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I was an SSE customer but with the take over my account has been migrated over to OVO.

The first month i did’nt really check what was happening with my  OVO balance as im on a smart  meter.  at the start of august i checked my balance against my bill ,my ending balance was  £126 .a few weeks later i was checking my usage and saw that my balance had gone down to £116 check if i had been billed again ? no ! checked if there was any information as to why it had gone down , again no! so i called OVO and asked why my balance had gone down before my billing date and what the charge was for i was giving a number for SSE i was been charge by them and they where debiting my OVO balance , so i called and was told that had no idea about it and that my SSE account was closed and migrated over to OVO  i so  i asked for them to send me  an email stating so with closing balance ,they did so . called OVO back and asked again why my balance had gone down  before my billing date  this time i was told they had no idea why my balance had gone down and was told that it would be passed to complaints department. ok!  i checked my balance 2 days ago it had drop again to £108  and today again to £107 so far it has drop by £19 pound,So  to day i call to find out what was happening with my compalint only to be told that complaints had no record of my issue again iwas told that i would be passed to complaints and that i would be contacted in 5 working day at this point i got in contact with citizens advice and was told to send an email of complaint so i have a copy and  that way there was proof that i had been in contact      .been the person  that i am( terrible memory )i always record my phone calls  when it comes to  bills ,debts and anything to do with money and keep all documents. so just to let you if your losing money from your balance without reason or been informed as to why you not the only one  and im sure there are alot you out there  paying more than you should be keep and collect all evidence  

Yes, everything is in order, smart meter, daily readings etc but, routinely, every month, a.day or two before the direct debit is due, the balance falls sharply down. Just wonder if anyone else finds the same?


Not me. Can you show us what is happening?

The daily balance is calculated from consumption since the start of the billing period as reported by the meter, so the only way that the balance can fall by an unexpected amount is if consumption increases by an equally unusual amount (another possibility is that the cost of gas used has been recalculated in response to a revised calorific value, but this isn’t likely to be at all regular.) 

If you shared screenshots of your readings page(s) covering the last time this happened, we may be able to spot something. 

 


Why does my credit balance decrease after the billing period has ended?


Hi @LWHAMPTON ,

That’ll be because OVO’s system runs on something called Live Billing. Rather than having to wait for a bill to arrive to see what you spent, you can see it in near real-time as the account balance updates every day to reflect what you’ve spent so far in the current cycle.

The monthly bills you get sent however, do not change and will show the final cost for any particular cycle.


OK I hear what you say however it does not make sense.


OK I hear what you say however it does not make sense.

It’s just a bit of a different way of showing you your balance daily rather than only telling you monthly/3-monthly like most other energy providers currently do.

So it is a bit different to what you may be used to with other energy suppliers, but it’s actually a better way of doing it; once you understand it.

I expect that most, if not all, energy providers will start to do it eventually.

Think of it as working more like your bank statement and bank balance do.

  • There is a Statement at the end of your last billing period, which shows the Closing balance for that period, which is also your Opening balance for the next period.
  • Then there is a 'live' balance that changes daily to reflect what energy* and standing charge* you have used each day (what you have spent). That usage will decrease your ‘live’ balance.
  • It also changes to reflect any payments that you have put in (say a Direct Debit if that’s how you pay).. That payment will increase your ‘live’ balance.
  • Then at the end of your billing period you get a new statement for the month just gone showing your new Closing balance, Which is also the Opening balance to start the next period.

Just like with your bank, - you get a statement once a month, but if you want to then you can also see your (live) balance of what is going out/in daily.

In both cases, your bank and OVO, that 'live balance' is just extra information so that you can see how your account stands day-by-day rather than having to wait until the end of each month for a statement..

*PS. If you don’t have a Smart Meter, or aren’t sending daily usage readings, then the ‘live’ balance will still change by the daily standing charge.


Hi @LWHAMPTON,

 

It seems that our forum volunteers have already given some great advice here which should answer your question. 

 

This thread may also be helpful - 

 

 


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