Why can't Pay as you Go customers enjoy the same EV benefits as those who pay by direct debit?

Hi @Anubis 

Please don’t quote me on this answer - I’m a forum volunteer so I can’t guarantee that this is 100% perfect.

However, I suspect it’s because on PAYG, 99% of the work is done by the meter itself, whereas Charge Anytime requires a billing system to integrate with. Given that a PAYG Meter (or Smart Meter in Prepayment Mode) is the only thing that knows the current meter balance 99% of the time and has limits on how much credit can be on the meter at once, it’s not practical to be hooking up stuff that arbitrarily modifies the meter balance, especially not in ways that breaks beyond the maximum allowed credit limits.

OVO’s Pay Monthly setup does let you treat the system like PAYG however as the balance updates daily and you can do top-up payments whenever you want. It’s like doing Pay As You Go, only without the risk of being instantly cut off for running out of credit.

Am on a pay as you go meter 

will I get a cheaper tariff ?

And what would my tariff be ?

No. You need a smart meter.

OVO can offer you 15p/kWh for all EV Charging - but you must migrate to Pay Monthly and get a Smart Meter before you can get OVO Charge Anytime as that's how you get the cheap rate.

If you’re on PAYG, your only Tariff option regardless of supplier is basically the No-Frills PAYG version of the current Standard Variable Tariff - where your only perk is basically the Ofgem Price Cap.

As mentioned via DM, EV Charging on a PAYG Meter is not recommended.

Hi ​@Westy57 

Thanks for your post, and welcome to the OVO Forum 😁

I can see ​@BobTom and ​@Blastoise186 have already responded to you with correct information. I’m going to include some helpful links to webpages and previous forum posts below that should be of help to you.

This link will take you to the Charge Anytime sign up page.

Here’s a previous Forum topic about Charge Anytime:

• Introducing Charge Anytime - next generation EV charging News

Here’s a previous topic about smart meters:

• Are there any disadvantages to getting a smart meter? F.A.Q.

I’d highly recommend having smart meters installed. They will make your life easier, and you’ll never be charged to estimates. If you have them installed, we’ll also be able to set you up as a pay monthly customer if you’d like, and you’ll be able to access different benefits such as Charge Anytime. To book a free installation, you’ll need to contact our helpful Support Team. If you decide to go down the pay monthly route, our Support Team will be able to discuss the ins and outs, the available tariffs, and how everything works. There’s some further info about the process in this previous post:

I hope this helps! 😁