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

Hi.

If my last DD was £120, and my current balance (since 25th April and according to the OVO app) is £135, can I expect my DD in May to be much higher than April’s, or does the monthly DD amount remain pretty constant? If much higher, by how much, approximately?

Many thanks.

Hey @Paulyc , welcome to the OVO Forum!

Just a heads up, I’m one of the forum volunteers so I can’t access your account or make changes to it myself. Your question is a little account specific, so I’m afraid I can’t give you a full answer.

The short answer is that if you’re still on a fixed rate deal and your usage patterns haven’t changed, then chances are your Direct Debit will remain about the same as before. If your payments do need to change, OVO will notify you with at least 10 days notice. You can also use the Direct Debit Calculator anytime to see what OVO is predicting.

If you’re on variable rate though, each payment may depend on each individual bill. In all cases though, your current credit balance is always factored in whenever the system runs the numbers.

I’m afraid I can’t give you any figures myself as I’m not allowed to access your account.

Hope this helps.

That’s so kind. Thank you. PC

Why would Ovo want to increase my monthly DD when I am more in credit than they want me to pay. Tried ringing them also gave number for call back ......nothing am really getting fed up with it all

Hi @Jennyfris ,

You might find this guide useful.

The most likely reason for the increase is that you’re using more energy than predicted and your payments won’t be enough to see you through to the end of your fixed rate deal and still be in credit, or avoid building up an excessive debit balance if you’re on variable rate. The system always factors in your current credit balance as well when it runs the numbers, so the suggested payment increase is intended to help you avoid burning through all of that credit too quickly. Don’t forget you’ll use more energy in the winter and will as a result spend more money on energy in the winter than you do in the summer!

Also, fixed rate does NOT mean fixed bills, so your payments may still need to be adjusted if you start using more energy than you reported on the initial quote. Only the tariff rates are fixed to what was agreed, nothing else is.

If you still wish to dispute this increase, you can do that via web chat using https://help.ovoenergy.com and this tends to get you through a lot faster than via phone.

The fella on messages gave me a number to ring, but once again lines are busy I think its really bad when you can't get anyone to actually speak to. Then to be messaged if you don't do anything about it they just put it up anyway.......

You might want to try again in the morning. Let me know if you're still struggling to get through after that and I'll ask the moderators to stop by.

Yes, I had the same experience. Lots of redirection, lots of promises, absolutely no action. I raised a formal complaint that remained unanswered for 8 weeks, and now the matter is with the ombudsman. 

If you figure out how to change the direct debit, let me know. 

I’m so sorry to hear of the unexpected Direct Debit review, @Jennyfris.

It’s worth mentioning here that our Direct Debit calculations do factor in the current balance on your account, as well as your projected usage costs to work out the appropriate monthly payment to leave you with a zero balance at the end of your plan or the 12 month anniversary of the your variable plan. There’s a breakdown of these calculations on the Direct Debit Calculator on your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS).

As you mention having trouble getting through to the Support Team to discuss this on your account, have you been using the main contact number - 0330 303 5063? The team are on hand to help advise on the options and support available if this increase isn’t affordable.

I hope this helps.

Paying monthly is new to me can’t get my head around it at all … what is a reasonable monthly direct debit calculator way over my head….every month I seem to be in debt???

I’ve only been in this sheltered block of flats since March 

Hi @Dolly36 ,

I’m afraid it’s impossible for us to help you calculate what you should pay, because it varies so heavily for everyone based on a bazillion different factors. The Direct Debit Calculator tool at https://account.ovoenergy.com/payments/direct-debit/calculator should help you figure things out though.

I find the best way to use it is to flip the settings to End of Contract and Balance, just like in this example below. If I leave things as they are, I’ll have plenty of credit to start my next contract with.

Using this tool, you can enter various amounts to see how things would change. In my case, the system is recommending that I drop my payments down to £5 a month (which is the absolute minimum amount OVO will permit), which would result in this happening:

This is arguably healthy enough based on the prediction, but you might want to avoid letting it go too far down in some cases.

If you enter a value that’s too low, the box will turn red like in this example.

OVO will not let you set a Direct Debit to below the minimum recommendation via self-service as a safeguard. I just forced the calculator to do my bidding by “utilising” a bug in the tool for this example.

Thank you it did help but since I only moved here at end of feb 22 is it a true calculation? Also graph shows under my £40 did but I’m in debt🤷‍♀️I’ve just made another top up payment so hopefully aug should be debt fee👍

Hi @Dolly36,

Great to see our community superuser, @Blastoise186 has already given some tip top advice to help figure out your Direct Debit amount. Our Direct Debit calculator can really help to visualise things, check out the guide above for more help with this great tool.

Just to double check, have you got smart meters installed there? As these can send us your readings automatically everyday they really help to make these Direct Debit calculations accurate. 

We’ll adjust the recommended monthly payment amount based on the most up-to date view of your usage, so it’s worth keeping a close eye on these pages over the summer. Ideally you should start building up a credit balance over the next few months to help cover your winter usage.

Hope this helps.

Hi no don’t have smart meter … I’m in a block of sheltered flats fed up chasing meter readings… due to this heat crisis and medical condition I’m having to put on my tower fan don’t know how much that is going to cost ???

Looking at your calculator tutorial but is it taking into account of higher energy costs?

Hi @Dolly36

If you are on the Simpler Energy  plan unfortunately it doesn't consider the rising costs in October and probably January.

Which plan are you on? Do you use gas? 

Hi when I moved in here wasn’t given any information about supplier then was SSE nothing about tariffs so looks like they put me on simpler energy ! Am I too late to change tariff?

Hi @Dolly36 you can change from the Simpler Energy tariff at any time without penalty.

Either to a fixed rate plan from OVO or a fixed rate with a different supplier. 

I am a 93yr old widow living in sheltered housing in a one bedroom flat, you only supply electricity to me and I am on a smart meter. My heating is gas and my laundry is done through the complex, both charged through my rental. I currently pay you £86.00 a month and you want to increase it to £104.00, even though I constantly use £40 to £45 a month in energy. 

IS THIS CORRECT?

Hi @Molly29 ,

If you’re on variable rate, then the next price cap period is starting in just over a month from now, for which prices are going to be massively higher than what they are now. It’s extremely likely that what you’re currently paying might not be enough to keep up, which is why OVO would be suggesting an increase in your payments.

Help is at hand though, and I’m collating as much of it as possible in a single guide that you can find here:

You also have the option to ask OVO to freeze your Direct Debit payments at the current levels for three months if you object to the increase. If you wish to do this, please talk to the Support Team and they can discuss it with you. Be warned that this is not always a good idea however.

I am on the "Simpler Energy " rate having been transferred from SSE.

That would be OVO’s Standard Variable Rate tariff then. Simpler Energy is OVO’s version of SSE Evergreen which was also a Standard Variable Rate tariff. The rates on these can change at anytime, but you’ll always be informed at least 10 working days in advance.

Cancel direct debit and set up a standing order through your bank that way you can choose how much to pay hope that helps

This is not a valid solution as Standing Orders are not a supported payment method. Please try to avoid posting speculation like this.

Hey @Molly29,

Following on from what Blaistoise186 has said, here is some more information about the price cap increases and what OVO are doing to help our customers. 

You may also benefit from being on our Priority Services Register (PSR ) if you aren’t already. It’s completely free and we can offer a number of additional services.