OVO Beyond 2 hours’ worth free electricity

Even if they’re not perfect, you should still select something anyway as you’ll get some benefit regardless.

We can’t always have the perfect options every week - it’s all very much based on what cheap slots OVO can get!

Free Energy hours for May 2025.

On my May bill I have not been credited with the free 2 hrs a week for May. 2025.So I need credit for 6 hrs free electricity for May.

David McCormick

I thought I’d do a check this morning, 10.00 - 11.00 slot.

10.00 smart reading 1.27 KW

10.35  ‘’            ‘’       2.27 KW

Thats my hour used up.

I had a shower. 

After a shower I put on my washing machine 45minute cycle and 

Cooked breakfast.

At 10.35 when my so called HOUR was now over🤣 washing machine still running😡

My hourly KW rate is 21.5p.

So now what am I going to spend it on 🤣

A few folk that I have spoken with about this gimic, they can’t believe that they are saying about a free hour of Electric on TV is not really an actual hour only about 5 to 10 minutes max 😂 if you have a 12KW hour hot tub.

They need to change what they state to 1 FREE KW PER THE HOUR slot to avoid any confusion.

​@pete 1 the rules are crystal clear - you get one free Kilowatt Hour (kWh) in the hour slot to use as you wish - it’s not an all you can eat buffet! This is deliberate and necessary because otherwise certain folks would milk the system like crazy, abuse it like mad and ruin it for everyone else.

The whole idea is ultimately to encourage demand flexibility by giving an incentive in return for shifting usage around. Don’t knock it because it’s ultimately a free thing! It’s already very clear - you just didn’t read the rules in the app!

In case you’re wondering, I’m part of the reason you get this offer in the format that it exists in. A small group of customers - myself included - were asked to vote on which format we liked best. The winner was the version you see before you.

It’s already very clear - you just didn’t read the rules in the app!

I READ the rules, your missing the point, the headline is confusing folk that I speak to.

The headline should read,

 A max of 2 KW hours of free electricty per week to avoid confusion

That is an off-platform AI generated summary. As OVO doesn’t control how those are generated, they’re out-of-scope.

If you look in the app itself under How it works, all is revealed for everyone to see in plain sight.

Personally, I don’t get why folks are moaning about free stuff. It’s almost like it’s not worth doing free stuff at all...

That is an off-platform AI generated summary. As OVO doesn’t control how those are generated, they’re out-of-scope. 

This one is, the most important bit is at the bottom to which is easily missed.

I am not moaning, I am just pointing out that the two hour part is misleading.

What you have shown me is a press release - it’s not technically meant for the public to read. Press normally use that to distribute stuff via their own publications. It’s not where most folks would look anyway.

As for the headline? Get two free hours of electricity per week as long as it’s under 1kWh per slot is an ugly headline. The way it’s actually been done? That’s marketing for you.

Hey ​@pete 1,

Thank you for your feedback, I’ve forwarded this onto the team so they’re aware. 

This is something that won't make me any friends but if you believe that any advertising is misleading (from any source) then you can forward the issue to the ASA for consideration at

https://www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint.html

My motive here is to ensure that customers are not mislead by headlines where significant limitations are buried in the terms and conditions. I sincerely believe that OVO take great care in making sure that opportunities they present are clear and factual and do not mislead. But it happens on occasions that headlines that are chosen to be attractive can unintentionally mislead. You have to understand that headlines are not the T&Cs. The T&Cs must always be read and understood to their full extent. Yes, I know it's a bit of your life you're never going to get back.

I did submit a claim once about a misleading headline from a double glazing company that could not possibly be true but the ASA rejected it on the basis that the company had basically disowned the claim in the headline in the T&Cs.

My plea is for writers to view their headlines in the context of it being isolated from any other information so as not to cause reputational damage.

Peter

Hi ​@Peter E,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this, it’s clear you’ve taken the time to look into the details, and I really appreciate the constructive way you’ve raised your concerns.

I completely understand the frustration around the way the “2 hours free electricity” is calculated and the lack of transparency in how it’s communicated. The intention behind the offer is to reward lower-usage periods, but I can see how the current approach, especially when it’s not fully explained, can feel confusing or even misleading to those trying to make informed choices about their energy use.

Your point about clear communication is absolutely spot-on. Customers should be able to see, in plain terms, how these benefits are calculated, when they’re applied, and how they can make the most of them. I’ve passed your feedback on to the relevant teams to review how we can improve future explanation’s and visibility of these credits. It’s feedback like yours & ​@pete 1’s that helps us shape better customer experiences, and I’m really grateful you took the time to highlight this.

In the meantime, if you’d like me to raise any specific concerns or check anything on your account side of things, please feel free to send me a private message and I’ll be happy to help however I can.
 

Thanks again for being part of the community and for raising this so thoughtfully!!! 🙂

The whole idea sounds great but my experience is very frustrating. The app wont work properly, despite uninstalling and reinstalling as advised. It takes ages trying to ‘grab my details’. Opens partially, after about 4 minutes and as soon as strat trying to look for anything it fails and says ‘Oops, something went wrong. Try restarting the app’. So I go through the whole palaver again, usually with the same result. The helpline advice hasn’t helped as they dont kjnoiw what to do about it or why it is happening. It is so irritating that everything can’t just be on the website. Some stuff is there, other stuff, like this free 2 hours, is only on the app. SO even when I remember to try to find it I can’t access it. I wish they’d stop trying all these gimmicks and Keep it simple and make it work!

I’m afraid the days of “No Frills” are over when it comes to energy suppliers.

Customers are demanding more features these days, so the only way to attract and maintain is via those “gimmicks”.

If all you want is no-frills, you have the option to just take a Standard Variable Tariff and ignore absolutely everything else.

Blindvet Have a read of these replies.

I've been using the Beyond free hours every week over the summer. This week, for the first time, I don't have the option to select next week's slots.

I did notice on Sunday afternoon when I picked this week's slots (I left it late because plans were in flux for this coming weekend!) that it said I only had 4 hours left to claim when there were still 3 unclaimed weeks before the end of August. This morning it correctly shows the bar with 28 hours claimed, 6 left to claim, but the option to choose next week's hours is still not there on the Free Electricity page. Also, on the front page of the app it only shows "See your upcoming slots". Usually the option is available from midnight on Monday morning in my experience.

Is it late for everyone this week, or have I broken something? :)

Hi ​@ClaireL ,

It’s a known bug that’s currently being investigated. Try again later!

Ok so I probably didn't break this particular thing anyway :) Thanks, will check again later.

Looks like this has been restored. Try it again now and it should work! :)

Hey ​@ClaireL, 

Were you able to book your slots after the update from ​@Blastoise186? If not, I can check internally for any new developments.

Thank you ​@Blastoise186 and ​@Chris_OVO , I've now managed to pick my hours for next week. The tracker bar is showing 30 hours claimed and 4 to be claimed, which seems right as well. 

Thanks again both!

This may seem a stupid question, but on power save do you get free gas or gas and electric for the two hours

That depends which scheme you mean.

You say ‘two hours’ so that will not be Power Move but will be  the current “A little help with your heating” which is free gas.

(Although electricity only customers can join up and they just get the maximum gas credit of 63p per 2-hours automatically - they don't get free electricity)..

There are various “Power Move” schemes which are about electricity.

Hey ​@Happychic,

Power Move is all about helping balance the grid by shifting electricity usage. So, to answer your question, any offers for free energy with Power Move focus on electricity. But don’t worry! We also have a special offer available through the OVO Beyond app where you can get free gas hours, which might be just what you need!