@Electric_Twit

Best option is to contact the OVO Support Team and ask what has happened to your account. 

https://help.ovoenergy.com/#contact_us_container

We haven't seen any other examples where this has happened if you haven't changed from DD payments.

All i can suggest is check your last DD payment went through correctly. 

The only thing I did spot this morning was this user getting an email which perhaps was unexpected

Let us know how you get on with the OVO Support Team in case we see other examples posted 

Hope that helps

I don't work for OVO, i am just a customer like you. 

*Edited by Mod*. I did manage to speak to a human on the phone. I cannot praise him highly enough for his patience but his IT seems to be the limiting factor. He could not see the email telling me I had changed my payment method (he could confirm that I had not) and he could not see my historical tariff prior to this latest change.

I notice Ovo still do not publish their tariffs in a readily available format but Googling various sites leads me to believe that I have been stuck on a tariff for those who pay monthly in arrears rather than by Direct Debit. I did obtain a quote from Ovo for my neighbour’s house and surprise, the quote was for precisely what I had been paying up until this odd email.

Hopefully the formal complaint I have now submitted will resolve matters once and for all!

@Electric_Twit vote for this?

It is by far the most voted for idea.

Can you see your previous rates on your old bills if you download them?

Or have they been recalculated with the new rate? 

My Direct Debit was increased from £235 to £780. Apparently our usage was nearly £1600 in Jan. I’m hoping it’s some kind of mistake. No one is answering the phone at OVO. Would love to find out how to clear up this mess

It’s Monday so the lines are always jammed at every energy supplier.

Live Chat via https://help.ovoenergy.com is usually faster

Hey @Seb,

Sorry for the issues you’re having,

We don’t have access to your account so can only cast assumptions as to what may have happened here, but it sounds like an issue with meter readings. If you’ve recently switched it may be an out of line estimated opening meter reading in which case a read dispute might be necessary. We have a great FAQ on this topic here: 

Or, you may have submitted an incorrect meter reading. Another possible scenario is that you haven’t submitted a meter reading for a long time and submitted one in January which showed your usage to be much higher than the estimates causing a ‘catch up’ bill. If you take a screenshot of the meter readings page of your Online Account this might give us more of an idea as to what may have happened. 

Let’s get to the bottom of this!

i got a message from Ovo i should increase mt direct debit..again. second time in 3 months. seriously are you people crazy? im currently so much in credit i want to ask for my funds back. i pay 264 monthly i dont use up to 200 a month without the government intervention. iI promise if you touch my account as you did it fire, i will get my lawyers involved this time and make sure i get my pound of flesh before i move to a better supplier. That is a promise

Hi @Tito 

If you pay by direct debit and you are on a variable rate plan, you can call OVO collections and ask for some or all  of your credit balance to be refunded

0800 0699 831

I have called the number several times but they never pick. I believe they have taken too many people for granted for way too long it's wicked. Why do they want to increase my DD based on some bogus estimates and not on what I use? And yet they use my funds to trade!?That is sheer wickedness. Why are they so wicked to people?

Hey @Tito,

Sorry for the issues you’re having,

The Energy Price Guarantee is increasing at the beginning of April from £2500 to £3000 and the Energy Bills Support Scheme payments come to an end this month. If so still feel that your direct debit review is out of line you can call our Collections Team to put your account on hold for 3 months, this means we won’t review or increase your direct debit for this period. As @Jeffus pointed out they can also issue a refund of your credit. I’d also advise ensuring that we have an up to date meter reading so your account balance isn’t based on estimates. 

The following tutorials explain in more detail how OVO calculates direct debits:

Hope this helps. 

Hi @Tito,

Hopefully you’ve had some useful advice above. 

Please be aware that we have house rules on the forum that includes the kind of language that should and shouldn’t be used. This space is intended as a discussion forum for members and with members.

Hi Emanuelle, 

It’s because of an out of line estimated opening meter reading. While our own (not-provided) reading was still in the 90000s in Sept, the OVO estimate went across 00000 in October. Now in March, our reading (provided) is still in the 90000, but OVO are assuming that it’s an entire meter cycle ahead. My question: do you think there is a chance that with our Sept reading now provided and a current reading also provided, the OVO team will get around to rectifying the obvious error? Thank you,

Seb

@Emmanuelle_OVO Thank you for the reply. I know energy prices are set to increase. BUT it hasn't yet. I believe when it does eventually then we will know how much I'm using and what changes needs to be made. Changing my DD isn't right is all I'm saying. I'm already paying so much now and I don't even use that much.

@Tim_OVO THIS is a discussion. 

@Emmanuelle_OVO Thanks for the links. I've gone thru them already.  I have also tried calling but can't get thru.  The last time this happened my DD was increased without my knowledge. And I totally understand about energy prices but it should be done based on what I use not predicted. Just what if I don't use as much as predicted, will Ovo decide to reduce my DD  I don't think so. I will also ask for a refund as I need to move to another supplier. 

If you’re planning to leave OVO, don’t request a refund. You’ll get any spare credit back automatically after the Final Bill is generated. If you refund now, you’ll probably have to pay at least some of it back in later.

Thank you so much for this @Blastoise186 Many thanks.

Hey @Seb,

Thank you for your reply,

If the meter reading used to open your account is out of line then you may need to raise a read dispute, in order to do so we need at least two actual meter readings, two weeks apart. I’d advise contacting Support with this information and they can get this raised for you.

If the issue is that your subsequent meter readings have been estimated and are too high, you need to submit an actual reading to rectify this. We have a live billing system so your account balance will update accordingly within 24-48 hours. Your estimated annual consumption may be too high, the more readings you submit, the more accurate this will be. I’d also advise getting a smart meter installed, so that your bills aren’t estimated and your readings are sent across automictically. Here are some great topics which might be helpful to you:

Keep us posted with how you get on!

First of all, apologies for this long post - I’m being accurate and laying everything out

Okay, so I’ve noticed a lot of weirdness since December with how OVO calculates on a daily basis for suggested DD amounts.

It appears if a little bit of extra energy is used (say, when we’ve had a cold snap), it RAPIDLY jumps up MASSIVELY.

However, when you use less, even for a sustained period of a week or two, it’s very SLOW to reduce.

However, I had an e-mail a couple of weeks back, that OVO had decided that they needed to increase the DD to £217. Fair enough, no problems. But then, they actually increased it to £301.

When I checked, it said that this would leave us in credit by £987 and the recommended minimum was £219. This made more sense, but it wouldn’t let me drop it below £301.

I contacted OVO by Twitter as I’d just missed phone and chat support on Saturday. `OVO support on Twitter has been active, and replying to lots of other people, but seemingly ignored me.

The following day (yesterday), it said that it needed to be £303. Then today, £295.

So I did all the calculations. First I checked future predicted usage on the last bill. OVO estimated 8788KWh for gas, 3766KWh for electricity.

I then worked out figures based on the last year - actual figures for 11 months from April - February, then I took March whose figures I have up to yesterday on My OVO, I divided by 12 and multiplied by 31 days of March to pro-rata it. (And this actually comes out at higher than last March’s as well, just for complete context).

This gives me a 12 month usage of 8975.01 KWH for gas, and 3789.89 KWH for electric. Almost identical to OVO’s estimated future usage.

So, based on that, I did the following calculations (with everything rounded up, not down):

Gas:
975.01 x 9.74p/KWH = £874.17
+ 365 x 27.12p standing charge (£98.99) = £973.16
+ 5% VAT (£48.66) = £1021.82

Electricity:
3789.89 x 31,24p/KWH = £1183.97
+ 365 x 43.58p standing charge (£159.07) = £1343.04
+ 5% VAT (£67.16) = £1410.93

TOTAL
Gas £1021.82 + Electricity £1410.93 = £2432.75
+ £150.12 for debt through winter = £2582.87
Divided by 12 months = £215.24 per month

So this is based on OVO’s OWN numbers, but not their calculations.

So I contacted OVO by chat support. They shared their “calculations” but with lots of holes, and not showing all the numbers, and they reckon £295.

This would put my account in credit by £945.12 after twelve months.

I explained this, and I shared the working out above (actually also including monthly breakdowns for used energy).

The person I was speaking to just kept repeating that OVO works it out based on actual usage, and they couldn’t do anything.

This clearly isn’t true - as the calculations above show.

I also put in exact usage to other energy suppliers, who estimate around £202 per month. Add in the £150.12 debit (£12.51) and it’s in line with my calculations, not OVOs.

I was offered a 15% discount for 3 months. This isn’t really an acceptable offer - and completely misses the point. I’ve set it myself to £295 today, but it really needs to be set to a reasonable amount (say £215 - £220).

I asked for a complaint to be raised, initially I was given a link to use for the process. When I pushed, the complaint was raised for me.

I asked if I wanted to cancel my DD, what would the process be and what would that mean, how could I pay for the energy I used. I was told that I needed to cancel with my bank. I said I didn’t want to do that just yet, but I wanted to know the process.

I was told that I needed to cancel with the bank. My understanding is that if you inform. company to cancel a Direct Debit, they are required to do so immediately. When I pointed this out, I was told that OVO’s systems are broken and being worked on, that is why.

OVO’s systems issues aren’t customer’s problem - OVO actually have an obligation and requirement here.

A complaint was then raised - but not sure why when it’s clear something is very wrong.

I then decided I wanted to cancel my OVO Foundation donation, and OVO Beyond - especially as I’ve also received an e-mail telling me that OVO Beyond is being watered down, and is increasing in price.

I went onto my plan and saw both. I first cancelled my OVO Foundation donation. Confirmation popped up. I then went back in to cancel OVO Beyond, and couldn’t see it. It also didn’t show on upgrades - and I checked both the app and the website, same experience. I phoned, and after being told to use the app, someone checked and made sure it was removed from my account.

Unfortunately, I’m very frustrated and disappointed in OVO - you used to be a great company, but too much has gone wrong here - and there’s a complete failure to acknowledge / recognise your very wrong calculators and the insistence of having my DD set to put me £945 in credit in 12 months.

I’ ve posted here to share my experience, to see if others have had similar issues, and to see if anyone views it that can get this issue in front of someone that is allowed to use common sense.

I know that the people I’ve spoken to are just doing as they’re told - but it seems ridiculous that they appear not to be allowed to think for themselves in seeing what is clear and laid out for them, and are entirely restricted to basically saying “tough luck” and then only raising issues through the complaints process - and even then only when it’s insisted on.

Hi @iwb 

You may already have tried this 

At any time if you are are on the variable rate tariff you can call collections and ask for up to 100% of any credit to be returned. Obviously this will impact DD payments but it might help you. 

0800 0699 831

Collections usually have more leeway in freezing DD at at a lower level as well. 

Hey @Jeffus - thanks. Technically a little in debit at the moment (£150.12) - but not by much and this will very rapidly change as the weather picks up - but even so that’s not enough to justify what’s being asked for. £215 would put me in credit, £295 is going to be £945 in credit - even taking into account the small current debit, standing charges and VAT.

See what this page shows. 

https://account.ovoenergy.com/renewal?utm_source=menu

Here is mine for example

I have given up in despair. I have always been in credit, but I disagreed strongly with them the tail end of last year with the continual attempts to increase the direct debit. I took a more simplistic view. So long at the amount billed in each period was less than the amount being paid by direct debit each month there was no need to increase the direct debit amount. I pointed out it was increasing the credit balance (I eventually got some of that refunded). I didn't have a huge issue with a small credit balance as we were about to go into the months where I knew the cost would  exceed the direct debit. If need be I make an additional payment to keep the account in credit. 

This month my usage has dropped considerably. The last week of billing I was still faced with daily proposed increases to my direct debit despite the cost of my usage being less than the direct debit amount. Since the end of the billing period, there have been daily reductions in their recommendations! As you rightly say it makes no sense whatsoever. I could now reduce my direct debit amount by £90 pm. I'm not going to this month as I will wait and see how the usage pans out. 

However, if usage is still reduced I will make the change as I no longer want to contribute to them holding customer funds. All I ever wanted was to be allowed to pay what I considered a fair monthly amount which I could top up in high usage months with an additional payment. If I find a supplier that allows this I will be off at the earliest opportunity.

Interesting, thanks @Jeffus!  It backs up exactly what I’m saying…

That’s that I’ve used £1782 in the last twelve months, and that the estimate currently is for £200 a month.

Add in the £150.12 debit (£12.51 a month) and the most should be £213.

Exactly as I’ve worked out and explained to OVO, but they just weren’t listening. Their calculators that work out DD on a daily basis and sets them are clearly broken.

Thanks for being with us

Here's your past year in review

Your current plan:

Simpler Energy

Plan type and length:

Variable

It ends on:

N/A

Electricity you used:

3597 kWh

Gas you used:

7854 kWh

How much it cost:

£1782

Great news! You used 24% less electricity and 18% less gas compared to the year before

Variable

(Simpler Energy)

Our rolling plan where prices can go up and down following market changes.

Plan features

Tariff Information Label

• • Rolling contract
  • 100% renewable electricity with a smart meter1
  • OVO Greenlight3
  • No exit fees

Plan rates

Electricity

Unit rate:

32.80p/kWh

Standing charge:

45.76p/day

Gas

Unit rate:

10.23p/kWh

Standing charge:

28.48p/day

Estimated cost

£200

a month

There was no way they would refund 100% of my credit balance. I was told they had to retain at least one month's payment. I asked them to show me where it said that was a requirement for monthly direct debit customers. I still haven't had a reply.