Ovo ridiculous direct debit

beefturnmail

I just switched to Ovo's fixed price deal via moneysupermarket, and got an e-mail back from Ovo saying my direct debit would be set at £104 - this is an absolutely ludicrous figure - almost double my actual usage and, I worked out, would be too high, even if I continued to use energy at the same rate as the past week (when it's been dark and snowing), throughout the year.

I e-mailed back threatening to cancel the switch unless it was lowered to a more sensible figure, but have heard nothing back yet.

Has anyone had any luck getting ovo to lower the direct debit? I'm considering deliberately underestimating my usage when doing a price comparison switch next time...

TwittersPVFC

I can't speak from personal experience (yet) as I've only just moved onto DD having been paying quarterly by credit card, but a lot of people on here have said they've seen DD's set high when they switch at this time as the companies like you to be with a 0 balance when April comes. So they set it high as you haven't had the summer to build up any positive credit.

I may well find that my DD's go up when my switch occurs too!

jennikitten

I had a similar problem with EDF, who started massively overestimating my usage despite 3 years of bills to reference. They started taking increasing amounts from my debit card for no apparent reason; my account was in credit anyway & they never had a problem taking money. I told them that I wasn't going to give them an extra £50/month that I didn't owe unless they were becoming a bank and were going to give me interest...at the end of the year I would have been over £600 in credit with them, now that's just stupid.

In the end I gave up and now just pay the bills monthly. If they weren't going to play silly beggars then I would've been happy with the DD. I think these things are more hassle than they are worth, luckily my money saving tip is sharing a house with 3 other people so the bills are quite small anyway.

sofa-spud

beefturnmail wrote: »

I just switched to Ovo's fixed price deal via moneysupermarket, and got an e-mail back from Ovo saying my direct debit would be set at £104 - this is an absolutely ludicrous figure - almost double my actual usage and, I worked out, would be too high, even if I continued to use energy at the same rate as the past week (when it's been dark and snowing), throughout the year.

When I switched recently (Oct) to them I too had to query the DD amount they stated. They explained that customers are expected to use 25% more in the winter period than the summer & the amount would be reviewed in April. As long as the amount is reduced according to the same formula (which they confirmed by email) it should balance out without either side being in debt to the other. This was based on detailed consumption figures that I have though.

beefturnmail

Thanks,

So what is to stop my cancelling the switch, then switching it again a few days later but then underestimating the figures I put in to the price compare web-site by 25%.... Anyone see a problem with this tactic?

backfoot

OVO pay 3% interest on credit balances.

beefturnmail

I didn't know they pay interest on credit balances... Can anoyne verify how this works in practice - i.e. how do they calculate the interest paid?

sofa-spud

beefturnmail wrote: »

I didn't know they pay interest on credit balances... Can anoyne verify how this works in practice - i.e. how do they calculate the interest paid?

http://www.ovoenergy.com/help-centre/
(Under payments & statements)
It is not quite clear (to me) on exactly what figure the interest is paid on, i.e. whether it opening, closing balance or what. I have had 1 bill from them so far, this did not show any interest earned.
If you follow their method the AER I believe works out higher than 3% as (by their method) you are compounding over subsequent months when in credit if the interest is applied to the total credit balance on the account...:think:

charlie792

Wow a £104 sounds a lot, I hope they don't try charging us anywhere near that amount! We're only using about £18 a month of elec and £25 a month of gas at present (it worked out only about £13 elec and £10 gas during the summer!) Im in the process of switching to OVO so will be interesting to see what they try and charge me....

t0rt0ise

I joined OVO when in my last house and they asked for a higher DD than I was paying the previous supplier so I told them that I was changing to them because they were supposed to be cheaper so I wasn't going to pay more and if they insisted on it I'd cancel. They then agreed that I should pay what I had suggested.. £10 lower than with the previous supplier. In the April, they then lowered it another £10 as I had been right and had paid enough for the winter months. So stick to your guns and you'll get the DD set as you want it.

JasX

backfoot wrote: »

OVO pay 3% interest on credit balances.

after tax?.... we should al be opening OVO savings accounts then