Has anyone else had a continual ongoing battle with ovo to try and stop endless price increases? so far my 'fixed rate' dd payments have increased from £76 pcm to their current estimate of £293 pcm... for a small 3 bed semi!!! any suggestions about how to prevent my impending bankruptcy at the hands of ovo energy? TIA.
Solved
I feel like my Direct Debit Check In is totally unfair, why has it increased?
Best answer by Darran_OVO
Updated on 22/08/25 by Abby_OVO
How do Direct Debits work?
A Direct Debit is an automatic monthly payment set up with your bank or building society. You can choose which day you want the payment to go out each month, and your bank will sort the rest.
Once your Direct Debit is set up, you don’t need to do anything else to make your payments.
Why paying by Direct Debit is the best way to pay
Direct Debit is usually the simplest and cheapest way to pay for your energy. This is because:
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You don’t have to remember to make payments each month – it’s all done automatically
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You’ll get a cheaper rate if you’re on our variable Simpler Energy tariff
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You’ll pay the same every month for your energy, which can help with budgeting
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A Direct Debit spreads your energy costs evenly over the year, which means you’re less likely to have to pay more in winter
How does OVO work out my monthly Direct Debit?
The aim is to make sure you have credit for 1 month’s payment in your OVO account by the end of March. This is to help cover any change in your home energy use over the course of the year.
For new customers, this only comes into effect once you’ve reached March. When you first join, the aim is to make sure you have no balance left to pay after 1 year.
Why is my Direct Debit increasing when my balance is in credit?
It’s normal for a credit balance to build up in your energy account over summer, when energy use is usually lower. This credit can help pay for your energy in winter, when most homes use more. It helps you spread your energy costs over time.
Even if your energy account is in credit, sometimes your Direct Debit payments still need to increase.
This could be the case if we’ve worked out that your OVO account is likely to have a debt balance long term – based on how much energy your home is predicted to use.
You can always choose to get a credit refund if you prefer. Request one at any time in your online account, in our app, or over the phone. You just need to leave credit in there for 1 month’s payment. This is in line with our refund policy.
It’s important you have all the info, then you can decide what’s best for you.
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If you request a refund online, sometimes we’ll need to confirm this over the phone. This is to make sure you have the details of how it’ll affect your energy account.
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Getting a refund might mean your Direct Debit payments will need to increase, once your account has less credit in it.
How we check you’re paying the right amount
Your Direct Debit payment amount will be regularly reviewed to make sure it still covers your home’s energy use.
We’ll let you know if your Direct Debit amount needs to change to keep your energy account balance up to date.
For even more info on how our Direct Debits work, check out this short YouTube video.
Have we received your meter readings recently?
The more information we have about your usage patterns, the better we’re able to predict what you’ll use in future. If you haven’t already got one installed, we’d really recommend getting a Smart meter installed, which will automatically track what you’ve been using. If not be sure to remember to submit your meter readings at least monthly (you can submit these on the ‘Meter Readings’ page of your online account). This can really help your suggested Direct Debit amount become more accurate and avoid large increases to your Direct Debit amount in future.
Is there any support available if I’m struggling to pay for my energy?
If you’re worried about your payments changing or you can’t afford them, please speak to our team. We can make sure you get financial support that’s tailored to you and your situation. There are many options available for anyone who needs help. We have a dedicated Library section on the Forum all about the additional support available.
To get in touch with our team:
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Sign up to our online tool at ovoenergy.com/payment-support and we can find the best plan for you.
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Call us on 0800 069 9831. We’re open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.
+4Hey
Really sorry to hear this,
Have you sent in a photo of the yellow/white sticker on the meter and the new meter serial number? Usually when a statement is delayed following a meter exchange it’s because the engineer hasn’t passed on the removal meter reading from the old meter or the install reading from the old one. Or it may be OVO doesn’t have your new meter serial number.
We don’t have access to your account on the forum so can only make assumptions based on the information provided. I’d advise keeping your direct debit up and running for both fuels, this should hopefully cover the delayed statement once you are billed.
Hope this helps.
1 am 1100 pounds in credit so d/d not the issue i reckon i owe 250.00 for the gas used they have all metre numbers so i am not worried just bothers me that they are not doing their job to a standard i would expect from a large company
+4Hey
I’m afraid we don’t have access to your account here on the Forum, so without knowing details of the account issue it’s hard to advise.
In this instance if you aren’t getting anywhere with customer support, it may be worth following
Did you ever put in a formal complaint, as you then only have to wait 8 weeks before asking the Energy Ombudsman to sort out this issue with OVO?
OVO at it again they have put my DD up by £30 even though I told them last time I was not paying more than £200,they did it behind my back without permission and I have a smart meter but here the stupid thing my usage up to today is £100 24th Aprill and I'm using £4.50 a day now so worst case I'm going to be at £150 for the month I'm £120 behind but based on my usage by the end of next month I will have caught up and then by September I will probably be £250 in credit.Im about to have the same argument as last time when they wanted to put it up to £300 pm,If I listened to them then I would be £400 in credit and paying twice what I use, will just cancel the dd if they don't put it back and just pay what I use as I'm legally entitled to. Why do we allow these companies to hold on to OUR money I've now switched to standing order I would rather have my money in my account rather than OVO dictate what I should pay if you went to a petrol station and they said we think you should put 70 quid in and that's all we will let you do there would be riots, pay what you have used don't let your money sit in OVO account making them interest.
Pay by standing order and fight back.
+5Hi
Welcome to the customer forum, i am just a customer like you.
If you are in on the default variable tariff you can of course cancel your Direct Debit and pay on receipt of bill
Just be aware your bills will then be higher as the rates will then be higher. Chat to OVO if you want to confirm how much more you will pay.
You will now end up worse off financially.
Did you know that?
You can call collections and ask for up to 100% of your credit balance to be refunded if you are on the variable plan, but I wouldn't recommend quite that much to anyone.
0800 0699 831
So if you build up a lot of credit over summer you can always do that.
+4Hello
Sorry for the issues you’re having,
If you feel your direct debit review is unfair it may be that your estimated annual consumption is out of line, you can find out more about this topic here:
You can contact our Collections Team as advised by
You can find out how your direct debit is calculated by logging into the Online Account and using the direct debit calculator tool:
Customers can pay on demand if they’re on the variable tariff, however, as pointed out by
Hope this helps.
because I used a lot of power in January for some reason, OVO demanded I increase my DD from 60 to 83, even though I was massively in credit. After a lot of shouting and screaming down the phone, I grudgingly accepted an increase to £66.
Three months later, with (slightly) warmer weather and more daylight, they’re telling me I could reduce my DD to £55. Funnily enough, they don’t insist on this when the amendment is to reduce, they just advise.
Aren’t their computer models wonderful??
+8Shouting and screaming ?
maybe shouting and screaming was a bit OTT, but there was certainly an argument. They wouldn’t countenance my suggestion of leaving the DD at £60 until the end of the contract and whoever owed money doubled it - that’s how confident I am that their computer algorithm is rubbish.
+8Phew! That’s a relief!
+5You could add a comment on this idea about what you have experienced and what you would like changed. Ultimately the Direct Debit is driven by this.
My usage for this month is £140 Including everything so why am I being forced to up it to £230 fed up with them ignoring me and putting it up without my permission so I've switched to standing order I have control not OVO
+8- Super User
Switching to Standing Order won’t work. You’ll lose any fixed rate deal and be forced onto Pay On-Demand where Standing Orders are even more useless.
+4Hey
It’s worth checking the below information, it may be that the calculation is incorrect due to an out of line Estimated Annual Consumption:
If you feel your direct debit review is unfair it may be that your estimated annual consumption is out of line, you can find out more about this topic here:
You can contact our Collections Team as advised by
You can also contact our Collections Team to put a hold on your direct debit review for three months.
Hope this helps.
perhaps you should let the people on the phones know this, when I tried he denied that was a possibility
+4Hey
because I used a lot of power in January for some reason, OVO demanded I increase my DD from 60 to 83, even though I was massively in credit. After a lot of shouting and screaming down the phone, I grudgingly accepted an increase to £66.
Three months later, with (slightly) warmer weather and more daylight, they’re telling me I could reduce my DD to £55. Funnily enough, they don’t insist on this when the amendment is to reduce, they just advise.
Aren’t their computer models wonderful??
When you received the Energy Bills Support Scheme payments did you add this bank into your energy account? It sounds like your higher usage in winter may have altered your estimated annual consumption:
Every time you submit a meter reading your estimated annual consumption will adjust, which would explain the lower direct debit calculation now. Glad to hear it’s adjusted to a more acceptable amount.
If a customer is unhappy about their direct debit and aren’t in arrears, we can put the direct debit review on a three month suspension, I’m sorry you were informed otherwise.
Hope this clarifies.
Curious, since this seems to be an ongoing issue for yeaarrrsss now has anyone switched from OVo to a different provider?? Would anyone please recommend a better alternative to Ovo? Thanks
+5i have been onto ovo again and they say it will be sorted out in a few days will keep you posted
+5Curious, since this seems to be an ongoing issue for yeaarrrsss now has anyone switched from OVo to a different provider?? Would anyone please recommend a better alternative to Ovo? Thanks
Octopus Energy get pretty good reviews and a few posters have suggested them. OVO get pretty good reviews in general compared to the other large suppliers.
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/octopus.energy
Very much depends on what you want from an energy supplier, for example types of tariff, types of billing etc.
+9- Super User
it costs £60 per utility to leave ovo
That depends on the particular tariff. Many now on Standard variable have no exit fee
+8it costs £60 per utility to leave ovo
For anyone else reading this - there’s no exit fee if you’re on the Simpler Energy rolling variable plan. You can check at https://account.ovoenergy.com/plan
The most recent Fixed plan does include an Exit fee of £60 for each utility.
Just bought a new house and set up a DD. I keep being asked by OVO to increase my DD based on past usage. As I have never lived there and will not be moving in until building works are completed it makes no sense to increase my DD. The estimate is completely based on someone else’s usage which was very high.
Do I just ignore the request?
+9- Super User
Hi
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OVO Energy Ltd, registered office 1 Rivergate Temple Quay Bristol, BS1 6ED, company no. 06890795 registered in England and Wales.
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