Switching and worried about new Direct Debit level

blackqueen

I have just arranged a switch from my capped tariff on Scottish Power to Ovo Energy as it was a better deal, through Energywatch. I have had my welcome letter through from Ovo now but it says the direct debit levels will initially be set at £108 a month! This is OVER double what I was paying at Scottish Power! I know they said they will then review it but there is NO WAY I can afford £108 a month from January and Scottish Power always regularly sent me £300 a year in refund. I am absolutely terrified about this new charge. How am I going to be able to afford it? :eek:

I have tried to phone Scottish Power who sent me a letter asking me to reconsider but I can't get through on their phone as they are on constant recorded loop. Ovo, of course, aren't open Saturdays and Monday is Christmas Eve. Can anyone please advise? I am sitting here absolutely sick with worry about this now.

chris1973

Go back to paying quarterly cash / cheque or card, and submit quarterly meter readings and pay for exactly what you use. Will remove any risk of being overcharged or having your DD mis-calculated.

Seems to me that the majority of people having issues / debt on this forum are paying by DD and its not a coincidence. Sometimes what the energy companies feel is best isn't the best for you the customer, besides if enough customers silently protest by migrating back to old fashioned methods of payment, maybe they'll call their direct debit dogs to heel.

At worst it will cost you 1% - 2% more for your energy, but it will save you overpaying or getting into debt, and (judging by a lot of threads here), a whole load of aggro.

jalexa

chris1973 wrote: »

Go back to paying quarterly cash / cheque or card, and submit quarterly meter readings and pay for exactly what you use...

In general I agree your idea has a lot of merit, however AFAIAA OVO only offer direct debit tariffs. [not sure what they would do if a customer cancelled direct debit but I expect the terms & conditions will cover that]

jalexa

blackqueen wrote: »

it says the direct debit levels will initially be set at £108 a month! This is OVER double what I was paying at Scottish Power! I know they said they will then review it but there is NO WAY I can afford £108 a month from January and Scottish Power always regularly sent me £300 a year in refund.

*If* you were paying (say) £54/month and receiving a £300 annual rebate you were consuming an average of £29/month. That is very low. Bear in mind the OVO direct debit procedure makes it clear there is a 25% seasonal uplift until 'spring' ( 3, max 4 payments) at which time payments should revert to annual cost/12.

This is not a Scottish Power matter however you should ask Scottish Power what your annual consumption was and ensure that is being used by OVO in calculating your payment. How *exactly* did you state your annual consumption when initiating the switch?

http://www.ovoenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Understanding_the_link_between_your_Direct_Debit_and_energy_consumption.pdf

blackqueen

Thanks for the input people. My consumption IS very low as I live alone and am out at work during the day and I am VERY careful. This just seems an extortionate uplift to me and one I can't afford! Shocking behaviour by the energy companies and no-one warns you of this when you switch!

blackqueen

Jalexa, I will check what figures I gave Ovo as I can't see how they made their calculations. Even with a 25% uplift this is wrong. This is a 100% uplift! Something has definitely gone wrong somewhere - I wonder if they took my monthly payment for BOTH fuels to be for EACH! I did it over the phone with Energywatch. I will check. I hope they are open on Monday.

jalexa

blackqueen wrote: »

This just seems an extortionate uplift to me and one I can't afford! Shocking behaviour by the energy companies and no-one warns you of this when you switch!

How can it be "shocking" when you haven't asked them the basis of the calculation. They have quoted "average + uplift". I ask again, did you state anywhere in your switch process what your previous annual consumption was?

Keep calm, ask a civil question of OVO. If you remain dissatisfied raise a formal complaint.

Edit:

Post crossed with your most recent post. I agree most likely "something has gone wrong". Good theory, but I would mainly rely on your annual consumptions provided by Scottish Power.

t0rt0ise

Just tell them "no" politely. I did that last time I changed to Ovo. I told them that I was changing to them for cheaper power, and I would be willing to pay x amount a month and if they didn't agree I'd be forced to cancel. Of course now you've got this far, if you cancel you'll have to pay the termination fee so you should've done this earlier in the process. But you can still tell them what you want to pay.