Should I change tariffs?

@Firedog Can’t see the new tariffs, due to being over 55 days in contract.

I did use my card to pay some off last contract, but it wasnt credited so I asked for a refund…. Not sure why this was the case.. If any staff can chime in on to clarify why this was?

Maybe I should opt for the variable-rate next time? Are the standing charge fee’s more forgiving? I know that’s how suppliers make the money but.

🤷🏻‍♂️

Hey @PalsyP 

We can’t say what you should do about changing tariff and what would be best for you, but we can certainly clear up that you should always be able to make a one off card payment, no matter what your typical payment method is. 

So even if you are on Direct Debit, you can make an extra payment into the account anytime. As we don’t have access to accounts here at the Forum I can’t be entirely sure what went wrong here. but it’s possible that the payment didn’t reach the actual account and so didn’t reflect in the credit, but we can’t be sure here without access to the account.

I’ve linked to a handy topic on card payments that may be useful:

OK. There are other places to find them: 

• Visit ovoenergy.com in a private (incognito) browser window. Use the first Get a quote button to find the plans available in your postcode.
• Visit Our prices | OVO Energy to see all the plans available in your postcode. Use the filters to narrow down the search results; there will still be quite a few, but many of them will be the same. Ignore the plans with funny names - they only apply to specific classes of customer. In particular, see if you can find the Loyalty tariff.

The unit prices are attractive (10p cheaper), just hope they stay the same when my contract is near its end.

@Abby_OVO Do you allow card payments over the phone as well, so I can pay off the debit amount?

Hey @PalsyP 

Yes you can do it over the phone or over webchat too.🙂

https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/article/how-to-pay

That’s not guaranteed: these tariffs change quite frequently in response to wholesale energy market prices. 

See if you can find the Terms & conditions that apply to your current plan. Some of them have apparently changed in the last few days, so it’s not certain that the new ones apply to you, but it’s worth checking. The new ones for the 1-year fix state specifically that “If you change to another OVO fixed tariff you will not be charged a termination fee.” If this is the case, you might want to consider saving quite a bit by switching now rather than waiting until you get into the ‘renewal window’ seven weeks before the contract’s end date. 

I've been offered a new Fixed Rate Offer, the first is the new Tariff and the second is my current tariff.

I really don't know what to do🤷

Sorry, Lucky, but it’s not exactly clear which is your current tariff and which you’re being offered. Apart from that, we need to see both what the plans are called and, if your current plan is a fixed-rate one, when it ends. 

It looks from the middle screenshot as if you’re a medium sort of consumer, but at the lower end of those who have electric heating (the standing charge on this plan amounts to only about 10% of the total). We’d have to know what your peak rate and offpeak rate annual usage is to be able to do any calculations to help you. That unusually low standing charge is surprising - the price-capped standing charge is currently 50-60 p/day depending on where you live. And you have to be careful to note whether the rates you’re seeing include VAT or not. The ones in the middle picture do, but it’s not obvious whether the others do as well - I guess they don’t. 

So, a few more details would help. The online Plan page should give the information we need, apart from perhaps the day/night split in your annual consumption. To find that, you’d have to find the most recent bill and the corresponding one from a year ago, then note the meter readings on them. Subtract last year’s closing figures from this year’s to get the peak and offpeak usage.