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October 7, 2022
Solved

£66 government energy bills support scheme deducted from my OVO account balance not added?

  • October 7, 2022
  • 645 replies
  • 34621 views

Can anyone explain what’s going on here?

Opening balance was £335, we used around £90 worth of electric/gas combined (£66 government payment was taken off this, hence the £22 charge), I paid £150 so by my reckoning the balance should have gone up by around £125.

It hasn’t though - they seem to have then deducted the £66 again.

Does anyone know why? Do I need to contact them or will it right itself?

Best answer by Blastoise186

Updated on 28/06/23 by Abby_OVO

 

This scheme is now closed.

 

How you will be awarded the £67 depends on how you pay. If you’re seeing a deduction, it’s because you pay by Direct Debit and the grant payment went into your OVO account and is then deducted from the account and refunded to your bank account. 

For all information on this topic please see the website page Energy Bills Support Scheme or this previous response:

 

 

If you pay by direct debit and have seen the credit go to your OVO account, this payment will be transferred into your bank account. 

 

The payment will be made 3-5 working days after the direct debit has cleared. This will happen automatically and you don’t need to do anything. 

 

All customers who pay this way will receive their refund into their bank accounts within 3-5 days of their direct debit date. For example, if your direct debit is the 15th of the month, it’ll be 3-5 days after this. 

 

For anyone that pays on demand, their payment will be made directly to their OVO account. 

 

 

If you pay by Direct Debit

You’ll receive your discount as a refund. This means you’ll carry on paying your full Direct Debit amount. Once the Direct Debit payment has cleared, we’ll refund the monthly discount amount to your bank account shortly after. If you cancel your Direct Debit, or your payment fails, there may be a delay in applying the discount to your account.

You’ll get your discount every month, even if you don’t get monthly statements. You'll see confirmation of the discount on your next statement. 

 

If you pay when you get your bill

You’ll receive your monthly discount as a credit to your energy account in the first week of each month. You’ll see this on your monthly bills from October. 

We’ll add the discount to your energy account every month, even if you don’t get monthly bills. You'll see confirmation of the discount on your next bill. 

For example, if you receive your bills on the 15th of the month, we’ll add your discount in the 1st week of the month, starting in October, so you’ll see confirmation of this on your bill dated 15 October.

 

Hey @meccles !

Please check your Charges as well. I suspect you’ll see a line entry there that explains it, just like this example:

 

645 replies

Newcomer
October 17, 2022

Having just spent the last half hour trying to get my head around this. I think it would be best if OVO just removed the reference to the £66 refund, because it is so confusing.

You should have received £66 pounds into your bank account, which is the EBSS payment.

Any reference to it on your bill just creates total confusion.

If I remove it from calculations everything balances.

Newcomer
October 17, 2022

Hi all, I do understand everyone’s concern about how it looks like we have paid the £66.00 ER payment from our credit balance, however I think it best to wait the 5 days requested to allow our balance to be rectified. financial systems do have strange anomalies when calculation non direct refunds. I do understand this as I studied computerised financial systems for my IT degree's. please do not shoot the messenger I am just an ordinary OVO customer like the rest of you. I hate stress and just want to install a little calm here. If you still have issues after 5 days then that's the time to lodge a complaint with OVO

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
October 17, 2022

Can’t be done I’m afraid. That would just cause even more confusion and complaints from people moaning about where their credit has gone.

It also has to be there to provide full transparency as to every transaction.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
juliamc
Rank 20
Rank 20
October 17, 2022

The £66 in has to balance with £66 out. It’s just annoying that the two figures appear on different parts of the bill. Still, at least we’re getting it !!

October 17, 2022

Hi, I have tried, quite unsuccessfully to sort this out three times now with the online chat. 
 

like many others, I had the £66 deposited to my account and then refunded to my bank. Brilliant

however, even though I have used £13 of energy in October, that amount and that usage is not being debited from my credit balance. 
 

When I speak with Ovo they advise it’s because of the £66 credit. But that credit isn’t there any more, it was refunded! Their accounting is using it twice, meaning they are not correctly billing me. 
Help!! 

juliamc
Rank 20
Rank 20
October 17, 2022

Hi @esmeweatherwax Not really sure what you mean about your usage not being debited from your credit balance. Please can you post a pic of your bill showing that. No personal info or account number etc.

juliamc
Rank 20
Rank 20
October 17, 2022

That’s such a good point@atlanticcobra thanks !! No reason for people to get straight on the phone to complain, it’ll appear when it appears.

Newcomer
October 17, 2022

That’s such a good point@atlanticcobra thanks !! No reason for people to get straight on the phone to complain, it’ll appear when it appears.

Hi juliamc;

thanks for your heads up, I can confirm that my account has reset itself today and now shows the correct amount. I assume because my account month end date was 14th Oct the weekend slowed down the reset. I don't work for OVO either I am just an ordinary fellow struggler. Stay calm all. 

Emmanuelle_OVO
Retired Moderator
Retired Moderator
October 18, 2022

Hey @Charlotte m22,

 

Is this now sorted? If not can you please send us a screenshot of your previous billing cycle and where it says ‘see the charges in detail’. It seems the screenshot you have sent runs from the 15th of the month, it is likely your account was credited before that date. 

 

 I suspect your Direct Debit might have been taken on the previous billing cycle and the delivery was staggered over two cycles. Try checking the previous one!

 

Well firstly, you need to scroll down further, to see the Charges in detail section.

And secondly, try checking the previous billing cycle too. https://account.ovoenergy.com/billing-history

Make sure to scroll down in all cases!

 

Let’s get to the bottom of this together. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
Newcomer
October 18, 2022

I have recently contacted OVO as I have not received the first payment of the Energy Bills Support and wondered if anyone has had the same issue as I was advised there was a glitch in their system which would be resolved in the new few weeks. The advisor didn't seem very interested.  I was refunded £66 this month a few days after my monthly DD payment came off  but the £66 I was refunded was from my own credit balance!  I have not had the £66 from the energy bills Support credited to my OVO Account and it is now 18th October.  The advisor said give it a few weeks and if not credited by then get back in touch - sorry but I waite3d over an hour on the phone to raise the issue first time round - and they would deal with it straight away, I asked why it couldn't be dealt with straight away now but I was told it couldn't as they needed time to deal with the glitch in their system. Is anyone else having the same problem?