Are OVO allowed to increase Direct Debit.

Troytempest

I have just renewed a 1 year fix with OVO for dual fuel at a higher price than the recently expired plan.

They are now sending text messages to say they want to increase my DD from £78 per month to £111 as they estimate that should cover my usage / cost for the new 1 year plan. At present I am £200 in credit and have told them I will either make a 1 off payment or increase my DD if and when my credit has been used up.

They are insistent that they want to increase the DD now - can they insist on doing it or am I within my rights to resist.

Thanks

Ultrasonic

Have you done the sums to work out how much you think would be appropriate given the more expensive tariff?

Bear in mind that a credit balance is normal for many ahead of winter if you are paying the same amount every month of the year.

dbks

Troytempest said:

I have just renewed a 1 year fix with OVO for dual fuel at a higher price than the recently expired plan.

They are now sending text messages to say they want to increase my DD from £78 per month to £111 as they estimate that should cover my usage / cost for the new 1 year plan. At present I am £200 in credit and have told them I will either make a 1 off payment or increase my DD if and when my credit has been used up.

They are insistent that they want to increase the DD now - can they insist on doing it or am I within my rights to resist.

Thanks

The level of DD must be fair and reasonable, but may be subject to terms you agreed when choosing your new tariff (e.g. seasonal billing)

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits/

Ask your supplier for an explanation of how they have arrived at the figure being requested. They are obliged to provide such explanation upon request (most suppliers will provide it by default anyway).

You will then be in a better position to challenge it if you do not agree,

The options you seem to have put forward do not generally meet the terms and conditions of most suppliers, but there's nothing to say it's not something you can try and negotiate over.

If you are willing to pay a 1 off payment today, why not just keep that money in an instant access savings account of your own, and use it to pay the extra £33 per month the supplier is requesting?

Ah, don't Ovo pay interest on credit balances? If so, that would also be a reason they may refuse a 1 off payment. But I can see the advantage to you if they are paying 3% tax free interest.

Troytempest

I am sure I will need a top up at some point either by one off or DD BUT I will be going to Spain for 8 weeks in the winter so although heating will be on it will be at low level.

Good point about the 3% - I must look into that.

tc1992

Troytempest said:

I have just renewed a 1 year fix with OVO for dual fuel at a higher price than the recently expired plan.

They are now sending text messages to say they want to increase my DD from £78 per month to £111 as they estimate that should cover my usage / cost for the new 1 year plan. At present I am £200 in credit and have told them I will either make a 1 off payment or increase my DD if and when my credit has been used up.

They are insistent that they want to increase the DD now - can they insist on doing it or am I within my rights to resist.

Thanks

Likely they are just using you (and their customers) as a bank, in the current crisis.  They have no right to increase you DD if you are £200 in credit.  You are well within your rights to resist it, though get some other opinions as well.

Ultrasonic

tc1992 said:

Troytempest said:

I have just renewed a 1 year fix with OVO for dual fuel at a higher price than the recently expired plan.

They are now sending text messages to say they want to increase my DD from £78 per month to £111 as they estimate that should cover my usage / cost for the new 1 year plan. At present I am £200 in credit and have told them I will either make a 1 off payment or increase my DD if and when my credit has been used up.

They are insistent that they want to increase the DD now - can they insist on doing it or am I within my rights to resist.

Thanks

Likely they are just using you (and their customers) as a bank, in the current crisis.  They have no right to increase you DD if you are £200 in credit.  You are well within your rights to resist it, though get some other opinions as well.

I don't think the part in bold is true, if this is a surplus built up on a fixed monthly DD amount intended to cover the higher energy use over winter.

GunJack

Ultrasonic said:

tc1992 said:

Troytempest said:

I have just renewed a 1 year fix with OVO for dual fuel at a higher price than the recently expired plan.

They are now sending text messages to say they want to increase my DD from £78 per month to £111 as they estimate that should cover my usage / cost for the new 1 year plan. At present I am £200 in credit and have told them I will either make a 1 off payment or increase my DD if and when my credit has been used up.

They are insistent that they want to increase the DD now - can they insist on doing it or am I within my rights to resist.

Thanks

Likely they are just using you (and their customers) as a bank, in the current crisis.  They have no right to increase you DD if you are £200 in credit.  You are well within your rights to resist it, though get some other opinions as well.

I don't think the part in bold is true, if this is a surplus built up on a fixed monthly DD amount intended to cover the higher energy use over winter.

especially as the new 12-month fix will be at much higher rates than the one just ending....

Ultrasonic

GunJack said:

Ultrasonic said:

tc1992 said:

Troytempest said:

I have just renewed a 1 year fix with OVO for dual fuel at a higher price than the recently expired plan.

They are now sending text messages to say they want to increase my DD from £78 per month to £111 as they estimate that should cover my usage / cost for the new 1 year plan. At present I am £200 in credit and have told them I will either make a 1 off payment or increase my DD if and when my credit has been used up.

They are insistent that they want to increase the DD now - can they insist on doing it or am I within my rights to resist.

Thanks

Likely they are just using you (and their customers) as a bank, in the current crisis.  They have no right to increase you DD if you are £200 in credit.  You are well within your rights to resist it, though get some other opinions as well.

I don't think the part in bold is true, if this is a surplus built up on a fixed monthly DD amount intended to cover the higher energy use over winter.

especially as the new 12-month fix will be at much higher rates than the one just ending....

Yes, it's the combination I've been referring to in my posts above. If the surplus was intended to accrue to cover winter bills on the old tariff then it's existence doesn't demonstrate incorrect past billing, and an increase would now be justified on the basis of the tariff costs having increased.

To actually work out if the increase is reasonable it is necessary to actually do the sums I asked about in my first post...

(I won't be at all surprised if the increase is excessive but I'm just saying it's not obvious if it is or not.)

Troytempest

In the blurb they have justified the increase, I just don't want to pay anymore until I work off the surplus.

Ultrasonic

Troytempest said:

In the blurb they have justified the increase, I just don't want to pay anymore until I work off the surplus.

Not wanting to is a rather different thing to asking if it's reasonable or not...

MWT

Troytempest said:

In the blurb they have justified the increase, I just don't want to pay anymore until I work off the surplus.

When paying via DD there is an element of expectation that you maintain the account with enough credit to cover the next bill before it is due, so depending upon when the next bill is due and when your next DD payment is due, that £200 credit may be a lot less than you think.

You generally get lower prices for paying this way and the T&C for your tariff will often have elements in it to require that you maintain the account balance in credit.

Given that the higher winter bills will be approaching soon, it is not unusual to have a decent credit balance at this point, nor is it unusual to see the DD being revised upwards as your unit costs have increased.

So in all probability the new DD is reasonable.