The recent unprecedented fiddling with fixed tariffs at government diktat had suppliers scrabbling around to find workarounds within their existing billing frameworks. OVO decided that the way forward was to determine fixed tariff contracts on 31 March 2026 and start new ones on 1 April 2026. This was probably fair enough as a one-off stop-gap workaround.
However, looking at the special terms and conditions for Extended Fixed tariffs, I see a potential bone of contention:
6. Early exit fee 6.1 If you change your supplier or plan for electricity or gas, or both, before the Fixed End Date, we may apply an exit fee of £75 for each fuel (Early Exit Fee). If you joined OVO Extended Fixed after 01 August 2025 6.2 If you change your supplier for electricity or gas, or both, before the Fixed End Date, we may apply an exit fee of £50 for each fuel (Early Exit Fee). |
These terms were last modified in August 2025, (I think) long before anyone was thinking about how to vary fixed prices. I suppose it rather depends on what ‘join’ means in this context, and lawyers would no doubt have fun debating that. The man on the Clapham omnibus would, I’m sure, think that the relevant date was that when the current contract started. I suspect, though, that OVO’s legal eagles think otherwise, arguing that they wouldn’t have used ‘join’ to mean ‘enter into a contract.’
My Extended Fixed contract expires later this year, so I’m considering changing to a different OVO fixed tariff while they’re still not totally unmanageable. Will I be charged an early exit fee if there are more than 49 days to go to the end of the current fix?
