I've topped up my Pay as you Go meter, but I don't know where the rest of the credit has gone?

Hi ​@EComerford ,

Can I ask a few questions which may help us give better, more focused so shorter, answers:

Is the flat all-electric, electric heating etc.?
How long has she been in the Flat? ie. how long was she on a credit meter before going prepayment?
If she has built up a £500 debt (for whatever reason) in a short period before switching to PAYG then that doesn’t sound good.

What was it that prompted her to move to PAYG?
It sounds to me that it was because of the debt, and the Prepay meter was agreed to as a way of repaying that debt.

She should have agreed to a repayment plan before they started taking any debt, (maybe before they swtched the meter), so should have something about that in a letter or email.
https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/article/paying-debt-back-on-pay-as-you-go

Maybe she didn’t want to admit that to you?

It does sound probable that a debt recovery charge is now being made for debt repayment each time that she tops up.

One way to check that is to make another top-up and see it it immediately takes money for the repayment before anything else. (And so leaving much less than was topped up).
If a lump is taken at once then it’s a repayment, (If it was a possible faulty meter it would generally take it gradually over the day and not all at once).
EDIT - That may not be quite correct with OVO. It appears that OVO do it differently and instead of taking the debt repayment all at once from a top-up they take a daily amount along with the daily standing charge, that’s actually a better way of doing it.

It also sounds as if that charge may have been set too high for her to afford.
They are allowed to recover debt from top-ups in that way, but that recovery must be “reasonable and affordable”.
(“minimum” £80 a month is nonsense, that may be what they would like to recover it at but there is no such set minimum. See below for more about that).

What you/she needs to do now :
You need to find out just how much is being taken from each top-up.
As above making a top-up and seeing what is taken may do that, but be aware that it make take a percentage of the top-up and not a fixed amount.

Once you know what that is then she should ask support to reduce it to something more affordable for her.

If support won’t reduce it when asked then she should escalate things and make a complaint that the current repayment is unaffordable for her.
https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

Can you pay off her debt for her?
I’m pretty sure that if she contacted support by telephone with you sat next to her and asked if they would let you pay it off by card they would agree.
I doubt that they will be bothered who is paying as long as it is paid.
(Or you could lend her your card which she then used to pay it off, or transfer money to her bank so that she could then pay it using a card of her own).

Hopefully once clear of the debt she will be able to afford the PAYG, if not then she needs to rethink her electricity use.

I said above about that “minimum” £80 a month recovery being nonsense.
There is a scheme for benefits claimints where if they are in debt to an energy supplier they or the supplier can apply/agree to have payments taken directly from their benefits.
When taking direct fuel payments from UC in that way then, as well as an amount for  ongoing usage, the most they can take for debt repayment is 5% of UC Standard Allowance. For a single person over 25 that’s £20.00 a month maximum.
You can see why suppliers would rather that people in debit switched to PAYG where they can take much more debt recovery a month than allowed from benefits.

Hi there, 

Thank you  for such a comprehensive reply

I really appreciate you taking thr time to do it and for all your advice.I will look into the points you raise with my daughter and will update. 

Thanks so much again for taking the time to do this.

Best Wishes,

Liz 

Please keep us posted with how you get on ​@EComerford & let us know if you have any further questions.

Thanks Emmanuelle, 

Would it be the case that a debt repayment would automatically be deducted from a Pay as you Go account if  someone were in debt? If so, how much would that payment be and would it be taken on a top up or daily from an account? 

 My daughter raised an issue on Monday and awaits a resp9onse as yet.

 With Best Wishes,

Liz

Debts of this type are sometimes time based if memory serves, so it’d be collected on a daily basis. In some cases it may be payment based though where it comes directly from the top-ups.

You should check your specific arrangements to be sure.

If you want, you can make manual payments via Support to wipe it down faster.

Many thanks for your response. Appreciate you taking the time to do this. 

 Will ask my daughter to check directly with OVO. I understand that t he Co will naturally seek to recover any debt but it from a consumer perspective, It would seem appropriate that they advise consumers that this is happening and on what basis as there will be people out there (my daughter included) who can’t afford to pay  back amounts on a daily basis . 

 Thanks again, 

Liz 

Sorry about this - I probably didn’t word that quite as well as I could have.

The daily method takes the collections from the PAYG Meter Balance, not from your bank account.

Hey ​@EComerford 

I hope you and your daughter have managed to get to the bottom of everything now, but I just wanted to pop on with some additional information.

If you have an outstanding balance on the account, it’ll be repaid through topping up your meter. 

You don’t have to pay it all in one go – you can spread the cost to make it more manageable. If you’re worried or need financial support, please get in touch and we’ll work out an affordable repayment plan. 

The repayment plan will mean you’ll pay a set amount daily until your balance is cleared. This is always made to suit what is manageable for you. It sounds like it’s a smart meter in pay as you go mode and not a traditional key/card meter? If it’s a key/card meter, the repayments would instead be taken each time the meter is topped up.

Once we’ve added the debt to your meter, your daily charges will include: 

• Payment towards the energy you’re using 

• Your daily standing charge

• The daily debt repayment amount 

Even if you’re not using any energy, you’ll be paying a daily standing charge and a repayment amount. Topping up regularly helps to cover these repayments and your energy use. 

A good way to stay in the know is through the OVO Energy Top-up app which you can get from the Apple App Store or Google Play. If you choose “low balance notifications” when you sign up, you’ll get notifications when your balance is running low. 

If you’ve used emergency credit

If you’ve used your emergency credit to keep the power on, you'll need to pay it back in full from your next top-up. 

If you can, make sure you buy enough credit to pay back the emergency credit, and still have some left for your energy use.

If you need to pay this back slowly over a period of time, please contact us – we’re here to help. We can talk through the financial support that’s available, and we might be able to offer additional support credit over the phone. 

Once you've repaid the debt or credit, your meter will automatically stop taking repayments. 

Is Pay As You Go still right for me?

If you have a medical issue, young children living with you, or you need extra practical support managing your energy, Pay As You Go might not be right for you. If any of these apply, please get in touch as soon as possible to discuss other options. 

Let us know how you get on.

Many thanks both - I am chasing my daughter to call and get to the bottom of things as the account holder which will hopefully happen today.  

 This forum has been very helpful for me to navigate and am very grateful for those who have taken the time to help/guide me. 

 Thanks, 

Liz 

Hey ​@EComerford 

I’m glad to hear you’ve found the Forum helpful so far, we’re always here to answer any questions we can.

So if you do come up against any more challenges with this, always feel free to pop back.😊