Direct Debit calculation changes?

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. 

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