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How can I cancel my Direct Debit? - I'd like to pay on receipt of my bill instead.


Hi I hope you can help me please. I am currently paying my energy bill by Direct Debit each month. Due to the recent and upcoming price increases, I would like to go back to Paper Bills and manual payments online. This is so , as I hope, I will only be paying for the energy I actually use each month instead of a blanket amount regardless of mu usage. Can anyone tell me how to do this without getting earache on the ‘phone line please?? Thanks in advance. Dave

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Best answer by Jess_OVO 7 March 2022, 12:52

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Userlevel 7
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Hi there @Reptar001 ,

This might be possible to do via Live Chat, which you can access here and click the green Message Us button at the bottom of the page. It will appear anytime the office is open and usually gets hidden at other times. You may get through to a bot initially, but it will transfer you to a human pretty quickly if the bot determines that it can’t help you - especially if it fails to understand you three times.

Give that a try and see how it works out. You might still need to phone in, but it’s worth giving live chat a go first. Hope this helps

Hi Blastoise186 ,

Thanks for the reply. I’ll try that.

Thanks again.

 

Userlevel 7

Updated on 06/10/23 by Emmanuelle_OVO

 

To find out more about how direct debit’s are calculated head to our helpful tutorial:

 

 

 

Glad to hear you’re able to get in touch with the Support Team via our Live chat, @Reptar001.

 

It’s worth mentioning here that whilst your Direct Debit amount is calculated based on your future annual consumption figure (you can check this figure here), we’ll always bill you for what you’ve actually used. We also regularly check your Direct Debit amount to make sure it aligns to what you’re using each month.

 

If you’d prefer to make manual payments, our Support Team will be able to cancel your current payment arrangement but will also need to update your plan to our Simpler Energy On Demand plan which allows for this payment method. You can also cancel the Direct Debit with your bank, and the plan would be updated automatically.

 

Ways to get financial support

 

If you’re struggling financially or you’re worried about your energy bills, we’re here to support you. Find out about the different ways we can help here.

Hi, Jess_OVO,

Thanks for your reply. There’s one thing I don’t understand in your reply…. “ whilst your Direct Debit amount is calculated based on your projected usage costs, we’ll always bill you fpr what you’ve actually used. “ If this is so how come my Direct Debits are always the same each month?

My Smart Meter Monitor has been telling me, for at least 6 months, I am “under budget” for both my Gas and Electric usage (I set the budget amounts for slightly more than I am paying (now the  Monitor is not so useful because OVO decided, in their ‘wisdom’ to lump Gas and Electric into ONE payment, which the monitor dooesn’t support apparently.)

Dave.

Userlevel 7

Great question, @Reptar001.

 

As your Direct Debit amount is based on your yearly usage it doesn’t necessarily match the amount that’s charged on each monthly summary. Usually we’d expect your usage to decrease in the summer and increase in the winter when you use more energy to heat your home. In order to spread your costs out we calculate the average monthly cost and this is the amount we recommend for your Direct Debit. 

 

Your Direct Debit amount should be higher than the average cost of energy over summer, so we’d expect you to build up a credit balance on your account which then helps to cover the increased costs over winter. We’ll still calculate your actual costs, based on the meter readings we’ve received and this is the amount we deduct from your balance that month. 

 

There’s a great visualisation of this process on the Direct Debit calculator which you can find on your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS).

 

 

Userlevel 2

Hello there,

I'm hoping for some advice.

My current plan ends in October. I am currently £100 in credit on my existing plan.

The projections are three times what I currently pay on a fixed plan and this, as a pensioner, is completely out of the question for me and already worrying me terribly.

The variable plan is still more than I currently pay by direct debit but is tens rather than hundreds of pounds more.

Is there any means available to me by which I can only pay for what I actually use? 

Thank you in advance.

Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Hi,

Strictly speaking, all of OVO’s plans are done on a pay for only what you use basis and if you’re currently on a fixed rate deal, then to be honest… You’re best bet is to stick to that deal. If it’s about to end soon, I would strongly recommend renewing onto a new fixed rate deal if possible because the next price cap will only last three months rather than six. You will almost certainly save more money in the long run if you renew now - you’ll have 14 days to change your mind if the new price cap ends up being massively cheaper.

OVO can allow you to pay for direct usage via paying on demand/pay on receipt of the bill, but only for the standard variable rate Simpler Energy tariff and this may end up costing you more than being on a direct debit.

Be advised that the current variable rate tariff rates are only valid until the 30th September and WILL shoot up immediately come the 1st October. Don’t risk it if you can avoid taking that gamble. It’s likely to shoot up by a few hundred pounds so please factor that into any decisions.

Userlevel 2

I can't afford going from £104 a month by direct debit on a fixed plan to three times that when my current plan runs out on October 1st. As a pensioner, living alone, it's totally unrealistic, especially based on a projection. It's terribly upsetting. Would it be worth contacting them directly to see if there's a compromise to be found? Is there an e-mail address rather than these endless chats? Thank you.

Userlevel 7
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OVO no longer supports email for billing queries like this one, so you probably won’t get a response if you email in. Your best options are either web chat here, or by calling 0330 303 5063.

Don’t forget that things like the Warm Home Discount, Energy Bills Support Scheme, Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payments can help towards the cost of your energy bills. These aren’t factored in automatically by OVO’s systems, but will be considered if you pay them into your OVO account.

Userlevel 2

Ok, thanks. The new support payments come over six months as I understand it. So, that's only a fraction, monthly, of what my projections are. I'll try a call to see what's possible. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Well, depending on circumstances you could get around £1,500 across ALL of the Cost of Living Payments, Energy Bill Support Scheme, Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payments combined. EBSS alone is £400 off which is quite a big discount when you think about it.

Userlevel 7

@Technophobe just to add to this, we’ve created a Financial Support page which is definitely worth a read. 

 

Our Collections team can also be called directly to agree on a monthly payment amount that you can afford that doesn’t leave you in debt: 0800 0699 831.

 

 

Userlevel 2

Thank you. I'm not a benefits case, but will phone and see if a plan I can reasonably afford can be agreed on. Maybe I should wait till the announcement on Friday? 

Userlevel 1

Our DD was 70 a month, OVO pressured us to choose a new tariff and renew to avoid fluctuation.. its now jumped up to 259 a month and you want to increase the DD again. Its a joke how you update a customers DD by such an amount. We're not using anywhere near that amount. Our smart meter has now been switched off as it doesn't automatically send readings. My partner works away for 2 weeks at a time and it's just me and a 6 year old. No idea how the two of us can use such an incredible amount. 

I think cancelling the DD is the sensible option and pay what we use each month. 

Userlevel 7

Hi @Sjsouth16 and thanks for flagging this. 

 

Those Direct Debit recommendations are based on how much energy we think you’ll use over your contract and your prices. You can see this in the Plan section:

 

https://account.ovoenergy.com/plan

 

We’ve made a guide on this projection here:

 

 

That smart meter not sending your readings remotely is such a pain as this will make it harder to predict and update our predictions on your energy use. Do you submit readings regularly?

 

You’re able to adjust that Direct Debit yourself via that online account, but the minimum amount will be a figure that aims to get you to £0 at the end of your contract. 

Userlevel 1

Hi @Tim_OVO 

Thank you for your reply. We do submit monthly and each month it gets higher. We don't actually use a great deal. Nowhere near the £259 we are currently paying. Even in winter months it was barely £130 a month. 

We were moved from SSE to OVO recently and the smart meter was here from the previous tenant. Perhaps it's faulty? It reads the gas fine but not the electric. It's strange. 

Userlevel 7

Can you tell us what the make of that smart meter is, @Sjsouth16? I’ll be able to then let you know a way to check yourself if and why it’s not able to send us your readings automatically. That’s better for everyone!

Userlevel 1

@Tim_OVO

Thanks again for your reply. The meter has the SSE logo. Underneath it says Trio II and on the back it has geo. 

 

Any help appreciated. :)

Userlevel 7
Badge +1

That sounds like your IHD, which I believe is a Geo Trio II Touch of some kind then.

Can you check the smart meter itself please?

Userlevel 1

Oops. 

 

Perhaps Toshiba E470?

 

@Blastoise186 @Tim_OVO 

Userlevel 7
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Bingo! That suggests a SMETS2 Landis+Gyr E470 Smart Meter with a SMETS2 Toshiba SKU1 Cellular Comms Hub. Does that sound about right?

If so, you should see five green lights marked SW, WAN, MESH, HAN and GAS. Please could you tell us which of these lights flash and how often they do so. It’s a useful indicator of what’s going on.

Userlevel 1

Looks to be what's on the machine. Yes :) 

 

So all lights flash, every 5 seconds, apart from the MESH one. 

 

@Blastoise186 

Userlevel 7
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Perfect. That tells me the Comms Hub is healthy. Given you said the gas meter also works fine, that suggests the HAN is also working.

I’ve got two possible culprits left. Can you show me photos of the IHD and your electric meter please? This will help narrow things down a lot.

Userlevel 1

 

Userlevel 1

The meters up high, this is the best I can get 

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