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Is my Direct Debit increase accurate?

M
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Hello, 

I will copy/paste my sent email here..... (sent 2nd July 2022)

Hello, 

 

I would like to request a review and reduction to calculations for my Direct Debit amount. 

I currently pay £107 per month (I have always chosen to pay a little more than the minimum requested amount) , and I have been informed today that OVO will be changing my monthly payment to £255.

 

Thats a 238% increase. 

 

I would like to request an 'estimation' that accurately reflects my actual usage as I a) live alone and work 6 days a week (ie: reduced usage) and b) an increase to £255 per month is both unattainable and excessive to say the least for a single occupancy, lower usage dwelling. 

 

My current account balance is +£696.05

 

I am on the 2 year fixed energy plan for both Gas and Electricity. 

 

The OVO email estimates that my account will be -£2,959.51 at contract end on 7th Feb 2024 (end of contract). 

 

Regards

 

Leigh Foster 

 

I really would appreciate a response from people as I am really concerned with how I can afford this Increase. 

 

Many thanks 

 

Leigh. 

 

 

 

icon

Best answer by Tim_OVO 13 July 2022, 12:50

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61 replies

A
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Cancel direct debit and set up a standing order or pay bill when it comes in hope that helps 

Blastoise186
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Cancel direct debit and set up a standing order or pay bill when it comes in hope that helps 

That’s not the correct solution and doesn’t help anyone out. By doing that on OVO, you’ll lose the safety of a fixed rate deal and be forced onto Simpler Energy unless you re-instate the Direct Debit.

@Mallakye I do agree that increase seems unusual and I’ve not seen that level before. I’d recommend getting in touch with the Support Team to challenge the increase and ask for it to be reviewed again manually. You can do that here.

Hope this helps! If you still get stuck, feel free to stop by this thread again.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Jess_OVO
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Some great advice from our community superuser, @Blastoise186.

 

We’re here to help if you’re worried about an unaffordable increase to your monthly payment, so as a first step we’d recommend getting in touch with our Support Team, @Mallakye . They’ll be able to help check that this payment amount is accurate and based on actual meter readings rather than estimates as well as being able to signpost additional support.

 

Just to double-check, have you been logging in to your online account to keep an eye on things? This is the best place to submit your meter readings or check the readings we’ve received from any smart meters. We’ve also got a helpful Direct Debit calculator which can help to break down how your monthly payment amount is calculated.

 

 

I hope this helps.

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M
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Userlevel 1

Thanks for the replies everyone, I shall read through properly and action when I can (can't really do much during my working hours) 

 

I appreciate every response

 

Regards

 

 

Jeffus
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Hi @Mallakye

That certainly seems strange and obviously worrying. 

1. I would start by looking at some of the basic info on your account to make sure it looks correct.

https://account.ovoenergy.com/plan

I would check the following for gas and electric. 

- the "Contract end date" is correct for both gas and electricity?

- the unit rates and standing charges are correct?

- the "Future annual consumption" looks reasonable based on what you have used in previous years?

It would be useful to know what the figures for unit cost, standing charge and usage are if you don't mind sharing. 

2. Do you have a working smart meter or do you submit your readings manually?

3. Have you recently transferred from SSE or was your current fixed rate plan originally setup with OVO?

Hopefully between a few people here we can help in some way to understand what might be going on. 

M
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Userlevel 1

*Update*

 

Today I recievedan emeail from noreply=ovoenergy.com@mail.ovoenergy.com

stating….

 

“Your Direct Debit is increasing.

We got in touch recently to ask you to increase your Direct Debit, so that your monthly payments match your energy use and costs - and you wont have to pay a lump sum at the end of your contract.

 

Because you havent increased your Direct Debit, we’re now doing it automatically for you.”

 

This is before I’ve even had a reply from the email in post#1 sent to OVO Energy Customer Care on 2nd July.

 

M
Rank
Userlevel 1

 

Plan name 2 Year Fixed Energy

Contract start date = 8 Feb 2022 (I was an SSE customer and moved over automatically)

Contract End Date = 7 Feb 2022

Electricity standing charge is 43.23p/day

Electricity unit rate is 29.07p/kWh

Gas standnig charge is 25.52p/day

Gas unit rate is 8.39p/kWH

 

- the "Future annual consumption" looks reasonable based on what you have used in previous years?

Im afraid I dont see this section, I do suspect this prediction is the problem however.

 

I have no debts etc with SSE/OVO

My account opening balance was +£750.26 (4 Jan-3 Feb)

My current account balance is +£570.97 (4 Jul - 12 Jul)

So from 4th Jan to 12th July my charges are £179.29 ?

Thats 7 months almost. 

I appreciate and totally understand that seasonal usage etc impacts greatly however this Jan/Feb/March were very cold as far as I remember.

This should give the community a fairly good idea of my usage.

 

Im so confused.

 

Thanks for your reply Jeffus

 

(If any answers etc are out of posting order etc I appologise)

 

 

 

Jeffus
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Hi @Mallakye

You posted 

Contract End Date = 7 Feb 2022

Did you mean to type 2024 and does it say 2024? 

Also here is my page as an example. I have highlighted where the consumption figure is. Are you sure it is not there? 

 

M
Rank
Userlevel 1

Thank your for the reply Jess_OVO

I will be contacting the support team as suggested.

 

I have been logging in and using the app often (even more so since I first heard of the price increases)

The section that shows the breakdown of daily/monthly usage etc all looks fine to me.

Meter readings are smart readings, and again all seem correct.

My minimum payment calculations reads……..£5,061.55 Estimated costs (including your current balance)

I have no idea how this figure has been calculated.

M
Rank
Userlevel 1

You posted 

Contract End Date = 7 Feb 2022

Did you mean to type 2024 and does it say 2024? 

Also here is my page as an example. I have highlighted where the consumption figure is. Are you sure it is not there? 

 

Yes sorry, I did mean 2024 for contract end date

I will get my screenshot now, thanks.

M
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Userlevel 1

@Jeffus 

on a PC that setion shows up, but not on the android app for me.

 

 

M
Rank
Userlevel 1

Cancel direct debit and set up a standing order or pay bill when it comes in hope that helps 

That’s not the correct solution and doesn’t help anyone out. By doing that on OVO, you’ll lose the safety of a fixed rate deal and be forced onto Simpler Energy unless you re-instate the Direct Debit.

@Mallakye I do agree that increase seems unusual and I’ve not seen that level before. I’d recommend getting in touch with the Support Team to challenge the increase and ask for it to be reviewed again manually. You can do that here.

Hope this helps! If you still get stuck, feel free to stop by this thread again.

@Blastoise186 Thank you for the link

M
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Userlevel 1

@Blastoise186 

Unfortunately after entering my details in the messgae to support I get this…

 

 

Im not in a position to be on the phone/on hold etc right now.

Jeffus
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on a PC that setion shows up, but not on the android app for me.

 

Yep the app doesn't show the consumption figure on the plan page unfortunately. There are a few differences in the app and website unfortunately.... 

That looks like a very high estimated electricity usage and a very low estimated gas usage. 

Does your cooker use gas or electric? 

Does your heating/hot water use gas or electric? 

Do you have a old SSE bill? SSE use to provide annual kWh figures on one of the pages. 

M
Rank
Userlevel 1

Yep the app doesn't show the consumption figure on the plan page unfortunately. There are a few differences in the app and website unfortunately.... 

That looks like a very high estimated electricity usage and a very low estimated gas usage. 

Does your cooker use gas or electric? 

Does your heating/hot water use gas or electric? 

Do you have a old SSE bill? SSE use to provide annual kWh figures on one of the pages. 

 

I’m afraid I used online billing and the app with SSE, i just tried to access old bills but they are not available it just says I am now with OVO

My house runs Electric cooker, Gas boiler for heating and hot water, I also use a nest thermometer that is frugal with heating lol

Jeffus
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Im afraid I used online billing and the app with SSE, i just tried to access old bills but they are not available it just says I am now with OVO

My house runs Electric cooker, Gas boiler for heating and hot water, I also use a nest thermometer that is frugal with heating lol

 

See if you can see your old SSE bills on OVO

https://account.ovoenergy.com/billing-history

They should have transferred 2 years worth but we have  seen some examples where this hasn't happened unfortunately.

If they are not there i would ask SSE or OVO to email you the last 2 years you were at SSE. 

M
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Userlevel 1

@Blastoise186 

At that billing history page I have nothing before 03 Jan 2022

Will look into requesting last 2 years bills, Thanks

M
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Userlevel 1

@Blastoise186

SSE Electricity Annual Usage estimate

Cant seem to find the gas one so far

just found the gas one……….

 

 

Jeffus
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@Blastoise186

SSE Electricity Annual Usage estimate

Cant seem to find the gas one so far

just found the gas one……….

 

@Mallakye

OK so the SSE estimates are very different to the OVO estimates unfortunately. We have seen this before with some other SSE customers. Where did you find the SSE estimates in the end? 

OVO gas annual estimate 3536

SSE gas annual estimate 2680

OVO electricity annual estimate 9495

SSE electricity annual estimate 2863

It is the annual OVO estimates that are driving the bills.

So lets look at your actual usage since joining OVO.

When does the usage start on the usage page?

https://account.ovoenergy.com/usage?datePeriod=yearly

 

M
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Userlevel 1

@Blastoise186

I found them on the SSE account 

There was a section to “download previous bills”

 

Electricity (Above)

Gas (Above)

 

Usage start Jan 22 (odd entry)

Jeffus
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@Blastoise186

I found them on the SSE account 

There was a section to “download previous bills”

Usage start Jan 22 (odd entry)

 

@Mallakye

OK

So add up the kWh usage for gas for Feb, March, April, May, June. So 5 months. Divide by 5 and multiply by 12 to get a rough estimate for a year. 

Do the same for electricity.

The calculation won't be perfect but will be a reasonable estimate. 

Then we can compare with the OVO and SSE annual estimates to look for any major differences.

OK? 

M
Rank
Userlevel 1

So Electric is

1135.77 /5 = 227.154 x 12 =

2725.848 kWh (OVO future estimate 9495 kWh) ← this looks a bit iffy

(SSE estimate 2863 kWh)

Gas is 

1439.97 /5 = 287.994 x 12 =

3455.928 kWh (OVO future estimate is 3536 kWh)

(SSE estmate 2680.85 kWh)

I really do appreciate your help here guys

 

Jeffus
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So Electric is

1135.77 /5 = 227.154 x 12 =

2725.848 kWh (OVO future estimate 9495 kWh) ← this looks a bit iffy

(SSE estimate 2863 kWh)

Gas is 

1439.97 /5 = 287.994 x 12 =

3455.928 kWh (OVO future estimate is 3536 kWh)

(SSE estmate 2680.85 kWh)

I really do appreciate your help here guys

 

@Mallakye

 

OK so the OVO gas estimate looks very reasonable. I think as an estimate that is correct. That one is fine i think. 

The OVO electricity estimate is in fact wildly out based on not only your actual usage but also the figures ofgem the regulator uses for typical consumption (2900 a year). The 9495 is enough electricity for 3 typical homes..… i am surprised this isn't picked up by OVO automatically. This is what is causing the issues I think. The OVO system is meant to gradually refine this figure over time but it looks like something has gone wrong again as we have seen before unfortunately. 

Keep an eye on what happens to the OVO estimates on the plan page. 

One more thing  to look at

https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings/history/electricity

 

​https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings/history/gas

How far back do the readings go and do they all say "smart" 

Blastoise186
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I have to admit that Jeffus is waaaaay more experienced than me when it comes to solving usage related questions!

There’s a lot of volunteers on this forum these days and we all specialise in different things. Jeffus is definitely one of the number crunchers and he’s always on the ball with questions like yours. Some of the others love to help out with green tech questions while my own specialisms are in things like smart meters, technical stuff, massively overpowered and overengineered solutions, bug hunting and to a certain extent OVO’s rules, policies and the way OVO does things.

We’re all learning though! But I have to hand it to Jeffus for being way better than me at threads like this one.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
M
Rank
Userlevel 1

So Electric is

1135.77 /5 = 227.154 x 12 =

2725.848 kWh (OVO future estimate 9495 kWh) ← this looks a bit iffy

(SSE estimate 2863 kWh)

Gas is 

1439.97 /5 = 287.994 x 12 =

3455.928 kWh (OVO future estimate is 3536 kWh)

(SSE estmate 2680.85 kWh)

I really do appreciate your help here guys

 

@Mallakye

 

OK so the OVO gas estimate looks very reasonable. I think as an estimate that is correct. That one is fine. 

The OVO electricity estimate is in fact wildly out based on not only your actual usage but also the figures ofgem the regulator uses for typical consumption (2900 a year). The 9495 is enough electricity for 3 typical homes..… i am surprised this isn't picked up by OVO automatically. This is what is causing the issues I think. The OVO system is meant to gradually refine this figure over time but it looks like something has gone wrong again as we have seen before unfortunately. 

One more thing  to look at

https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings/history/electricity

 

​https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings/history/gas

How far back do the readings go and do they all say "smart" 

 

 

Agreed, the Gas estimate seems pretty much spot on.

 

Readings go back to what looks like the start of my SSE account, 8th July 2020.

The SSE ones (pre-Feb 2022) are a mixture of manual and smart.

Every one from the start of the OVO plan are smart, for both Gas and Electric (a reading for every day) additionally I see no spikes or dodgy readings))

 

I obviously expect increases, this is natural.

I just saw that massive DD increase and thought….nope….theres been a mistake.

At least….I really hope theres been a mistake.

 

I feel this wont get sorted until I spend some quality time on the phone, which is actually my least preferable form of contact these days.

I understand there will be a massive increase to OVO’s email and messaging traffic right now but its been 10 days and no reply.

But the automated emails informing me of Direct Debit increases get to me just fine lol.

 

Rest assured you guys have at least put me to ease a little because it seems obvious there is a mistake/issue that needs to be rectified.

 

If you have some advice on how to present this information to OVO, please feel free 👍

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