Ovo DD massive hike

Ceolmar

I switched to Ovo after joining the MSE Cheap Energy Club on a £40 per month deal. I've been with them for about five months and today I get an email saying my Direct Debit will increase from £40 to £57 - an increase of almost 50%!!

I switched because EDF had threatened to put my DD up to £47 which was bad enough. I'm a single person living in a one bed flat which is all electric. I rarely turn the heating on till November because of the costs but this is ludicrous :-(

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


You wouldn't have had a '£40' deal with any company; that would be the level of the initial Direct Debit. That DD will be adjusted up or down depending on your present consumption and the prediction of future consumption over the winter.


It would be quite easy to spend £1,000 a year in an all electric 1 bed flat(assuming you are not on Economy 7 with storage heating)

System

Ceolmar wrote: »

I switched to Ovo after joining the MSE Cheap Energy Club on a £40 per month deal. I've been with them for about five months and today I get an email saying my Direct Debit will increase from £40 to £57 - an increase of almost 50%!!

:-(

Hi. As Cardew has said, there is no such thing as an energy deal other than a tariff which you have agreed to when you switched. Your monthly payments are based on nothing more than a 'best guess'. Having said that, Ovo is arguably one of the better energy suppliers when it comes to monitoring your account. I assume that you have been giving them actual monthly readings as requested? You also need to check MyOvo to see which DD plan you are on. The ts and cs that you signed up to are here:

http://www.ovoenergy.com/coreterms2014/

JJ_Egan

As said what tariff and what have you used .

You did not join anything on a £40 per month deal you joined at x amount per day and x amount kwh charge .The DD is worked out on what you actually use via your supplied meter readings .

maas

Ceolmar wrote: »

I switched to Ovo after joining the MSE Cheap Energy Club on a £40 per month deal. I've been with them for about five months and today I get an email saying my Direct Debit will increase from £40 to £57 - an increase of almost 50%!!

Reading this forum, its interesting the number of people that dont grasp the concept that "you pay for what you use". The DD is just a payment on account towards your actual usage.

Maybe the suppliers need to emphasise this more to customers when signing up and that the DD will adjust to meet usage.

System

I have some sympathy with the OP. The problem is that OFGEM has responded to Govt concerns by insisting that energy companies review usage more frequently than was the case 2 years ago - the aim being to achieve a zero energy balance at the end of each year. Looking at Ovo's ts and cs, I am not sure that they could do more. Moreover, the MyOvo account shows a lot of information to aid the customer. I would argue that there is probably too much information on the site.

maas

Perhaps the comparison sites are partly to blame. You put your credentials in and they advise that you will save X amount by switching and you monthly payment will be X. Maybe thats where the problem starts and it needs to be made more clear.

System

maas wrote: »

Perhaps the comparison sites are partly to blame. You put your credentials in and they advise that you will save X amount by switching and you monthly payment will be X. Maybe thats where the problem starts and it needs to be made more clear.

OFGEM have made a mess of comparison sites as well IMHO. That said, this is hardly rocket science. You put your projected usage in and the site comes out with an estimated annual total which divided by 12 gives a monthly DD amount. Fine as good as it goes. However, to complicate matters further, smaller companies such as Ovo want the monthly DD payment in advance of supply and they also state that new customers starting late in the year may pay higher DDs to avoid a big debit balance at the end of Winter. These are the unintended consequences of the OFGEM policy. Like many, I would prefer a standard DD payable throughout the year with any credit/debit balance carried forward. Obviously, the credit/debit balance has to be within sensible limits. The problem is that:

a. People think that the monthly DD is a payment on an agreed annual deal to supply energy however much is used.

b. People say 'wow' when the DD falls and do not do the sensible thing and put the money into a 'contingency fund'.

c. People cry foul when the DD is raised without bothering to look to see whether it was based on actual or estimated usage.

OVO_Energy

Hi there Ceolmar,

Direct Debits will vary based on consumption and can be increased anddecreased dependent on the time of year and the usage. If you can send us someup to date readings and your account number to [EMAIL="socialmedia@ovoenergy.com"]socialmedia@ovoenergy.com[/EMAIL], we’llsee what we can do to help.

Thanks, OVO