Will my tariff increase if I cancel my direct debit?

Having come out of a fixed deal in August my monthly d/d has increased from £120 to £410. 
 

I intend to try and negotiate a significant reduction as clearly will be using less gas & elec this winter where possible in comparison to previous years. At the very max I’d be prepared to pay £290 which is in line with anticipated average cost. I live in an average 3 bedroom home, two adults & one child. 

My question is, if Ovo refuse & I instead decide to cancel my d/d and pay for what I use, what effect does this have on the standard cost for elec/gas? It’s implied that you pay slightly less when you pay via d/d but I can’t see anywhere that confirms what kind of discount is applied? Does anybody know? 
 

Hi @josh_welsh ,

It’s said that on average, paying by Direct Debit is around £200 a year cheaper than any other method. You might want to talk to the Support Team next week about adjusting your payments back down for three months, but please be advised that you might need to talk to the Collections Team instead for this, their number is 0800 069 9831.

A three month freeze should be enough for the billing platform to get enough data to recalculate - as long as you continue to submit regular meter readings. I’d ideally recommend submitting them at least once a week until next spring if possible, as this extra data will help a lot.

However, this may not always be in your best interests, so please consider it carefully before making that request.

I hope this helps.

I believe these reviewed DD`s are just computer generated on very limited data. Ovo want to double my DD which has already been significantly increased. It does not take into consideration that my account is nearly £1000 in credit. We also have 2.5 kw of solar on the roof which reduces daytime costs. Neither do the DD projections take into consideration any help from the government btw where is that promised £400. As for contacting Ovo on the telephone just check the thread devoted to that subject ie difficult or nearly impossible. I have never been in arrears and I find it insulting that Ovo can just increase my DD without my express permission, they say they will give give 10 days notice but if Ovo is not contactable how will that work? I have been with Ovo for many years but really not happy with the way things are being handled by them.

Hi @trilleen ,

I’m one of the forum volunteers here. I’m also the volunteer who wrote up the guide about the Energy Bills Support Scheme on the forum, which you can find at 

It is also worth noting that the EBSS £400 discount is actually being applied as a rebate, not a discount. You still need to pay in the full DD each month, but will then get a refund of £66 or £67 depending on which month you’re in. The FULL amount of the payment will still be applied to your OVO account however, and you’re welcome to pay the rebate back in if you want to use it as a top-up payment to help with the bills.

If you have any concerns about your payments, please call the Collections Team on 0800 069 9831 and they can advise further.

You could pay by DD on actual bills, to retain the benefit of DD prices. The benefit of doing so compared to standard credit prices is £200+ on an annual basis (October prices) for an average user, more if you’ a larger consumer.

If you post your region I can give you the gory detail.

How would this work in cornwall

This aught not to a problem for anyone on a smart meter ie no estimated bills or meter reads required. My beef is ovo upping DD`s in advance on “projected” market conditions. The government has to intervene like many EU countries have done as many consumers on fixed incomes will be simply unable to pay these prices. Failure on the governments part to act will result in much hardship and the decimation of peoples savings and send many SME`s into bankruptcy. Unfortunately its looks like we will not be lead by the brightest & best  in government.

Prices in the South Western region follow.  But to answer the question for all areas, unit prices of both Gas and electricity from October 2022 are 5.3% higher on standard credit than direct debit in all regions.  Standing charges are 17.7% higher for gas (applies to all UK regions), and 12.1% - 16% higher for electricity depending on region (London is the highest!).  Standard credit is always more expensive than direct debit.  Paying after the bill is raised by cheque wastes your money.