OVO refusing to refund when I'm in credit - why?

I logged in to my account. There isn't a problem with my account that warrants their response which forced me into a time wasting chat machine or costly phone call that we all know will be on hold forever. As for recommendations, it's obviously to anyone with any common sense that this is designed to slow down and delay refunds and potentially put people off requesting them until they're well into credit. This only serves to increase OVOs finances.

This seems to be a very difficult area with Direct Debits. After the “Whole Bill” Direct Debit scheme was cancelled by SSE ahead of the move to OVO Energy I pulled out of this method of payment. I now pay the bill monthly on demand by direct credit so there is never any arrears or credit. It has the advantage of lower bills in the sumer but higher in the winter when energy usage is more. Perhaps its worth considering moving to this method of payment which is “agro and stress free”.

Thanks but I don't run away. I'd rather raise awareness and have OVO get smart through fear of losing custom because the way they're going, they'll get increased bad pressure and have to act on it.

Looks like Noel is already handling 99% of this thread and I’ll let him continue doing that if he wants to, so I’ll just swing by to answer the 1% that remains.

The user known as @Firedog is what we call a Forum Volunteer here on the OVO Forum, the same status applies to myself as well. We are trusted by OVO and the community to help out on the Forum, but we don’t get paid and we don’t work for OVO meaning we act in a personal capacity - everything we do is on the Forum only, unless we’re doing research elsewhere for one reason or another which is - to be 100% honest - quite common.

Forum Volunteers are very highly trusted here and we do our best to get the advice right whenever we can. We can’t 100% guarantee it’ll be totally perfect every time, but we’ll always do what we can.

One major disadvantage of payment on demand is that rates are higher. Looking at the current price cap’s averages, unit rates for both electricity and gas are 5% higher when paying on demand. The standing charge is 10% higher for electricity and 12% higher for gas. The average dual-fuel customer would be paying around £35 a year more in standing charges, another £35 extra for gas and yet another £35 for electricity. So, an additional ~£100 a year for the privilege of paying on receipt of bill. 

Another disadvantage is that those who pay on demand aren’t able to opt for a favourable fixed-price deal when one comes along. Some of us who fixed before energy prices headed skywards in 2021 saved a lot of money.  

I can’t see that payment on demand would be any less stress-free than simply paying the same amount each month by Direct Debit - set the amount and forget about it, unless something radical changes. The rates are higher partly because of those unhappy customers who are faced with the year’s highest bill in the month when the coffers are emptiest. Many of them can’t and don’t pay.

We are over £550 in credit increasing by just under £100. / month app says they have a reading but only allowed £80!

not been in debit for over a year but as no interest accrued anymore want it back ! 
said allowed £83.57 but rounded down to £83 ! WHY ?

Refunds are in whole pounds only - that’s just how the industry works, just like how top-ups for PAYG must be in whole pounds.

I understand that so why not offer available amount in whole pounds ? Just saying , also says many times through app that minimum 1

month DD required but when ask get told 3 months 🤷‍♂️

Because that’d be opening OVO up to a fraud risk. You can’t claim back what’s not available after all.

The absolute minimum remaining credit balance must be at least one months worth AFTER the refund if you’re on Fixed Rate - but you must talk to Support to do that. It’s a safety net.

So we average £70-£80 a month but DD is £150 and have £550 in credit so £250 refund would leave 2 months DD and still be 3-4 times our usage 🤷‍♂️ so why are we allowed £83 ?