Unexplained change to direct debits?

This whole thread so far is being too polite. Financial years end on the 31st March each year. Ovo have chosen 2026 to shift cash flow flow/losses further down the road. If they use it to increase everyones DD amounts artificially, well, I shall continue the politeness in the hope this gets responses before it is deleted. Ofgem everyone. It is fraud. If a customer is on a fix until summer 2025 their projections should be based on that just as they were until this change, not the following spring!

I’m off to read even more about the soon to be bankrupt Vertical Aerospace.

Mine too, and I suspect that they all will be showing that.
I’m guessing that ‘Recommended’ has been switched off while they work out what to do next, at least doing that should stop the computer from automatically banging peoples DD’s up to the new ‘Recommended’.

Out of interest is your current FAC (you can find it on your online account Plan page) anywhere near your actual last 12 months usage?

My recommended DD’s are now usually around £10 a month too high, because my FAC for gas is currently about 20% higher than my actual gas usage from the past 12 months.
My electricity FAC is spot on to within 2 Kwh.

Hi @Nukecad 

Like you my FAC for electricity is pretty close (2441 to 2450 kWh), OVO’s gas estimate is 9647 kWh, whereas I estimate last 12 months to be 9170 kWh. Not bad but still 5% high.

In the 12 months to Dec 2023 it was 9610 kWh, but this has fallen throughout the year, most of which was below 9000 kWh reaching a minimum of 8899 kWh (Apr 2024). 

Oh Oh! DD estimation is back and “working”!

This is what happens when you try to fix broken software on the cheap .... or rather, bodge the input to save you from actually making any effort to fix the broken software that gets increasingly erratic the closer you get to the 31st March.

Out of interest, why has this been marked as "solved" when @Emmanuelle_OVO hasn't even addressed what was asked?

It would be good if we could concentrate here on the “Unexplained change to direct debits” and set aside any reservations we may have about how the projected usage is derived. 

The DD calculator was adjusted last year to reach low water at 31 March the following year. This is a sensible move, since that date marks the end of the winter semester after which most customers would see a credit balance building up. It wasn’t a pleasant move for those in debt, because the number of months left to pay back the deficit was lower, meaning that DDs would have to increase. They would then need revising once March was passed. Adding another 12 months to the repayment period naturally makes it easier for these customers.

This isn’t the case for customers currently in credit. In my own case, it means that when my one-year fixed-rate contract expires next May, my account is guaranteed to be in credit to the tune of 5.4 Direct Debit amounts. This is inexcusable. 

I don’t subscribe to the theories that this is an evil manoeuvre on OVO’s part to improve their cash flow. I think it’s more likely to be intended to alleviate the pain of customers in debt at the start of winter, when account balances should be at their highest. If OVO’s customer debt/credit situation is anything like their competitors’, they are owed much more than they hold in customer credit. Using that credit to help debtors may be socially admirable, but it’s not fair on customers in credit.

FYI:

Fair enough, I can see what you are saying there about building up credit over summer to cover your winter usage.

However - as that transition is being done it will cause issues for some.

All migrations/transitions to new systems are going to cause issues for some.

I guess how you see that is whether you currently have a credit balance or a debit balance. (This year, it was the opposite way round last year).

Plus there does not seem to have been much thought given to how this current change actually affects new Fixed Term contracts ongoing - or at least no thought given to explaining it so that customers can understand.

Eg. Are all new 1-year Fixed Term contracts only going to start on 31st March?

Or are they all going to be more than 1-year so that they all end on 31st March?

It would (it already does as this thread shows) seem perverse to have a calculation end date that is not the same as the end of the fixed term.

Just been reading the concerns of other members regarding changes to direct debits outside of agreed plan. My plan goes through to October 2025 , OVO now want to get it in balance  by end of financial year ? whos financial year ?  Have written to OVO regarding this and part of their reply is copied and pasted here.  “”There is a bug in the system that has made it so that customers have been receiving communications regarding direct debit reviews with the end date of 2026. This is actually supposed to say 2025, we apologise for the confusion. The other information is correct; although your plan runs until October, we use March as this is the end of the tax year.””. How is this change correct when I like many others are on a twelve monthly plan>

Interesting. Where did you first see this reference to the financial year, or the tax year for that matter? 

Did you get an email about a DD review? Could you reproduce it here for those of us still reeling from this latest bombshell? (If you do, please obscure any personal information you’re not happy to share.)  

Hi there Firedog.  On checking my account  04/11/24 noticed that OVO were asking for changes to my direct debit when last week they were saying direct payment was in order. They now want an extra £22:00 per month to cover a supposed shortfall of £329:00 . My current plan was taken out on 11th October 2024. No email was sent  to me regarding a review or reasoning behind possible changes. The information in my posting came today in a reply from customer services after my raising a complaint. It does not help when dates we are working with are plucked from the air or blamed on a computer glitch.

Hi ####,

My name is ###, I'm an advisor here at OVO. I tried to call you but was unable to get through.

There is a bug in the system that has made it so that customers have been receiving communications regarding direct debit reviews with the end date of 2026. This is actually supposed to say 2025, we apologise for the confusion. The other information is correct; although your plan runs until October, we use March as this is the end of the tax year.

Currently your direct debit is £187 however the recommended direct debit for you is £209. Your account is currently £53.36 in debit, so the direct debit reviews look at your projected usage and aim to change the direct debit to a suitable amount that will lave you in credit by the end of the tax year.

I hope this clears up any confusion.

I just want to make you aware you may receive a survey after this asking you to rate my service today. This survey is specifically about me, not OVO as a whole. I do hope you're satisfied by me today and look forward to your feedback. You may also receive a trust pilot email. 

All the best,