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Rank 1
meccles
Rank 1
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

Show previous replies
I
Newcomer
idris01
Newcomer
October 31, 2022

Blaistoise, I click your link in your reply and I do not have any such line showing the £66…see pic for reference.

I
Newcomer
idris01
Newcomer
October 31, 2022

Long story short, Ovo’s live bill is incorrect and effectively shows your normal cost amount and then take off £66. This then has the effect of reducing your credit balance. They then fix it for the proper monthly bill whereby your credit balance is unaffected. Bit of a stupid system…

    A
    Newcomer
    adriangalilee
    Newcomer
    October 31, 2022

    Thank you, idris01, that makes sense. I look forward to seeing my next bill due in a few days. I will also try to ignore the computer demand to increase my DD

    Firedog
    Super User
    FiredogSuper User
    Super User
    October 31, 2022

     

    … I do not have any such line showing the £66…
    adriangalilee wrote:
    … that £66 has not been credited to my OVO account.


    Nor can we see your Direct Debit in Idris’ screenshot. Since the refund is dated 6 October, the £66 must have been credited to the account before that - on the date of the DD sometime between 1 and 6 October.

    Could you please check the previous period’s Balance changes and Charges breakdown? You should see your DD in the former panel and a credit of £66 labelled Energy Bill Support Screen in the latter one.

     

    Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |
    I
    Newcomer
    idris01
    Newcomer
    November 1, 2022

    Firedog, my previous period is correct, with the £66 shown. So it seems the live balance is simply incorrect. In my previously provided screenshot, my direct debit amount was added to my credit balance. Essentially, Ovo should fix the live balance portion otherwise lots more people will be concerned

      Jeffus
      Rank 20
      Jeffus
      Rank 20
      November 1, 2022

      … As a result OVO’s computer is demanding that I am underfunding my account and must increase my DD.


      It looks like one of the things at play here is the Government’s belief that taxpayers’ money should as far as possible stay in taxpayers’ pockets. Electricity suppliers could simply have credited the subsidy to users’ accounts, but another factor affecting the decision not to do this is OFGEM’s misgivings about suppliers allowing users to build up large credit balances. This isn’t so surprising in view of the number of suppliers going broke last year and having to be bailed out. So OVO return the payment from your OVO account to the bank account your Direct Debit (DD) is paid from.

      It thus has no effect on your OVO account or the DD calculation. If your DD isn’t expected to cover all your outgoings for the next year, ending the year with a zero balance, OVO will propose an increase. The subsidy being paid into your bank account will help to fund any increase in the DD. 

      @Firedog the government gave suppliers the choice.

      1. Automatically refund the money to customers bank accounts

      2. Automatically deduct the money from customers direct debit.

      Suppliers are basically split. Some have picked option 1 (e.g. OVO). Some have picked option 2 (e.g. Octopus) 

      A
      Newcomer
      adriangalilee
      Newcomer
      November 1, 2022

      See, there’s no £66 paid in, just the £66 paid out of my own money

      Jeffus
      Rank 20
      Jeffus
      Rank 20
      November 1, 2022

      See, there’s no £66 paid in, just the £66 paid out of my own money

      Hi @adriangalilee you need to click on "see details" . Unfortunately the £66 paid in is in a different place on the bills. It is easy to miss. Look for a line that says Energy Bill Support Scheme

       

       

      A
      Newcomer
      adriangalilee
      Newcomer
      November 1, 2022

      Hi Jeffus, I’ve tried the see details section. The government payment is definitely not there and the balance in my OVO account is £66 less than it should be

        Jeffus
        Rank 20
        Jeffus
        Rank 20
        November 1, 2022

        Hi Jeffus, I’ve tried the see details section. The government payment is definitely not there and the balance in my OVO account is £66 less than it should be

        Hi @adriangalilee have you checked both billing period for the Energy Bill Support Scheme line?

        4th September to 3rd October? 

        4th October to 1st November? 

        Unfortunately the credit and refund may not appear on the same bill

        Show more replies
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