Sorry to hear you’ve had some trouble when requesting a refund via your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS).  Before we allow a refund of any credit you’ve got in your OVO account, we first need to make sure that your account balance is accurate.

If you don’t have a smart meter, make sure you’ve submitted a meter reading in the last 28 days. If you’ve done this and are at least three month’s Direct Debit amount in credit, you can then ask for a refund via the ‘Payments’ page:

You can apply for a refund of up to £500 online and the balance will return to your bank account in no more than 10 working days (in most cases it will be within 4 working days). Find out more about requesting a refund online on this great guide:

 

If you’d like more credit refunded than this, you can contact our Support Team who can initiate refunds up to £2,000. Please note, if the refund is over £599, we’ll need to check the account has been billed to smart/actual meter readings and request photos of the meter. 

If you’re on a fixed rate tariff, you’ll still be required to keep one month's worth of direct debit as credit in your account. If you’re on the Variable tariff you aren’t required to leave any credit on your account, although it is advisable.

Hope this helps get that important credit back to you! 

Does anyone have any tips on getting a credit balance refunded?

Hi @sidpotato,

Make sure to check out your forum private messages as our Forum_Support team have sent you a message to offer some help. 

Private message says “someone is dealing with it”. There is no evidence of this - I understand the matter was escalated on 9th August but as of last week it had not been assigned to anyone and no action had been taken at that point. Refund applied for on 14th July. No refund received as of today, 30th August. Was supposed to take up to 10 working days. Please confirm if the matter has been assigned to someone to deal with. 

hi i have a smart meter and have been trying to get a refund but it keeps saying i haven't sent a reading thought it was sent automatically you carnet get threw if you ring  msg service is unavailable  if i owed OVO or any company money they would be straight InTouch thinking of cancelling DD    

Hi @daisydog09 ,

Actually there’s an easier fix for this. Simply submit a meter reading for today via MyOVO, and you’ll then be able to request a refund within 15 minutes.

As for the Smart Meter, let me know if you’d like help with diagnosing it. I’m a forum volunteer though, rather than an employee.

Did you get this refund sorted, @daisydog09? If your smart meter isn’t communicating with OVO remotely for 5 days in a row, it will be possible to submit a meter reading here: https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings

If the meter is sending us your readings, a refund should be possible online here: https://account.ovoenergy.com/payments/refunds/not-eligible?reason=BalanceWouldNotExceedDirectDebitError

Our Support team are on hand if you think there’s something strange happening with a functioning smart meter not being picked up by your account. 

Hi

I bought a property on 28 nov 22 & swapped supply to ovo. I arranged that a smart meter was fitted 19 jan 23. The house is an empty shell & no electricity was used between these dates, The old meter confirms this. I paid estimated charges for this time which was fair enough.

I was advised that the usage charges would be refunded a few weeks after the smart meter installation. This did not happen so I called to ask why,  I was instructed that I had been refunded but the ovo operator could not tell me when it happened or see the funds in my account, just insisted it had been refunded.

How do I send ovo a detailed resume of my account & highlight the funds which have not been refunded?

Hi @Vamatex ,

You don’t need to send anything. It’s all recorded on the account itself and the Support Team can access that.

Try https://ovoenergy.com/feedback in this case.

Hi Blastoise186

I appreciate your response but the link does not allow me to send an email. I work during the live chat hrs & the relief of finally getting through on the phone was quickly followed by dismay as the operator could not understand my issue.

I fully understand that ovo will have all the information but I feel that if I could send a detailed timline along with timestamped photos of the old meter then I might have more success.

The old meter reading were sent by myself on the required dates. The meter fitter also noted the reading on the fitting day, he also noted it on a card attached to the new meter.

This should happen as a mater of course  rather than me chasing my own funds.

I have 2 accounts with Ovo & promoted them to family & friends. Its disappointing that they have now let things slip.

I recognise your account name from previous issues are you an ovo employee?

I also see they are now 13th in the satifaction league!!!

Thanks 

Vamatex

Question has been beaten to death, but I shall post again.
I am just shy of £1500 in credit, you suggest I can only receive £500 of my own money back unless I switch providers...Gusess what I am going to do….

You can get more than that if you call 0330 303 5063. The £500 limit applies to self service only 

I phoned the number and was told to take images of meters and send them via email to ‘hello’ etc., Then they sent the email further reminding me I would get £500 and no more unless I moved.

“Thanks for taking the time to contact us about a refund.

As you pay for your energy use by Direct Debit, it's important to maintain a credit balance which is at least one month's worth of your current Direct Debit payment amount. This is because you're effectively paying for the month in advance so it minimizes the risk of your account being in a negative balance at the end of your current contract.

 Your balance is currently £1,492.15 and your Direct Debit amount is £168.00 so the maximum available refund we can offer is £500.00 Because your account is billed daily though, this amount will change regularly. So we can process a refund for you, please could you reply to this email to confirm you're happy to have the maximum available refund?”

Information on current rules.

https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CDP-2023-0040/CDP-2023-0040.pdf

You might be able to ask for more back if you call the Collections Team on 0800 069 9831. However, I must give you this advice. Bad things may happen if you withdraw too much credit as a refund and later find yourself with insufficient funds to cover the bills.

Please only take more than £500 credit back if you absolutely need to.

I should be asked.to leave a month's bill in as a just in case, not 4 months plus.

Shoddy advice!

Hi,

Does anyone know if it's possible to get a refund on a direct debit when too much has been charged in one month. My usage has dropped dramatically and I could use the excess back right now!

Thanks!

Hi @Technophobe there are some rules around that but you can usually either request via your account or via customer support. 
https://account.ovoenergy.com/payments
The normal situation is that you pay more during summer months so that your winter bills don’t become really high so although you may be paying more than you use currently, that’s quite normal. 
Of course, I don’t know your own circumstances but you can review that with customer support

Thanks, yes. It's more around how I use my funds at the moment as I prepare to relocate. So a build-up of extra for the winter may not be my pressing priority?

If you do this online the billing system will adjust your dd depending on the credit in you account. What I’ve done recently is lower my dd to as far as it’ll allow, then claim a refund. The system requires you to leave 3x dd amounts in the account, so you can take back anything above that. You will get requests to raise the dd of course ! 
Or you could switch to pay on demand, then I think you should be able to claim all your credit back. It’s a higher tariff but if you’re moving and closing your account soon it may work out useful.

Not a good idea generally as the dd system means you build up a nice credit in summer which goes towards your winter bills.

Great. Thanks! I'm grateful to OVO, of course, but would prefer the excess in my purse right now rather than lining their pockets.

Thanks again.

I will get all my money returned, I left ovo yesterday

Hi Gwin,

Can you kindly update here how long it takes for your credit to be returned assuming it does and if it ended up being fairly automated other than final readings etc...thanks.

Who did you move to and why if you don’t mind me asking, sounds like we are in similar situations .i.e. sick to the teeth of the disaster that ovo has become but also petrified of being robbed!

Regards

Padster

If you switch supplier, the old one usually refunds any spare credit roughly six weeks after the switch takes place. This relies on you submitting the meter readings on time when requested.

Thanks Blastoise,

I have read that and i’m sure  the majority of folks old suppliers do just that assuming they are half decent companies that comply with law, not the outfit that ovo has become.