Martin Lewis has said Ovo are offering fixed price plans to existing customers. Am i the only one who doesnt have this offer? With my monthly direct debit now hitting £414 Ovo won't want to fix mine! I used to pay £150 and had a decent cash pot returned to me at the end of the annual term.
Best answer by Corgimajor
View originalUpdated on 21/09/23 by Abby_OVO
Hi
You should find under this option the 1 year fix Ovo are offering. If you are currently on OVOs Simpler Energy variable plan (which a lot of us are) then there will be a small saving IF - and this is the important consideration - you believe domestic energy prices are going to stay at levels similar to the current Energy Price Guarantee levels after 1st July. Martin Lewis, in his commentary on the OVO fixed price offer, says you need to be cautious about jumping onto any fixed price deal just because it looks a bit cheaper now. However he also includes the usual caveats about risks of trying to predict future energy prices.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/03/ovo-fixed-deal-after-months-with-no-deals/
Ultimately staying on a variable price vs. fixing your price comes down to personal choice and how you like to budget. Fixed price contracts do come with some constraints however - you have to be on DD (unlike variable price agreements where you can choose to pay on demand - with a higher tariff), you have to hold a higher credit balance before getting access to credit balance refunds (2 or 3 months instead of zero months on variable) and you will be charged a fee if you want to leave the contract (£75 for each fuel fixed - so £150 if its a dual fuel fixed price contract).
NB. judging by what you are being asked to pay on DD now, it sounds like you either have a forecast high energy demand for next 12 months or you have a reasonably large debit balance you are being asked to pay down - or a bit of both. I wouldn't have thought this would stop you applying for a fixed price offer, but best to check with OVO support on this.
Re the fixed price offer, personally I'm going to wait until July to see what is happening with UK domestic energy prices (evidence in the market and general consensus is that they will be lower than the Energy Price Guarantee level) and if the market becomes more competitive, I may chose to move to another supplier, which, as I'll be on OVOs Simpler Energy agreement, will cost me nothing to do.
Here's the menu choices on your online OVO account where you should find their 1 year fixed price offer.
We recently brought our Fixed Plans back onto the market for everyone! You can view all of our available plans here: https://www.ovoenergy.com/home-energy-plans
Many thanks for taking the time to reply.. I did check my account online (and on my mobile) and used the screenshot you shared to try to find it, however it does appear that I don't have a renew plan option, unless it is hiding somewhere else! This is what I see:
Hi
Looking at OVOs general terms and conditions (see cutting below) they do vary eligibility criteria on their energy plans, but I can't see any specific ones on the offer for the 1 year fixed term deal in my offers. I have a smart meter, but that's nothing unusual nowadays and I've been with OVO for a few years, but again nothing unusual. I think if you are still interested in being offered this deal and wondering why you aren't seeing it, then you'll have to contact OVO support - or perhaps someone else on the forum may be able to help.
thanks for this - i do pay by direct debit but don’t have a smart meter - maybe that is the reason. Will contact Ovo to ask, Thanks again!
Hi
I don't like the idea of a smart meter and have resisted so far. I will just wait to see if the energy prices do drop in summer. Thanks again for your help - really appreciate it!
Smart meters come with a lot of benefits and few disadvantages, so you might consider relaxing your opposition a bit. Should you decide that having one might in fact be to your advantage, you should know that there is at present a long waiting list, so you couldn’t just ring up in July when better offers come along and expect to have a new meter there and then. Some people have been waiting months.
If you booked one now, you could always unbook again - without penalty if you give plenty of notice , I think - if you decided against it later.
I don’t have a smart meter , or want one, and I have a ‘renew your plan’ link available. I pay by direct debit.
Hi there
I received an OVO email yesterday informing me it would be cheaper for me to move from my current variable tariff (Simpler Energy) to a fixed one. Is there a deadline when I must make a decision about whether to switch?
Thanks
+5
Hi
The fixed deals are only generally available from time to time - I understand that OVO withdrew one offering recently as the wholesale price fluctuated. So I guess the timing depends on several things, unless they’ve specifically mentioned an ‘open until’ date.
The fixed deals are being discussed generally at the minute with some people suggesting that there may be cheaper options later in the year. But it’s a choice decision really for you to weigh up
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/03/ovo-fixed-deal-after-months-with-no-deals/ . . . Folk in a similar situation may find this link interesting. Martin Lewis discusses this new offer by OVO.
Thank you for the extra info from ML.
I too have just been offered to fix saving myself approx. £275 a year.
I think though I am going to wait and stick with the standard rate and 🤞 the rate drops.
Janni
Interesting Martin Lewis Article
What annoys me is that when i log into the ovo portal, and look at my plan, it has a Standing charge and a unit price for Gas & Electricity.
When i look at my current most recent bill, it has a different rate for the Standing charge and the unit price.
Then when i look at the fixed offer from Ovo, it actually has an increased Standing charge for both Gas & Electricity… in the case of Electricity, my current SC (from my bill is 48.25p, but the offer is 61.52p ….27.5% increase. So it is hard to see how this saves money, as after all, the differences between the unit prices are -4.37% saving. But of course the “standing Charge” is something you can’t get away from, regardless of use.
Not too convinced with the this offer to be honest
D
+2
Interesting Martin Lewis Article
What annoys me is that when i log into the ovo portal, and look at my plan, it has a Standing charge and a unit price for Gas & Electricity.
When i look at my current most recent bill, it has a different rate for the Standing charge and the unit price.
Then when i look at the fixed offer from Ovo, it actually has an increased Standing charge for both Gas & Electricity… in the case of Electricity, my current SC (from my bill is 48.25p, but the offer is 61.52p ….27.5% increase. So it is hard to see how this saves money, as after all, the differences between the unit prices are -4.37% saving. But of course the “standing Charge” is something you can’t get away from, regardless of use.
Not too convinced with the this offer to be honest
D
Hi
Welcome to the customer forum, i am just a customer like you.
The unit rate and daily standing charge rate includes VAT on the renewal page
The unit rate and daily standing charge rate excludes VAT on the bills.
The unit rate and standing charge rate changed on 1st April slightly as per the new quarterly ofgem rates if you are on the default variable tariff. For example for me the standing charge rate went up a bit and the unit rate went down bit.
So you are likely to have seen different rates on your bills and renewal page for potentially a couple of reasons.
If you want to check the rates you are paying today, look on this page
https://account.ovoenergy.com/plan
Standing charges may well continue to increase, for example if investment is needed in the electricity network for net zero. These are simply costs passed on from other companies by OVO in many cases.
No account yet? Create an account
Enter your username or e-mail address. We'll send you an e-mail with instructions to reset your password.
