Increase to Direct Debit - new way of calculating Direct Debit amount?

They did the same to me, telling me that I needed to have a full one months payment in credit at march 26

I complained, telling them that this is unreasonable as the new payment amount meant that I will have 2-3 months credit in my account by October 26

they ignored my complaint.

I am no longer an OVO customer!

Ben, I have read your replies explaining how OVO try and come up with the required DD amount.

But my experience is that this process is broken.  The future month on month figures that they used to calculate my amount were based upon an assumption that I would use 20% more electricity in the winter months than the summer months.

However, they have accumulated 3 years of prior usage to show that I do not do that.  My month on month electricity usage is flat for the whole year. 

My gas usage increase 80% in the winter months and they correctly predicted that.  But because gas is so much cheaper than electricity, that extra cost of gas was actually lower in cash terms than the erroneously predicted increase in electricity costs.

Is it any wonder that I got annoyed with them?

​@tim123 apologies you’ve had that experience.

From my own perspective, looking at my own OVO account, the Direct Debit forecast is pretty bang accurate to my usage, and is recommending I lower my Direct Debit. If your electricity forecast was incorrect, then the annual usage figure held for your electricity wouldn’t have been correct. This is something that could have been raised to be fixed when you complained - I’m sorry that this wasn’t done.

I hope you have a more positive experience with your new supplier, but by all means continue to use this Forum for any energy related queries you have, and hopefully we might see you again as a customer in future.

The DD calculation is not complicated, and it involves no prediction. There are, of course, a few assumptions, the most important one being that consumption in the next twelve months will be the same as in the previous twelve. That gives a base figure - the FAC - to work from. The total cost for the year is basically the FAC x  current unit rate + Standing charge x 365. 

The DD calculator’s Cost chart for a full year (as they used to display) simply distributes this total cost over the year in a typical manner, with lower usage in the summer and higher in the winter. This distribution hasn’t changed for me in many years*, so I doubt that it had for you. Looking at the Cost chart in November will paint a different picture from that for the whole year, because costs virtually allocated to the months left are higher than for the preceding months.   

I wonder if your claim that “month on month electricity usage is flat for the whole year” is perhaps stretching it a bit. The typical customer will naturally use more power in the winter, if only to have the lights on for longer each day. We spend more time at home in the winter, so perhaps more TV viewing hours. We wear more clothes, so probably more washing. Whether the difference is 10% or 20% or 30% makes little difference to the DD calculation.
  

*

The observed weights suggest that the typical user will consume 40% (not 20%!) more electricity in winter (1 October - 31 March) than in summer. 

I’m retired, so my schedule does not change with the season.  I have the same week on week activities that take me out of the house, summer or winter and the rest of the time I sit at home in front of TV or computer.

So my Computer/TV/Washing Machine/Fridge/Cooker sees the same usage every month.

All that is different is that I have 2 room lamps which will be on for perhaps 5 hours longer in Winter than Summer.  Both these lamps have 5W LEDs in them so that equates to 1.5 kWh per month.  With my normal total usage being around 150 kWh per month, the extra caused by these lights is 1%, so statistically irrelevant.

I agree that my usage does not match the norm here, but my complaint was based upon my not being a new customer, OVO had 3 years of previous readings to check this usage.  They did not do so.  They simply ignored my complaint and did not reply.

I have a low tolerance of poor service. You don’t get a second chance.  Such a shame really, as their online account access was really rather good.

Me too.

Your FAC is based on ‘previous readings’. A customer who has three years’ worth of data from the same meter should have an FAC which accurately matches the actual consumption. This might not be the case for a new customer or a new meter until some months have passed.

My FAC changes weekly, so I get a new figure each Sunday morning. Knowing pretty well where the FAC comes from, I can predict on Friday what I’ll see on Sunday, within a few Wh. Here are December’s results:
  

The email I received from OVO on 17 July 2026 informed me that my Direct Debit has gone up by 29.8%.

It says “These are the possible reasons for why your payments need to go up”, and lists all the possible reasons Obviously the new price cap is one reason, but how can I tell whether any of the others apply, and what those effects amount to?

My latest bill shows that, as of 1 July 2026, my electricity price went up by 6%, and my gas price by 28%. Daily charges for both are down very slightly.

Given that I do use electricity - about 1/3 of a typical winter bill - it seems likely that the increase in my Direct Debit is not fully explained by the increase in the Price Cap. Hence, I’d like to know, or be able to work out, what the other factors are. The email from OVO does not help me do that.

Regards, George

That’s a good question George, I look forward to seeing any answers.

Also, I thought the point of being on a fixed tariff, as I am, is to protect me from prices changing in the year. My direct debit has gone up by £17/month which is a huge amount for me living on my own.

Jasmin

The only way to see why there has been a significant change in the direct debit is to look at the last few monthly bills. With OVO if you are on a Direct Debit this is calculated to be enough over 12 months to cover your bills through to March each year. The OVO Year runs April to March.

On Direct Debit your bills will seem much higher than necessary now as the balance will build up to cover the higher winter bills so it should all even out. If not you will need to claim a refund.

Only alternative to this situation is not to pay by Direct Debit and instead pay your monthly bill in full as I do. This way you know exactly where you stand but OVO do not allow full bill payment by variable Direct Debit.

It’s not difficult - but a bit tedious - to work out what the DD should be. Refer to the Plan page of your online account and find the Future Annual Consumption (FAC) figures, the unit rates and standing charges. Then:

1. For each fuel, 
   1. Multiply the FAC by the unit rate and add 5% VAT to find the projected annual fuel cost;
   2. Multiply the standing charge by 365 and add 5% VAT to find the annual charge;
2. Add the four figures together to get the total projected annual cost;
3. If the account’s in credit, subtract the current balance from the total; if it’s in debit, add the current balance;
4. Divide the result by 12 and add the result to the total cost (to provide the ‘one month’s credit’ buffer at 31 March);
5. Divide this final figure by 12 to find the approximate DD. It’s only approximate, because it changes a bit over the year to account for higher usage in winter, so it depends on when the calculation is made.

You can see the results of the actual calculation on the Direct Debit calculator page, where you can also see the effect of raising or lowering the DD. 

Now, to your question: apart from the tariff changes, a common reason for changes in the DD is a change in the FAC, which is based on the previous year’s consumption. An unusual major change in consumption will affect the FAC and consequently the DD.
 

[This may be totally unrelated to your unexpected increase, but a week ago I saw a completely unexplained reduction in my own FAC. This might have been a temporary glitch, but it could indicate a change in the way the FAC is determined. I’m busy investigating this as I write and I’ll come back if I learn anything worth sharing.]
 

PS: After drafting this reply, I see that ​@DavidWSR has also responded. I’d just point out that paying on demand as he does costs significantly more that paying by DD.