How do I get a refund from OVO when my account is in credit?

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.