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Updated on 04/11/24 by Emmanuelle_OVO:

 

If you’re logging in to your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS) regularly you might have spotted a recommended Direct Debit amount showing on the Homepage.

 

Exact appearance may vary

 

So you might be wondering how we work out this recommended amount, we’ve got a tool which might help.

 

If you click ‘Change Direct Debit amount’ you’ll be greeted by this page,

 

Exact appearance may vary

 

You can see the basic breakdown of how the recommended Direct Debit amount is worked out by clicking ‘How we work out your recommended Direct Debit amount’.

 

Exact appearance may vary

 

This shows how we use your predicted costs, current balance and remaining months left on your plan to determine a sensible monthly amount to cover your costs.

 

For a more in-depth view, you can access our great Direct Debit calculator by clicking ‘check out the Direct Debit calculator’ from the ‘Change your Direct Debit’ page,

 

 

Exact appearance may vary

 

 

The Direct Debit calculator gives a visual representation of the projected outcome to any Direct Debit changes. In the example below, you can see the predicted costs until the end of your current plan shown in the graph. The expected balance at the end of the period and the recommended Direct Debit increase are highlighted in the red text box. The current Direct Debit amount and recommended Direct Debit amount are also shown by the solid and dashed lines on the graph,

 

Exact appearance may vary

 

It’s possible to adjust the graph to show the anticipated costs over 12 months (based on your current rates), alternatively you can view this same information as the effect these costs would have on your account balance for the same periods,

 

Exact appearance may vary

 

You’re able to change the figure in the ‘Direct Debit’ amount box to update the graphs based on what would happen to your balance were you to adjust your payments to this amount. This helps to visualize the most suitable amount you should be paying.

 

As we want to make sure you’re paying enough to keep you covered, you’ll only be able to adjust your Direct Debit amount to the calculated minimum, although we understand an unexpected increase to your payments might not be affordable for you. Your Direct Debit amount is reviewed regularly to ensure that you’re paying enough and we’ll contact you if it needs to be increased. Find out more here on how we review your Direct Debit if you’re on a fixed contract:

 

 

Is there any support available if I’m struggling to pay for my energy?

 

There is help available if you’re struggling to pay your energy bills – both from us here at OVO Energy and from government schemes and charities as well. There are many ways we can help – such as setting up a payment plan for you, which spreads the cost of your energy to make it more manageable. If you want to find out about payment plans, you can request one online here – we’ll take you through what you need to do, and ask you for some details.

 

Our dedicated team is also specially trained to support you. They can make sure you’re receiving any financial assistance from the government that you’re eligible for, and take you through payment support schemes that are available.  You can find out more about these schemes and where to seek free, independent advice right here.

 

FAQs

​​​​My Direct Debit has changed recently. Will it change again because of the price cap?

 

Yes, it could change – but it depends. Your Direct Debit will be based on your new prices, as well as the energy your home has used over the past year. If the Direct Debit looks too high or too low, we'll let you know and it might be changed automatically. 

This is to make sure you don’t build up unexpected debt by 31 March 2026. We always want to avoid that happening to you.

 

How does OVO work out my monthly Direct Debit?

To work out your monthly Direct Debit amount, we:

  • look at your energy use so far and estimate how much you’re likely to use by 31 March 2026. This includes any costs, such as standing charges and add-ons

  • take away your current balance, factoring in any credit or debt

  • divide the result by the number of payments left until 31 March 2026, which gives us your monthly amount

We aim to bring your balance to £0 by 31 March 2026. This way, you won't owe us anything, and we won't owe you anything, making it easier to manage your energy costs.

We regularly check your Direct Debit to make sure your balance is on track. 

 

Why is my Direct Debit increasing when my balance is in credit?

This could be down to a few reasons. Sometimes, even if your balance is in credit, your monthly payments still need to go up.

Usually, this happens if it looks like your balance is going to drop below £0 by 31 March 2026. We want you to avoid building up any unexpected debt – we never want that to happen to you. So we work out if that’s likely by predicting how much energy your home will use, then checking if your payments will cover it. 

It’s also useful for your balance to be in credit. It can act like a pot of money to cover those times when your energy use might be higher. For example, you’re likely to build up credit in the summer months when energy use is lower. But you might need to use this credit in the winter months when it’s colder and darker – and your energy use is usually much higher. 

We regularly check your Direct Debit to make sure you’re paying the right amount.

 

Will my bills be lower if I pay through Direct Debit?

Yes, if you're on a variable-rate tariff then you’ll pay less if you pay by Direct Debit. This is compared to paying after you get your bill. 

We estimate our average customer will save £112 a year by choosing Direct Debit.

Paying a monthly Direct Debit means you never have to remember to pay your bill. It also helps with budgeting, by splitting the cost of your energy bills into equal payments throughout the year. Then you’re paying the same amount – whether it’s winter or summer.

 

 

 

I have had a Solar PV and home battery system installed and my electricity consumption over the past 28 days since installation has dropped 93%. This was noted on my portal page suggesting I was on track to be over £1,100 in credit at the end of the billing year. This sum is way too high because it is based on a short period of analysis, but does reflect the reduction in my usage.

Now I know that I will not get such big reductions in the Autumn and Winter months and I still have to charge my EV, but even allowing for the benefits in the months of April to August I am overpaying.

No, says Ovo, because when I try to adjust my Direct Debit online I am told I can only INCREASE my payment!

Is this a glitch, or do you really predict an overspend but not allow customers to reduce their payment? What is OFGEM policy on energy suppliers overcharging customers?

OVO has suspended all increases to Direct Debit payments and reviews for now. There’ll be an announcement soon so I’d wait for that before doing anything else.

You can’t lower it yourself below the recommended level as a safety measure. If you really need to do that, the Support Team can assist.

Fine, but why didn’t Ovo simply put a message on the website as they must have modified the web page’s coding to disable the facility? Rhetorical question that so no need to answer!

I've just had another email saying my direct debit is going up by nearly £30 a month because OVO don't think my current payment will cover my monthly usage. This is an email that comes a couple of times a year, and to be fair, in the spring and summer is the opposite as they reduce my monthly payment. 

The trouble is though that I'm over £800 in credit. 

What's the point in over paying during the warmer, low energy usage months to build up a credit if that isn't going to be used when the colder, higher energy usage months start coming in? 

I thought that was the whole point of a credit balance and it would mean I can keep my monthly payment pretty consistent throughout the year.

This sounds odd. Two things to check:

  1. On your Plan page, note the Future annual consumption (FAC) figure(s) and the Prices and unit rates.
  2. On the Direct Debit calculator page, see what difference it makes to the closing balance if you change the amount from the current figure to what they want to increase it to.
    Click on Change Direct Debit amount.
    On the next page, be very careful not to click on that attractive Change amount button: it acts instantaneously and it can be awkward to reverse the effect.
    Click on How we work it out. The first figure shown there is the result of doing the sums using the numbers from (1) above, adding the VAT and any other add-ons you may be subscribed to, then subtracting your current credit balance to find out what the total cost would be to the end of term. 

A common reason for apparently unreasonable DD demands is that the FACs are inaccurate. You would have to check your bills for, say, last month and the same month a year ago to find how much energy you actually used over the year. If this is very different from what the FACs say, you have an explanation.

It would help to know (a) whether you’re on a fixed-rate or variable (‘Simpler’) tariff, and (b) whether you have a smart meter or not.    

 

Thanks for the reply. 

Using that calculator at the amount set before the most recent email has me at -£312 by the end of my contract. Upping it to OVO's recommended amount has me at £0 by the end of the contract. 

The thing is though, they are always writing to change the DDR, and most of the time I ignore it and just let them change to whatever they recommend, but my balance has always been around the £800 mark for a couple of years now! That would suggest their calculator is wrong. 

I'm now on a 1 year fixed contract prior to the October price rises, previously on a variable tariff, and I do have a "smart" meter

I'm now on a 1 year fixed contract prior to the October price rises, previously on a variable tariff, and I do have a "smart" meter

 

Thank you. The system is a bit different for those on standard variable tariffs. Because your rates are now fixed, there should be no need for the regular demands for a change to the DD unless your usage varies significantly from previous years.

  

… my balance has always been around the £800 mark for a couple of years now! 
 

 

I understand, but I can’t quite see why the balance should remain more or less constant. It will reduce day by day until DDDay, at which point it will rise again - but not to the same level as it was at the start of the period. The calculator shows how it reduces over the contract term.

You’ll see from my earlier post that the current credit balance is deducted from the predicted costs before being divided by the number of DDs left during your contract. This is to my mind a fault with the calculator, because it means that the credit balance is only whittled down over the months left. In other words, only - say - 1/12 of the balance is used each month to cover that month’s costs - the rest is carried over to the next month. 

If you feel that the balance is too large, you could ask for some of it back. You’re required to leave the value of one month’s DD in the account, so timing any refund request is important. Any refund that is taken will prompt a corresponding increase in the DD, but you may prefer to have the excess funds in your bank account rather than OVO’s. Three months’-worth of costs isn’t too much to have in credit in the account. 

One last thought: 1 October is the date at which OVO reckon your balance should be highest, because the following semester is usually more expensive than the previous one. For electricity, they calculate usaget to be about 40% higher. I don’t have the figure for gas, but it will be a lot more than that. 
 

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