to be over the next twelve months, the so-called Future annual consumption (FAC) you can find on your Plan page. It then works out what this quantity would cost at current tariff rates (also on the Plan page), adds the standing charges and the VAT to arrive at an annual cost of energy. 

The DD amount is then worked out by adding 1/12 to the annual cost figure - the extra newly-mandated ‘one month’s credit at 31 March’. The resulting figure is apportioned between months according to a typical seasonal usage pattern; the five months November to March are typically responsible for 50% of the total annual consumption.

This calculation will produce the current recommended DD figure; it will change daily as the balance on the account changes, but using the figures from your online account should help you to reproduce the one being foisted upon you pretty closely. If you still think it’s too high, you may be able to spot why. A common cause is that the FAC is very different from the actual increase in meter readings over the past twelve months. How does your look?

Yes, last month credit appears not to be aligned with OVO charge app savings.

It’s kind of what they said on the phone… they need the balance to be at least 1 month in credit as of 31 March 2026. In order for that not to be the case with the current DD payment, the cost would need to be around £1,000.

Looking at the last 12 months, that was:

Electricity: 938 kWh
Gas: 12,721 kWh

FAC:

Electricity: 1,504 kWh
Gas: 13,856 kWh

Thank you. Your FACs look to be significantly too high. As I mentioned, it can take months for the FAC to approach parity with actual usage; how old is this account? If it’s more than a year old, what about the meters themselves? Replacing a meter has the effect of erasing the supply’s history at the national database, so their estimated annual consumption figure will start from that of a typical household. 

Check the online DD Calculator to see what it expects your balance to be at the end of March. If it’s still in credit, you may be able to persuade Support to delay the DD increase for three months. Assuming no major change in your usage pattern, this will allow the FACs to assume more realistic values and the calculator to present a more reasonable figure come February. Otherwise, if you can’t head off the increase, see if you have the option to reduce the DD amount by 10%. This would mean you’d only be paying about £10 a month more than you are now, and again this would be fixed until February.

Hi ​@Stevepshepherd,

Please could you clarify what you’re referring to here? Do you mean that Charge Anytime credit doesn’t look right?

​@Solomonrose86 / ​@Stevepshepherd I’ve added EV badges to your Forum profiles.

The charge anytime savings are different to charge anytime credit on my bill, by approximately £50. The app for Oct is reporting a saving of approx £72 and my credit is only £22.

Mine seems to be fine. Just checked my latest bill. I have my pro-rated charge for the charge anytime plan and then the full month for November. 

My charge anytime credits look fine as well. It would be handy to have dates to show which period the credits apply vs. when the Charge anytime was added. 
 

It looks like OVO are in the process of fixing as my October invoice has now been amended, although I cannot open it yet. So hopefully will be resolved shortly.

I'm on a fixed  tariff and the only change to my account is moving from charge any time to new plan which is £37 a month im 400 ish in credit  but my standing order gone up by £60 from next month 

Hey ​@TAZZYUK 

I checked in with the Charge Anytime team about this who’ve confirmed that the monthly plan cost doesn’t have an impact on Direct Debit calculations, so the timing of your suggested increase is just coincidental.

How we check you’re paying the right amount

Your Direct Debit payment amount will be regularly reviewed to make sure it still covers your home’s energy use.

We’ll let you know if your Direct Debit amount needs to change to keep your energy account balance up to date.

When your payment amount might change

Your payments might need to go up or down if something changes. For example:

• Your home is using more or less energy than predicted.

• Your energy prices have changed or they will soon, to stay in line with the price cap.

• You’ve moved to a different tariff. 

• You’re likely to have less than a month’s credit in your energy account by 31 March. This credit is there in case your home energy use changes over the course of the year. For new customers, this only comes into effect once you’ve reached March.

• You've missed a monthly payment, lowered your Direct Debit, or got a refund recently.

• You’ve chosen an add-on, like Greener Energy.

If your Direct Debit amount needs to change, we’ll let you know.

Neither Charge Anytime nor monthly plans have an impact on the calculations. I’ve linked below to a few topics which might be helpful here too:

Thanks, I hadn’t seen that page with their anticipated usage broken down by month.

The usage last winter, from Dec-Mar was this (electricity/gas)

Dec 24: 27.93/93.09

Jan 25: 30.03/128.96

Feb 25: 33.94/102.30

Mar 25: 27.96/81.71

Ovo’s prediction for this winter:

Dec 25: 55.13/140.13

Jan 26: 54.43/147.19

Feb 26: 47.51/128.62

Mar 26: 49.89/118.10

So quite a jump, especially as the usage for 2025 to date was down on the same period for 2024.

Its all fine now they put the DD back don from 151 to 128 (just £2) higher than it was.

Be interesting to see how it turns out over the next few months though

The prediction is based on known parameters. I wrote earlier: “A common cause [of an unreasonably high DD amount] is that the FAC is very different from the actual increase in meter readings over the past twelve months. How does your look?”

Glad they’ve put it back down for you ​@Iain71.

Usually the estimated annual consumption (EAC) we hold for customers is pretty accurate however, when it’s not, advisors should be working things out manually and adjusting the Direct Debit accordingly, whilst flagging that the  EAC is incorrect.