Why such a large increase to my recommended Direct Debit?

Hey ​@BlobbyPoet,

Blastoise has already given some helpful advice here:
 

Even with a fixed energy contract, your direct debit can increase. While the unit price of your energy is fixed, your overall bill can change based on your energy consumption. If you use more energy than initially estimated, your direct debit will be adjusted to reflect the higher usage and prevent a large debit balance at the end of the contract period. 

Here's why:

• Fixed vs. Variable:

  A fixed energy contract means the unit price you pay for gas and electricity remains the same for the contract duration. However, your overall bill (and therefore your direct debit) can still fluctuate based on how much energy you use. 

• Direct Debit as an Estimate:

  Your direct debit is essentially an estimate of your annual energy costs, divided into monthly payments. This is designed to make budgeting easier by spreading costs throughout the year. 

• Consumption Changes:

  If you use more energy than anticipated (e.g., due to a colder winter, more appliances, or a larger household), your supplier will increase your direct debit to ensure you are paying for the energy you are using and to avoid a large debit balance at the end of the contract. 

• Catching Up on Usage:

  If your initial direct debit was based on estimated readings and those estimates were lower than your actual usage, your supplier may also increase the direct debit to account for the difference and get you back on track. 

• Preventing Debt:

  Direct debits are adjusted to ensure you are paying for the energy you are using and to prevent a large debit balance from accumulating on your account, which could lead to a significant bill at the end of the contract. 

Essentially, while your unit price is fixed, your overall energy bill is not, and your direct debit will be adjusted accordingly to reflect your actual energy consumption. 
 

Hope this helps.

Hi ​

Sorry to hear about this, please see the information page that we’ve made just for this reason: https://www.ovoenergy.com/payment-support (or click here). This outlines all the financial support you might be entitled to and how to get it.

It sounds like you’ve had a direct debit review suggestion that you disagree with. As the agent mentioned, you have time from when we send that email to speak to us about that change if you’re unhappy with the new suggested amount.

If you’re worried about your payments changing or you can’t afford them, please speak to our team. We can make sure you get financial support that’s tailored to you and your situation. There are many options available for anyone who needs help. To get in touch with our Support Team who’ll do everything they can to support you. 

I’ve linked below to some other topics which may be helpful here:

Just got off a VERY frustrating chat about my DD.  I’m currently over £440 in credit and my DD has been increased AGAIN to £161  My average bill per month over the last 12 months is £115!!!!!!!  According to the app I’ll be £148 in credit by the end of March 2026, RUBBISH I will be over £800 in credit at this rate!  But I did get the reason confirmed, (that I suspected) the EV usage isn’t taken in to account when calculating the DD.   This makes a MASSIVE difference if you’re using charge anytime.  So as an example our last bill was for £183, ex VAT but we actually paid £112 because of the charge anytime credit of £75.  But the DD calculation will be based on the Total cost and NOT the Total charges!  I’m not sure if I can remain a OVO customer as we’re about to get another EV so our total cost will be even higher with 2 EV’s and I’ll be spanked even more.  Its something that really need to be addressed its pretty simple!

The DD amount isn’t based on the size of bills, how much you’ve been charged in the past. It’s a fairly simple calculation using only the Future Annual Consumption (FAC) figure to work out a full year’s costs at current rates. Add 1/12 for the extra month’s credit at the end of winter, deduct any credit balance and divide the result by the number of DD payments between now and 31 March to get the monthly DD amount.

Sadly, the calculator can’t take potential future credits (like Charge Anytime, Power Move or Warm Home Discount) into account. This means that you’ll have to ask for a manual adjustment at quarterly intervals. The CA credits that have been made will increase the account balance and thus decrease the calculated DD. You have the choice: accept the status quo and pay a bit extra each month, or ask for a refund of your current balance less one month’s DD. 

The bigger the credit balance, the smaller the DD;
The smaller the credit balance, the bigger the DD.

It’s worth checking, too, that your FAC estimate is reasonably accurate. You can see it on the Plan page; it should be not far off the difference between today’s meter reading and the one from a year ago.

Or I might just move to octopus who do variable dd's as it's really getting on my nerves. 

Variable DDs can have problems as well, worth googling before you decide which way you're going to go.

As an Octopus customer (formerly OVO) it is frustrating to see OVO cutomers having issues with their DDs when I can set my DD to any level and nobody cares. I currently set it below the ‘annual rate’ and take the opportunity in September and March to manually add the amount necessary  to keep it in credit in March. It means I never have too much in my account so I never have to ask for a refund 

I've posted this to challenge OVO to rethink their DD policy when it clearly doesn't take into account all the factors that affect the balance. This causes real problems for people. You need to do better. You can do better.

Peter 

Yep! As I said I'm currently paying around £40 a month more than I use and yet they put the DD up AGAIN!!!! So now it's £165 a month and on average we use around £115 and I'm £440 in credit! By my calculations I'll be around £800 in credit in March, ovos calculation I'll be £140!!! Utter joke 😂

Hey ​@fancyabrew,
 

I understand your frustration, 

We have made the change to build one month's usage credit by the end of the winter period on our customers accounts. This credit will help to cover any changes to your energy usage or costs throughout the year leading to a smoother payment journey. Your Direct Debit is managed to ensure that you do not build too much credit on your account and also ensures your account does not fall into arrears should anything change with your usage. If you do build more credit on your account than is needed, we will recommend you reduce your payments or alternatively, you can request a refund at any time Our recommended Direct Debit amount is a suggested amount to ensure you pay for your predicted energy and don't end up with any debt or too much credit by the end of the Winter period. Your energy costs may go up or down throughout the year and we want to support you with those changes. Paying by Direct Debit helps to spread those costs so you don't end up with large bills to pay, and paying by Direct Debit is one of the cheapest ways to pay. 
 

Hope this helps.

I raised a complaint and it has now been sorted. DD reduced back to £136 a month and a £200 refund. And my account will be excluded from DD recalculations. Accounts with credits like charge anytime really don't fit into the standard DD calculation model!

I pay a fixed £98 bill each month and I get charged an additional £51 each month why?

Hi ​@Van ,

Sorry but we can’t answer that here without further context - the OVO Forum can’t access your account.

Pleas show us your bill with ALL personal info redacted

What is written in your bill? How does it explain the additional £51? Is it a separate bill? Is it for the same meter? 

Would need see your bill to check why you have additional charge

Has it only just happened this month?

they set up a direct debit of £51 on the 1st of the month and £98 on the 3rd of the month 🥴I switched from top up smart meter to get the bill every month 2 month ago

I didn’t see any bill for that! They just set up direct payments 🥲

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