Hi @jirams ,

The billing cycle is fixed I’m afraid, but you might be able to change the payment date. If you’re on Direct Debit, it’s a piece of cake to do in MyOVO or via the app. Otherwise, have a chat with the Support Team and they’ll figure something out.

Thanks for quick reply. It’s not too important so I’ll just leave it as is 22nd to 23rd.

@Blastoise186 Do you know why the billing date was chosen as any other date than the start of each month?

The graphs under "usage" in the app show usage and costs (minus standing charges) month to month.

Yet the billing date is offset from the month end making the actual bills and usage shown impossible to line up and compare.

Whilst OVO are great for transparency on the whole, from a customer perspective, this is one this that, for me at least, really holds back the user experience.

If Monzo sold energy... theirs would line up that's all I'm saying. Transparency is king in today's world.

Apart from this, I love OVO

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The billing cycle is based on when you join, which is pretty common. :)

The usage stats run separately and come directly from the meters themselves.

Ah ok, that makes sense.

So, I wonder if it would be possible to line the dates up at all seeing as it's not fixed-fixed.

Would one be able to close their account and then open a new one at the start of the month and then pay the outstanding amount that was used in the gap?

Yes the usage data would be long unless the old amount data was merged with the new but technically this could work right?

Re the usage stats, I have mine set to send a reading monthly, which is does on 17th in my case (currently), yet in the app it shows me daily data (which is weird).

You can definitely change the payment date if you’re on a Direct Debit - simply head into MyOVO and pick a date that you fancy, or chat with Support and they can update it for you.

If you’re on Pay On-Demand however, you’ll need to chat with Support, although in theory as long as your desired payment date is within the permitted grace period i.e. before the due date, you can just pay on that date - but paying asap is preferable.

For those of you on PAYG/Prepayment, you can’t change any of these dates because there’s no fixed cycle for them.

Closing and re-opening the account is not recommended, it’ll cause more problems than it solves.

Re the usage stats, I have mine set to send a reading monthly, which is does on 17th in my case (currently), yet in the app it shows me daily data (which is weird).

Those other days will be estimates - they’re not used for billing though.

Ok thanks Blast. It's not the payment date that's the issue here though. It's the billing date.

So just to confirm, there is no way we can request a bill for the remainder of the month to align the billing date with the month?

And what kind of problems would be caused if the account were closed and then reopened?

Would it not be less problematic to just change the billing date for customers when requested?

So just to confirm, there is no way we can request a bill for the remainder of the month to align the billing date with the month?

Not that I know of. However, unlike other suppliers, OVO runs on a Live Billing model so you can check the latest bill whenever you want via MyOVO. Any payments made mid-cycle will be applied to it automatically and if you pay more than what the bill is by the time the official one is generated, it’ll be automatically considered paid off immediately and any leftover credit carried over to the next one.

And what kind of problems would be caused if the account were closed and then reopened?

You’d have to leave and switch back - which means you WILL lose any special deals like OVO Interest Reward (which closed to new customers in September 2021) and any fix deal you’ve got locked in. It’d also take up to three months and you’ve have to time it perfectly or constantly rinse and repeat to get the date you want.

Would it not be less problematic to just change the billing date for customers when requested?

Too many things depend on that variable. You’d have to re-write half of Orion for a start…

There’s no other supplier that offers this feature either iirc.

I'm impressed with your reply. Thank for actually taking the time to be so thorough.

The live billing is good, yeah.

Whilst I'm not about to close my account and try to chance reopen on it on the 1st of the month, I don't have a fixed term or any benefits you mentioned.

I signed up in July 21 and have never seen this rewards/interest thing on my account for any percentage. Was this something that I should have received or was it just a case of if I didn't see the offer on signing up then I missed out? 

And to change the billing date, in Orion, lower right, pencil icon, change date, click save, no?? ‍♂️ (I get that it's not doable, thanks for explaining).

I feel like this thread has been thoroughly answered now.

Thank you, thank you! I’m here until Tuesday. Try the veal! :D

If you’re getting OVO IR, it’ll appear as a line entry in your Billing History under the Other section, usually near the VAT line - and it’ll also show up on all statements that get sent your way.

If you think you should be getting it but aren’t, please let Support know via https://ovoenergy.com/help . If OVO agrees, they might be able to activate it for you and possibly backpay you for what was lost. This kind of request will be denied for anyone who joined after September 2021 though.

And now we’ll swing you a segue to our sponsor, the fire service!

I’m also a fire service volunteer myself (yes, really!), and I’d like to make you an extra offer that’s completely free - no credit card required. This is independent of OVO (and obviously OVO isn’t responsible for it) but it’s something the Forum Moderators are happy for me to do. A lot of fire services are heavily promoting home fire safety visits right now and many of them support a tool called Safelincs which you can use to request one. If you get lucky, you might even have a fire crew turn up with the truck! :D

If that floats your boat, check out https://www.safelincs.co.uk/hfsc to use the tool. It’ll either recommend some advice to help you out, or recommend a visit from your local fire service - in which case it’ll also ping their team for you.

All advice and equipment you get via these visits is completely free of charge - you will NEVER be asked to pay a penny or provide payment info.

Happy Christmas!