£66 government energy bills support scheme deducted from my OVO account balance not added?
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?
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For the vulnerable people i know, a reduction in the direct debit would have been better. It would have reduced the risk of them being overdrawn on their bank account for a few days in the period between taking the direct debit and getting the £66.
That is a valid argument - thanks for putting it forward. However, it sounds as if these customers might be well advised to move the date of their DD, e.g. to the day after (a) payday.
As regards the ‘few days’, in my case it was less than 48 hours: DD on 10 October, credit to my bank account at dawn on 12 October. OMMV.
I’m one of those who would be struggling without the EBSS, so I’m afraid I can’t follow your admirable example.
Hey @Wendy64,
Sorry for the issues you’re having.
It sounds like you’re PAYG with Boost? We have more information about how the Energy Bills Support Scheme payment will be paid to Boost customers in this similar thread:
If you haven’t received yours or are concerned you aren’t able to top up, please get in touch with Boost Support. As @Blastoise186 pointed out they can offer things like emergency credit or financial support. You also could discuss with them changing to pay monthly with OVO if you think that would suit you better.
Hope this helps.
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.
@Jamie80 can you check on your Charges Breakdown - there should be an entry Energy Bill Support Scheme -£66 which is a negative charge ie a payment into your account.
@Jamie80 can you check on your Charges Breakdown - there should be an entry Energy Bill Support Scheme -£66 which is a negative charge ie a payment into your account.
Hi @juliamc it does show -£66 as a refund. But this is added to my bill total, not deducted. Unless I am missing something or maybe not understanding this correctly!?
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.
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.
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!
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!
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. !!!!!!!!!!!
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.
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?
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.
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.
Here’s an example
Hi Blastoise, I disagree. If it credited to my account then my balance at the time would have gone from circa £159 in credit, to circa £225 in credit.
But it was charged, not credited. so £159 Credit effectively became circa £97 in credit before monthly DD went in.
Yes, £66 was refunded to my bank, but that only makes up what you charged me, it’s never been an actual credit to my balance.
Why dont OVO just; a) refund £66 to bank after DD is paid or b) just credit each account with £66?
What you’ve actually done is resulted in net Zero assistance for everyone.
Also, nowhere on my account is there anything detailing a credit as per the example you’re showing. Nothing at all.
I don’t work for OVO myself and can’t access your account as I’m just a forum volunteer.
If you cannot find any traces of the credits, please let the Support Team know. They will be able to investigate and force the credits through if it didn’t deliver automatically.
OVO also initially started by refunding you after the DD came through. But people got impatient and started complaining about it taking too long, so OVO’s been working on tweaking it in the background.
It’s ultimately being done this way to provide full transparency about exactly what’s happening. I’ve had two payments through now without issue - but the government wants the money to land in your bank account. That fact, means OVO cannot just credit your account and leave it there.
Also, nowhere on my account is there anything detailing a credit as per the example you’re showing. Nothing at all.
Hi @aviatormja
Let's see if i can help at all?
What are the start and end dates of your last billing period?
@aviatormja is there a line on your Charges in Detail section ? Your Total charges are £37.52 which is low compared to your Direct Debit of £110. Have a look at the detail and there should be Energy Bill Support Scheme -£66 which is a negative charge ie a payment into your account.
Ok, so the -£66 was CHARGED on the bill dated 24th October. On 23rd October I was £159 IN CREDIT, the balance at the end of 24th October was £97 in credit, once some usages were also charged.
This to anyone who can add/subtract is a glaring LOSS of £66.
even if it was refunded to my bank, I’ve only broken even and not physically received the promised assistance of £66.
I am showing no detailed credit details anywhere, even if I was, the end result as it stands today, is still the same.
Ok, so the -£66 was CHARGED on the bill dated 24th October. On 23rd October I was £159 IN CREDIT, the balance at the end of 24th October was £97 in credit, once some usages were also charged.
This to anyone who can add/subtract is a glaring LOSS of £66.
even if it was refunded to my bank, I’ve only broken even and not physically received the promised assistance of £66.
I am showing no detailed credit details anywhere, even if I was, the end result as it stands today, is still the same.
Hi @aviatormja what are the start and end dates of the billing period above?
As per this screen shot.
As per this screen shot.
Thanks @aviatormja
Can you click on See details in the bill for the period 25 Sep 2022 to 24 Oct 2022.
Then post what you see. It may need a couple of screen shots.
Can only see this:
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