Why such a large increase to my recommended Direct Debit?

I found out from my bank that OVO (who chose me,  not me choosing them as I was transferred from SSE without my consent) had been taking twice as much from my Direct Debit as the usage figure and that I was now nearly £1000 in credit.  When this is spent I will be leaving.

Do you generally just help yourself to other peoples’ money? I think there is a name for this & we all know what it is.

In fact there are several legal terms.

Hello,

I am a Forum Volunteer, NOT an OVO Employee nor a lawyer, these views are my own. You must seek your own legal advice if you so desire, I will not offer it here.

It’s called the terms of your contract my friend. When you originally signed up for SSE, you automatically consented to having said contract moved to another supplier at anytime if - for example - SSE Energy Services got sold to someone else. This happened in 2020 when it was sold to OVO - you’ve technically been with OVO ever since. Per the terms of the original contract, your further consent WAS NOT required for this transfer to take place. Whether or not you actually read the T&C, it’s always been in there and is pretty standard stuff.

Good luck arguing that one in court - you’d almost certainly lose. In fact, you can’t be on-supply with ANY energy supplier in the UK without agreeing to a clause along the lines of the ones SSE implemented.

As for the high credit/DD? That’s most likely to be one or more of these reasons:

1. You’ve been underpaying for a long time and only now catching up
2. You’ve not submitted a meter reading in forever and/or very rarely do so and the system doesn’t know what your actual usage is
3. SSE sent over bad transfer readings and a read dispute is needed - better act fast cuz the SSE brand shuts down soon
4. You’re using more energy than you thought you were
5. A pre-existing meter fault that’s been there for a while (which isn’t OVO’s fault)

You can ask the Support Team to help fix most of these cases. https://ovoenergy.com/help or 0330 303 5063

I have no intention of arguing anything. I will wait until my credit has been paid off and then I will take my account elsewhere. The bill that OVO sent gives me an amount to pay each month and then they took almost exactly twice as much and then announced I was in credit until it reached £932 .They were about to take another £300 until I called the bank and stopped it. Did the terms of my contract authorise OVO to help themselves to whatever they want from my bank account, with no other explanation? Obviously I missed that bit in the small print.

Technically, yes. You’ll almost always get a warning first with 10 days advance notice. If you don’t act within that time, the adjustment is made automatically. You must have missed that info for the last 20+ years because it’s been that way across all suppliers since forever and long before OVO even existed.

Also worth noting that you’re supposed to build surplus credit in the summer to burn during winter so that the end result is they cancel each other out. That’s the same no matter who you go with.

Hi @MarkFrancis 

In case it helps, you may already be aware. 

If you cancel your DD you will now pay more as the tariff for non DD pay methods is higher.

You can at any time if you are on the variable rate tariff call ovo and ask for up to 100% of your credit balance to be returned. The collections number is best for this

0800 069 9831

You don't have to wait for your balance to run down.

The majority of suppliers use the same approach as ovo regarding direct debits, some still say you can opt to set the DD to pay the exact bill. For example EDF, but check they will actually offer this to you and obviously check the reviews of suppliers to make sure you are happy. 

https://www.edfenergy.com/help-support/direct-debit

Might be worth checking this page on the website not the app

https://account.ovoenergy.com/plan

Look at the Future Annual Consumption figures. These are used to set the Direct Debits. Quite a few ex  SSE Customers have reported that this looks to high based on their historic Consumption. 

Hey @MarkFrancis,

Sorry to hear this,

Are you able to reduce your direct debit back down on your Online Account? What does the recommended amount say?

• Getting to grips with the Direct Debit Calculator on your online account Tutorial

Are you meter readings in line? Have you submitted an up to date read? It may be that your estimated annual consumption is too high, there’s more about this topic here:

• Estimated Annual Consumption (EAC) - What this means and how it affects your OVO Energy account? Tutorial

Hope this helps.

I am on a smart meter and for the past 2 years of living in my house and using very little electricity (I work away) my bills were always around £20 a month (yes I know that’s very cheap and so I was paying £50 DD to ensure no issues would arise).

This gave me a very large balance in credit. 
 

As of November, my bills have been averaging at £155 a month. How has it jumped up so much?

In the October - November billing period, it says I used 5.200kWh and then November - December it says I’ve used 481.750kWh.

This seems like a very steep increase considering I’ve barely been home!

Any ideas? Thank you in advance.

This sounds like an estimate*. Your Meter reading history should show you whether there are any gaps in the smart meter’s submissions; if there are, the billing system will make sometimes wildly inaccurate guesses at what you might have used. Readings should be labelled to indicate where they came from. 

A monthly reading schedule could well cause estimates to be made if just one month’s reading is missing. Is your account set to receive half-hourly usage data? If not, there may be a button on the Power Move page to change to half-hourly data. If you don’t see the button, Support can do this for you, and it’s to be recommended. It means that your account will be updated every day, so it’s easier to detect when something goes wrong.

If you still can’t make sense of your recent bills, you might post some (anonymized) screenshots of them along with the corresponding bits of the readings history and we’ll see if we can spot anything.
  

*   I assume you’ve ruled out the possibility that some automatic system - a frost-prevention switch on the heating system, for example - hasn’t turned on heaters that could easily clock up the 16kWh a day you’re being billed for.

Whereas the latter month could be an estimate, it could also be a catch up. The earlier month looks extremely low. 
Your meter readings are indeed needed to make any sense of that .. but also, what has happened since? (December - January; January - February)

Yet again OVO has decided that my DD is to be increased without any consultation.  My account is in credit, we are in a reduced charge for the next 3 months, I am not on any plan 

You need to talk to OVO about this.

https://ovoenergy.com/help

The Direct Debit (DD) system is designed to keep the account healthy over a whole year, not just until the next quarterly price change. When that change does happen, the DD will be recalculated for the next twelve months and so on. It is supposed to help avoid nasty shocks when winter bills are suddenly higher than summer ones. The calculator in use now aims to bring the balance to zero by the end of next March, the idea being that this date marks the end of winter after which bills should start to fall again.

It’s a fair system for most customers. If you know what your consumption has been for the past twelve months, you can compare this to the figures on your Plan page for Future annual consumption (FAC). Unless something has changed in the past year, there should be good correlation. 

Using the FAC and your current prices (also on the Plan page), it’s easy to make an estimate of the cost of fuel for the next year. Since your account’s in credit, you then subtract the current balance from the estimated annual cost to find out how much you could be expected to have to pay over the year. Divide this number by the number of DD payments left between now and 31 March 2025 to see what the monthly DD amount should be to bring the balance down to zero by then. 

This is just what the online DD calculator does, with a bit of refinement for seasonal variation. Since we’re only a couple of weeks into the ‘energy year’, this shouldn’t make any significant difference between your pen-and-pencil number and the one the robot arrives at. Then, in three months’ time, rinse and repeat to take into account changes in annual consumption, the price cap and the balance on the account. 

If you’re not happy with this arrangement, you can always elect to pay on demand - just pay for each month’s actual consumption as the bill arrives. The problem with this is that it’s a bit more expensive. Your choice.
  
  

I’m not quite sure what you mean by OVO has decided that my DD is to be increased without any consultation. If you’re not on the track OVO think you ought to be on, there will have been warnings for several weeks before any diktat is issued. There isn’t really anything to consult about unless there’s been a major change in your situation: either the DD is high enough to cover your projected costs, or it isn’t. If it isn’t, it has to be increased. ‘Major change’ might be taking a solar array or an EV into use, which would render your FAC inaccurate. In any such case, Support can help, e.g. by freezing the DD at its current level for a few weeks if you’re struggling with the proposed increase. 

Here’s a good story, my mother is currently hospitalised, it’s unlikely she will ever return home. She has storage heating, so her bill is around 350-450/mth during the winter.

The day she went into hospital (5 weeks ago), I switched off her heating.

Obviously her use has dropped to (inc standing charge) about £45/m.

I have PoA access to her account. I requested a refund of the credit that had built up, and asked to have the DD reduced to 50/m. The agent could only reduce it to 85/mth.  Good enough, I thought. Then yesterday an email arrives from OvO saying that her DD was going up to 281/mth !

I phoned this morning. The first agent simply didn’t understand that her heating is off, and the house is empty, and kept banging on about the Jan/Feb/Mar bills being circa 350/m.  In the end he gave up (thank god) and put me though to ‘Collections’. That was a struggle too, but it seems (after 50 mins talking) that I have to accept the 281/mth DD, and ask for a refund every month !  They did offer ‘On Demand’ but why should she pay 6p per day more for standing charge, because OVO can’t set a realistic DD ?!

Just nuts. Hopeless 

I would write a letter to the CEO and send it by recorded delivery or even write to the Sunday Times ‘A Question of Money’ lady.  Terrible treatment from customer services especially when you have the worry of your Mother being in hospital. 

Hi @MarkC63,

I’m really sorry to hear about your mum and the challenges you’re having with her billing. 

It doesn’t sound like paying by direct debit is the right choice for your circumstances. As our billing system works on an automated review process, any fixes we make will always be temporary. You can find more information here on different payment methods. As the price cap is reviewed every three months, direct debit payments would rise or fall with any changes. This is one of the reasons we can’t “fix” a direct debit. 

I’d suggest speaking with our Support Team and asking for a “direct debit exemption” because the property is empty. This should stop the review process for 90 days as, from my understanding of your situation, you qualify for it. The support team should be able to confirm this 100% when they look at the account. Again, this isn’t a long-term fix, but it would allow you to manage this every three months rather than going through the refund process every month. 

Let us know if this works for you.

Thank you @ChristopherS_OVO 

What’s the best way, and what ‘key words’ do I need to put the email subject header, in order for my email to reach the right department ?

(I’m so angry about it, it’s best I don’t ring !)

Hi @MarkC63, 

The best thing to do is send an email from an email address linked to the account. This allows the system to pick up the email and attach it to the account. If you send an email from an unrecognised address, it will return and let you know it can’t find an account to attach it to. I’d say use a subject header like “direct debit review exemption” as this lets the team know exactly what you are looking for. Include the information you shared with me about your circumstances and that the house will be empty. That would be clear enough to understand.

I appreciate your frustrations, and other contact methods are available, but before I recommend any to you, can I check if you are named on the account or hold power of attorney? So that I can understand the best way to direct you!

Thanks @ChristopherS_OVO 

I do have Power of Attorney, and actually registering that with OvO was very smooth and painless when my mother was migrated from SSE last September.

She is still the person named on the account

I’ll therefore send the email from my email account, and cc her’s ?

I emailed, but unfortunately the person who responded was just as hopeless as all the telephone staff I’ve dealt with. Basically said tough, that’s how it is. Addressed me as my late father (who died 6 years ago) presumably because he is listed as an attorney on the PoA document. Oh, and sent the reply to mother’s email account, despite my enquiry coming from my own account, and signed with my name (and not my father’s, obviously)

I can’t wait to sell the house, and be free of this god awful organisation

Hi @MarkC63, 

I’m sorry that you’re not moving forward with this any further. I have asked our Forum_Support team to reach out to you to see if there is anything else they can do to support you with this.

Look out for a private message here soon: https://forum.ovoenergy.com/inbox/overview.

Well, I’ve still ended up with On Demand, with increased payments. For the extra 2 to 3 quid a month, it’s not worth the bother.

However, next problem, OVO rang me up last Monday, asking me to consider re applying the Direct Debit. I explained I didn’t want to, they said fine, OK then.

Next morning they rang again, same question, same answer.

Wednesday they try ringing again, I don’t bother answering

Thursday, they ring again, same question, same answer given, plus please stop ringing me every day. They promised they wouldn’t, but next morning another attempt, and again this morning (both ignored, and incomprehensible voicemails left)

I’m considering reporting OVO to Ofcom and Ofgen for telephone harassment !

Hi @MarkC63,

I’m really sorry to hear this. 

I can see that this was already with our Forum_Support team. I’ll get someone to reach out to you via a private message.

My ovo monthly payment as been altered from 108 a month to 350 a month nothing as altered dare not use my heating I am 85 and am 600 pounds plus in credit so why as it gone up 300 percent I will not pay that each month I can't afford that on a pension so I will leave and go to octopus perhaps get better treatment this really deppresses me you can't win

I think you’d actually be better off calling OVO on 0330 303 5063 and ask for this to be looked into - simply leaving probably won’t fix this.

Hey ​@nothing, 

​One of our volunteers ​@Blastoise186 has left some great advice so far. Have you called and spoke to someone about your Direct Debit? You can also message the team if that’s easier for you on Whatsapp - 0330 175 9695.

Please keep us updated!