I've chosen a Fixed plan but might be better switching to Simpler Energy - Am I able to cancel my renewal and fix in again at a later date?

You should know that the Price Cap no longer changes every six months - it’s now every three months. Your savings would not be guaranteed beyond that.

I’d recommend you lock in a new fix deal instead - this would waive the exit fee and may save you more than the variable rate offer. Please call Support to discuss your options either way.

Hi @Corgimajor, 

I can see @Blastoise186 has already given some expert advice on this so far. The price cap is now reviewed every 3 months and I have left the dates below for you. While we can only guess on how this will look going forward, I welcome you ensuring you’re on the best tariff. 

24 May 2024 – period 1 July to 30 September 2024

27 August 2024 – period 1 October to 31 December 2024

25 November 2024 – period 1 January to 31 March 2025

Please reach out to our Support Team and they can make any tariff adjustments you need. Leaving a fixed tariff isn’t something that can be done through the app. I hope this helps.

You might be better off using a browser. There are several routes which may get you to where you want to be:

https://account.ovoenergy.com/renewal
https://products.ovoenergy.com/journey/renewal/energy-renewal
https://products.ovoenergy.com/journey/switch/get-quote

The offerings won’t necessarily be the same, because one set may show current prices while another shows the prices for April-June. Beware of the VAT: it’s not always included. 

Beware, too, if the process wants to set up a new account. There’s no need, and it can be awkward if you plough on to discover that all your account history has vanished (BTDT!). Back out before it’s too late.

Hi @Blastoise186 and Hi @ChristopherS_OVO,

Thanks for your feedback and guidance.  I already understood Ofgem set the Cap every three months now - but thanks for checking.  My Fixed price tariff is currently set at 29.25 ppkWh (inc VAT) and the Cap from 1st Apr is 24.50 ppkWh (inc VAT).  Whilst no one can predict with certainty what’s happening with energy prices the current market wisdom is that the Cap for 3Q will fall further still to ca 21-22 ppkwh.  So I think I’ll take my chances on cancelling my fixed price and settling for a variable one.  I’ll consider an alternative OVO fixed price if as @Blastoise186 suggests this will avoid the £75 penalty fee, but being out of an annual contract in the 3rd Quarter may allow me more flexibility to see what other suppliers are offering on fixed price deals.

OK, so just cancelled the fixed price contract with OVO accounts team.  Pretty straight forward and whilst I was offered the opportunity to move on to another 1 year fixed price contract from today at a rate lower than my existing one, it wasn’t a stunning offer (25.37 ppkWh inc VAT for electricity) and importantly they would not waive the £75 cancellation fee from my existing contract - so please note this @Blastoise186 as it runs contrary to your earlier guidance (but perhaps you thought I was less than 49 days from the end of my current contract?).

Feels odd to be happy to pay the £75 penalty fee, but I feel (barring any further global calamities) happier now knowing that I’m going to enjoy lower variable pricing from 1st April and be free to exercise choice if competition in the domestic energy market for fixed price offers improves in the summer.

@Corgimajor

Cancellation fee depends on the fixed plan

These are two recent plans. Only some fixed plans waive the fee.

It can be confusing with ovo sometimes. Just be careful to check the terms of any contract you sign up to if you want the flexibility to cancel.

Hi @Jeffus ,  The customer support administrator was quite clear when I asked the direct question (I was keen to establish the facts) and he advised I would be charged the £75 penalty fee even if I did transfer to another Fixed Priced agreement with OVO.  So either he interpreted my terms incorrectly or the terms of the deal I did last October were different.

Either way thanks for the heads up, but given I didn't want to switch to a new Fixed Price contract this was not an issue for me.

Sounds like the latter to me - the newer contracts are the ones more likely to waive the fee if you’re moving between plans. And the Simpler Energy tariff never carries any exit fee regardless of what you do.

The current two year plan on my renewal page doesn't waive the fee

The one year plan does 

It’s good that the change of tariff has been resolved with the accounts team in such a satisfactorily straightforward way, and many thanks for keeping us so well posted on what is a very relevant tariff-juggling conundrum for all us consumers these days.

Of course paying an exit fee of £75 to save between, say, 5p and 9p per kWh (depending on what happens in the next few Price Cap reviews) until decision-time, say, around Autumn at contract-end would imply a “payback” requirement of anything up to around 1500 kWh over the six or seven upcoming less demanding summer months.

It’s clear from the precise figures discussed by @Corgimajor that they’ll have done all the pertinent calculations, but the necessary consumption to justify the exit fee (especially given the 7 week grace cancellation period) could well be a trip hazard for some, depending on the accuracy of their projected usage and, in my case at any rate, degree of impetuosity! My own contract finishes in May, so I’ve been following all this with a degree of personal interest!