Why such a large increase to my recommended Direct Debit?

I can’t tell you what’s going on but with the changes recently maybe an accounting error. Have you had two bills for same meter each month.
Have you spoken to customer services? Can they look into the discrepancies and shed more light on why two different charges. It’s impossible for me to help without more information. 
I hope you can get this rectified soon. 

Hi ​@Van 

As you have just changed from PAYG to Direct Debit then this sounds like simply a hiccup in the process.
(Or perhaps you misunderstood what was going to happen?)

Have they actually taken both payments this month?
ie. Taken one on the 1st August and another on the 3rd August.

If not then it looks to me that the computer did a recalculation and changed the amount that they want you to pay each month from £51 to £98.
(I'm not sure why it would change from the 1st to the 3rd though?)

If they have taken both payments this month then either:
1- The £51 was a one-off payment to cover previous use, (or maybe just the standing charges for the 2-months since you changed to DD) and going forward they will now want £98 a month.
Or:
2- It was/is an error, and possibly two direct debits have been set up by mistake.

Whatever has happened the only way to find out just what did, and get it put right if needed, will be to contact support and ask.

See "Methods for Contacting OVO" by clicking on the green banner at the top of any page here.
Here's a link as well:

They should be able to sort it out pretty quickly for you.

From your information it looks like they increased your DD payment from £51 to £98. As mentioned earlier, it would be better to contact OVO and ask them to explain. 

Hey ​@Van,

Do you have two seperate direct debits coming out of your bank? 

It’s worth bearing in mind that you can use more energy than your direct debit covers, which would result in an outstanding bill. 

The following topics might be helpful: 
 

Hope this helps.

Have tried phoning and using chat to contact Ovo. 

Had an email on the 1st January to say my payments would be increasing from £60 a month to £508 a month. 

I read my meter in November and think I must have sent the wrong numbers. (Sorry, 70 year old brain) I sent new readings with photos of meter readings on the 2nd January and have sent again today.  

I am getting very worried about having to pay so much.  I live in a small one bedroom flat.  No oven, washing machine or tumble dryer.  Have an electric shower and use one radiator in the bedroom which I have on around 5 hours a day (less on some days). 

My apologies for this being very long winded.  I am just very frustrated at not being able to contact anyone to talk to.  

Hey ​@sacol 

Sorry to hear you’ve been having some trouble with this, sounds like something may have changed when those recent readings were submitted in November?

I don’t suppose you’d be able to share a screenshot of the meter reading history? That might show any discrepancies in the meter readings used for the most recent bill and if that’s what’s caused the big change. It can be tricky for us to tell exactly what’s happened here at the Forum without more information as we don’t have access to accounts here.

I’ve also linked below to a potentially similar topic if the issue is what I’ve suspected above in the meter readings;

If you can provide us the screenshot of the readings this will be helpful in checking if this has maybe been the culprit or if we need to dig deeper.

I only have photos of the most recent readings on the 2nd or 3rd of this month.  I have submitted them twice but when I look on the Ovo app they are not mentioned.  I did have acknowledgement on screen that they had been sent but unfortunately I didn't think to do a screen shot. 

You can submit readings as frequently as you like, a smart meter sends half hour readings (all in one batch at the end of each day). If I were you I’d send in another set today and screenshot them.

I don't have a smart meter unfortunately

Hey ​@sacol 

Would you be able to take a photograph of the meter for us? 

Without seeing the meter readings we really can’t be sure what’s happened and whether an incorrect reading has caused the large jump in the bill.

If you’re unable to share any screenshots or photos, I’d recommend going straight to the Support Team so they can take a look into this, as we don’t have access to account details here at the Forum.