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Rank 12
March 19, 2026
Solved

Government levy fixed rate changes now showing on online account?

  • March 19, 2026
  • 51 replies
  • 963 views

I noticed on my Plan Page of my online account that some changes have been made. I understand WHY they have been made, but I have not had any input on these changes.

“Thanks for staying with us” is a bit presumptuous when I have a) not received any details about this new One Year Fixed Rate Plan which is going to start on April 1st and b) not been asked to accept the changes. 

The Fixed Rate Plan I did accept was due to end on August 6th 2026. 

I am surprised this has been done before any details have been received by me.

 

 

Best answer by Abby_OVO

Updated on 02/04/26 by Ben_OVO

Hey ​@Bendog 

 

This change is part of the government levy changes, and will have no impact change to the end date of the fixed contract you agreed to and is not being cancelled early.

 

The current rates you pay will change as of 1 April, the teams are currently working in the background to make sure everyone’s correct, new rates are ready to be applied from 1 April which means we do have to change the contract, so we can queue up the new rates with the discount, which will have your original end date applied. You’ll receive an email or letter soon explaining more about including terms and contract end date which will remain the same as before.

 

Sorry for any confusion this may have caused, I hope this helps clear that up.

You can find out more about the Government levy on our website here, and in this previous Forum topic:

 

 

51 replies

Rank 4
March 26, 2026

OVO have just changed the end date of my fixed tariff from Jan 2027 to March 2026 is this right? If so what’s the point of a tariff if they can back out at any point??

 

I too have noticed an end date on my one year fixed rate moved from 30th June to 31st March. Does this mean I can dive in and claim the new 1st April rate 3 months early and also avoid the £50 per fuel cancellation fee? I understand that the 1st April rate is already set lower than the 1st January 2026 rate but will probably be much higher in 3 months time due to the impact of the Iran and Ukraine Wars on emerging EU energy pricing ?  

Nukecad
Super User
Super User
March 26, 2026

 Does this mean I can dive in and claim the new 1st April rate 3 months early…….

 

This is a special situation and you don’t need to do anything, it will happen automatically

Your current fix will be automatically replaced by one with the reduced 1st April rate for the remainder of the time that the current one has left to run.

In your particular case that will be a new fix at the lower rates running from 1st April to 30th June.

 

If however you mean can you fix at the April rates for another 12 months then what you are proposing, ending a fix early to take on another fix, is known as a 'Tariff Hop'.

I have done it in the past with OVO, switching from a 1-year fixed tariff I'd had for 8-months to a new, different, 1-year fixed tariff; and the exit fees were waived in that case.
(Mostly the exit fees are to deter you from switching supplier mid-fix).

Before considering doing a Tariff Hop you need to check the Terms and Conditions of your particular current fix, some will allow you to tariff hop with no exit fee, but others don't allow it and will still charge the fee.
For example your particular fixed tariff T&C’s may have something like this, which clearly waives the fees for a Tariff Hop:


If you contact support they should also be able to tell you whether a fee would be payable if you tariff hop from your current fixed tariff to a new fix.

PS. You do need to go through support to actually do a Tariff Hop sucessfully, it isn’t something that you can do yourself.
For example to get the fees waived, the support agent has to tick a box on screen to waive the fees.

 

I said, Hey - Watts going on.
Rank 4
March 26, 2026

 Does this mean I can dive in and claim the new 1st April rate 3 months early…….

 

This is a special situation and you don’t need to do anything, it will happen automatically

Your current fix will be automatically replaced by one with the reduced 1st April rate for the remainder of the time that the current one has left to run.

In your particular case that will be a new fix at the lower rates running from 1st April to 30th June.

 

If however you mean can you fix at the April rates for another 12 months then what you are proposing, ending a fix early to take on another fix, is known as a 'Tariff Hop'.

I have done it in the past with OVO, switching from a 1-year fixed tariff I'd had for 8-months to a new, different, 1-year fixed tariff; and the exit fees were waived in that case.
(Mostly the exit fees are to deter you from switching supplier mid-fix).

Before considering doing a Tariff Hop you need to check the Terms and Conditions of your particular current fix, some will allow you to tariff hop with no exit fee, but others don't allow it and will still charge the fee.
If you contact support they should be able to tell you wether a fee would be payable if you tariff hop from your current fixed tariff to a new fix.

PS. You do need to go through support to do a tariff hop and get the fees waived, the support agent has to tick a box onscreen to waive the fee.
If you just take out a new fix yourself then the fees will get charged for closing the old one early.

 

This all sounds a bit complicated. Surely if my 1 year fixed loyalty rate still has 3 months to go I will continue to benefit from the very low 22.62 p per kWh I locked in for a year late in June  2025. I certainly have no desire to change now because there have been 3 rate rises since I fixed and only one on aggregate, smaller reduction, to be expected on 1st  April 2026, which is still way above the 22.62 p per kWh I am currently paying !!?

ASHP here I come…!!!

Ben_OVO
Community Manager
Community Manager
March 26, 2026

Welcome to the OVO Forum ​@iangardiner and ​@Mickystan, and thanks all for your input on this thread.

 

As ​@Nukecad says, this is all automatic, and you’ll remain on your fixed plan for the same date range, just with a period of lower rates. The way the online account tariff info has been changed before official comms have been sent out has caused understandable confusion - apologies! Keep an eye out - you should receive confirmation of your new rates soon. 

 

You can find out more information about the levy on our website here, and in this Forum topic:

 

 

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Powered by the Sun
Rank 4
March 26, 2026

Welcome to the OVO Forum ​@iangardiner and ​@Mickystan, and thanks all for your input on this thread.

 

As ​@Nukecad says, this is all automatic, and you’ll remain on your fixed plan for the same date range, just with a period of lower rates. The way the online account tariff info has been changed before official comms have been sent out has caused understandable confusion - apologies! Keep an eye out - you should receive confirmation of your new rates soon. 

 

You can find out more information about the levy on our website here, and in this Forum topic:

 

 

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Thank you Ben, as before - you are a force for clarity.

.

Firedog
Super User
Super User
March 26, 2026

Surely if my 1 year fixed loyalty rate still has 3 months to go I will continue to benefit from the very low 22.62 p per kWh I locked in for a year late in June  2025 …
  

You actually do better than that, because the 22.65 should fall next week to 19.31 and stay at that level until your fixed term expires in June.
 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |
unknownuser01
Rank 1
Rank 1
March 27, 2026

I have the same and it is unnecessarily confusing. Did someone actually make the decision to present it in this way? The comms from OVO on this good news reduction in electricity prices has been lacking / unhelpful.

Rank 4
March 27, 2026

Surely if my 1 year fixed loyalty rate still has 3 months to go I will continue to benefit from the very low 22.62 p per kWh I locked in for a year late in June  2025 …
  

You actually do better than that, because the 22.65 should fall next week to 19.31 and stay at that level until your fixed term expires in June.
 

Thank you Firedog - at last some clarity is beginning to dawn! I seem to have to wrestle with OVO every year these days before I get a satisfactory resolution of my rights as a loyal customer. Is now a good time (wrt disruption in global energy, climate change arguments, resale value of my 1983 house etc) to consider ditching the old gas boiler and upgrading to an ASHP with a brand new well insulated hot water cylinder/immersion heater to ‘top up’ bathing and washing up water etc plus maybe even new more suitable radiators? If so which are the best suppliers and installer of ASHPs. Daikin, Vaillant, Worcester - Bosch, Mitsubishi  et alia or even consider the Octopus system solution. AND Finally, how about ‘ hoping and praying’ for the long awaited UK rollout of the V2G plus V2H system,already working well for over 18 months in France, using a suitably equipped small BEV like the Renault 5 E-Tech, with an up to date CCS2 Bi directional home charger installed in my garage since the old Chademo Nissan Leaf system is well on the way out?

Rank 2
March 29, 2026

I’ve just noticed that my fixed rate contract has changed too.   In September 2025 I fixed and had two confirmation emails, one for gas and one for electric, saying We’re pleased to let you know your new fixed-rate plan will start on 01 October 2025 

Extended fixed 14 month plan.

end date 30 November 2026

Gas unit rate 6.43p/kWh, standing charge 27.98p/day

Electric unit rate 6.43p/kWh, standing charge 63.86p/day

 

The Ovo app is now stating an end date of 31st March 2026, some seven months before the fixed contract end date.

 

Ive had an email from Ovo saying that bills will go discounted from April and it gives an estimate of overall savings but it doesn’t give any details of the revised unit rates.  They give a link of gov.uk/your-energy-bill

That says:

 

If you are on a fixed price tariff  

Suppliers have confirmed that the savings will be passed on in full to customers on fixed price tariffs.  

This means if you are already on a fixed price tariff on 1 April, your tariff will be amended so that savings are applied to your unit rates going forward. Your energy supplier will contact you to confirm your new rates.

For anyone signing a new fixed price tariff after 1 April, we expect the savings to be taken into account.

 

So, I’d like to know from Ovo what the new unit rates are?

Paul
Firedog
Super User
Super User
March 30, 2026

@Paul4AA I think you may have mistyped your unit rate for electricity. You’ll learn what the new ones are very soon, but meanwhile, my best guess is that your new unit rates will be 3.34p/kWh lower for electricity, 0.31p/kWh lower for gas. The standing charges shouldn’t change. You can check this by taking your Future Annual Consumption figures from your Plan page, multiplying each by the unit rate and adding 365 standing charges, then add 5% VAT. The result should be within a pound or so of the figure given in your email.

Please come back and tell us what they are when you do find out.

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |