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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
BPLightlog
Super User
BPLightlogSuper User
Super User
April 15, 2023

You do need to look at the detailed bill @Karen mc not just a summary. Unfortunately because the payment is a reduction on your energy bill it’s not always obvious. 
To complicate it even more, the payments can span months - I’ve had two payments in a month and none in others so you need to look back if you want to check. 

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
Newcomer
Govpayment
Newcomer
May 3, 2023

Jullmac

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately it's what I know already.

I want to know why I can see my cost of living payment refunded but I cant see it coming into my account first.

You would expect to see it going in and out but on my statement it just shows it being refunded. 

This is exactly what I see in my bill. They are taking the government money but not giving us this money. They are actually refunding our own money by taking away £66 from our credit / balance. Someone needs to get Ofstead involved on them. 

    Jeffus
    Rank 20
    Jeffus
    Rank 20
    May 3, 2023

    Jullmac

    Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately it's what I know already.

    I want to know why I can see my cost of living payment refunded but I cant see it coming into my account first.

    You would expect to see it going in and out but on my statement it just shows it being refunded. 

    This is exactly what I see in my bill. They are taking the government money but not giving us this money. They are actually refunding our own money by taking away £66 from our credit / balance. Someone needs to get Ofstead involved on them. 

    Have you contacted OVO and asked them about your specific account?

    No one here can access your account

    https://help.ovoenergy.com/#contact_us_container

    Newcomer
    Govpayment
    Newcomer
    May 3, 2023

    Jullmac

    Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately it's what I know already.

    I want to know why I can see my cost of living payment refunded but I cant see it coming into my account first.

    You would expect to see it going in and out but on my statement it just shows it being refunded. 

    This is exactly what I see in my bill. They are taking the government money but not giving us this money. They are actually refunding our own money by taking away £66 from our credit / balance. Someone needs to get Ofstead involved on them. 

    Have you contacted OVO and asked them about your specific account?

    No one here can access your account

    https://help.ovoenergy.com/#contact_us_container

    I haven’t had a chance yet but have you?

      juliamc
      Rank 20
      juliamc
      Rank 20
      May 3, 2023

      @Ovo ripping us off Gov support have a look at the charges detail in the six bills from October to March. There should be six payments in total and they are a Reduction of your charges. 

        Newcomer
        Karen mc
        Newcomer
        May 4, 2023

        You do need to look at the detailed bill @Karen mc not just a summary. Unfortunately because the payment is a reduction on your energy bill it’s not always obvious. 
        To complicate it even more, the payments can span months - I’ve had two payments in a month and none in others so you need to look back if you want to check. 

        HI thanks for your reply.

        I deliberately get my bills sent to me in a hard copy. However there is no sign of the £66/67 going in. Only the refunded amount reducing my credit balance.

        juliamc
        Rank 20
        juliamc
        Rank 20
        May 4, 2023

        This is the section of my bill showing Energy Bill Support Scheme, a deduction of £67 under Summary of charges, ie reducing the charges. Some months there are two entries, other months no entries. There should be six over the months from October to March.

         

          Rank 2
          Melchett
          Rank 2
          May 6, 2023

          Thank God it’s not just me that’s been scratching my head.  I’ve just spent an hour on a chat with someone from Ovo who imply kept parroting the line that the £67 is credited back to your bank account but couldn’t explain why if it’s a refund my debit increases.  

          Having got nowhere other than going round in circles I looked under the bonnet of my account and it’s clear.  What should be a credit towards your bill ISN’T being treated as a credit, just a reduction in your monthly payment.  So in effect the charges aren’t being reduced, just your monthy payment and the £67 just gets added to your overall debit.

          Which seems to run counter to the Government’s own statement that this money is not to be paid back. And yet by adding it to the debit side of your account, we are paying it back. Ovo are simply defering payment of £67 each month to a later date rather than actually reducing your bill.

          Can anyone from Ovo actually explain this discrepancy between Government intent and Ovo practice? 

           

            juliamc
            Rank 20
            juliamc
            Rank 20
            May 6, 2023

            I’m not from OVO, however the process is: government money goes into your account in the form of a reduction of your charges, then (if you pay by direct debit) OVO send that money on to your bank. If you pay on receipt of the bill the amount of the bill is reduced accordingly.

            The government gave energy companies the choice of paying back or reducing the bill. 

              Newcomer
              tel13
              Newcomer
              May 25, 2023

              Could someone explain please. I have had £66 paid in to my account by OVO which is money from  the government to help with my energy bills. When I receive my monthly bill it shows that I have paid a direct debit of £180 and then from this amount I have had £66 deducted which means I have only paid £114 towards my bill. It seems as though I have been given £66 towards my bill  paid into my account by OVO on behalf of the government and then OVO have taken the money back. So financially I have not received any help. 

                Show more replies
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