Skip to main content
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

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
November 4, 2022

I am super confused by this. I can see the £66 has been paid in my bank. However, £66 is added to my monthly bill… then surely this only cancels it out.

So what’s the point in this benefit?

Surely it should be paid in to our bank and then NOT added to our bills.

It’s actually deducted from the bill, not added. -£66 means it was a credit, not a debit.

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
November 4, 2022

There are two separate entries: the Refund shown in the bill summary, and the Energy Bill Support Scheme deduction from your charges in the Details section. 
 

Emmanuelle_OVO
Retired Moderator
Retired Moderator
November 4, 2022

Hey @Jamie80,

 

That’s okay, we’ve seen a lot of confusion about the £66 payment on the Forum.

 

It should appear as a credit added to your account, and then refunded. A credit appears as -£66. If you take a look through the previous pages in this thread some of our community members have helpfully provided screenshots to show how it appears on their accounts. 

 

If you don’t see the payment, can you please send a screenshot of your Online Account where it says charges in detail? 

 

Let’s get to the bottom of this! 🙂

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
Newcomer
November 4, 2022

Hey @Jamie80,

 

That’s okay, we’ve seen a lot of confusion about the £66 payment on the Forum.

 

It should appear as a credit added to your account, and then refunded. A credit appears as -£66. If you take a look through the previous pages in this thread some of our community members have helpfully provided screenshots to show how it appears on their accounts. 

 

If you don’t see the payment, can you please send a screenshot of your Online Account where it says charges in detail? 

 

Let’s get to the bottom of this! 🙂

 

Thank you.

Looking at my screenshot for October, this is how I read this…

I am £486.86 in debt

  • add charges for the month of £306.55
  • add refund of £66 (not deduct this)
  • … this amounts to £859.41

Now take off my direct debit of £385 and this amounts to £474.41 which is what my bill breakdown says.

I must be missing something or doing something wrong!?? But my closing balance has reduced by only £12, that can’t be right!

 

 

Newcomer
November 4, 2022

Ive not had anything to indicate a credit re the £66  from the government. 2 months running and they have refunded me from my own overpayment. !!!!!!!!!!!

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
November 4, 2022

Hi @sunderlandlady ,

If there really is a problem, you’ll need to contact the Support Team for help. We’re unable to make changes to your account here.

Could you show us your billing history please? We’ll see if we can figure this out.

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
November 4, 2022

You are correct. You have paid £385 into the account and two amounts have been deducted: the charges of £306.55 and the refund of £66, totalling £372.55.
So 385 - 372.55 = 12.45 ie the difference between your opening and closing debts.

Are you happy that the £66 has come into your account in the Charges Detail section ok?

Newcomer
November 4, 2022

Hi everyone.

I’d be interested to know if anyone else has noticed the glaring mistake (at best, or blatant robbery at worst) or tried to speak to OVO about the £66 energy assistance payments guaranteed by the UK Government?

I noticed that OVO had refunded £66 to my bank.  But then also noticed they charged me £66 on my bill!  This, surely, cancels out the £66 assistance completely, leaving customers no better off or assisted as promised at all.

Has anyone else seen this?  Has anyone raised this with OVO and received any info as to what on earth is going on?

 

Would be interested to know / hear from anyone else thats seen this, or from OVO to explain themselves.

 

Thanks,

Matt.

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
November 4, 2022

The £66 was actually credited to your bill. If you see a line entry of -£66 Energy Bill Support Scheme, the money was knocked off the bill. Therefore, cancelling out the refund and putting your account back to how it should be.

You may pay it back in if you wish.

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!
Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
November 4, 2022

Here’s an example

 

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!