Standing Order instead of Direct Debit.

Rollinghome

[Deleted User] said

  Bill is raised on the 1st of each month and they take a DD amount some 16 days later or so

Would suit me.  Does it require a smart meter?

[Deleted User]

Rollinghome said:

[Deleted User] said

  Bill is raised on the 1st of each month and they take a DD amount some 16 days later or so

Would suit me.  Does it require a smart meter?

I doubt it.  Although I have SMETS2 meters, Eon Next have only just started being able to pull the readings off my meters.  Prior to this all my readings have been submitted manually.  If you follow the link in pochase's post and contact them requesting that they setup the billing date generation for a certain date they may well accomodate your wishes.  I suspect too late for their wheels to set it up for July 1st but August 1st should be doable.  Make sure you submit the readings on 1st August prompt if you were to do this - I have done my manual reads just after midnight at the very start of the billing date.  

Emma3476

I've called my energy company OVO to arrange a credit refund. I'm always between £700 and £900 in credit having both my Gas and Electricity with them. They agreed to give me 2 months credit but in doing so would then increase my monthly payment by approximately £100 to ensure i will always have credit in 'my pot' i have never had less then £400 credit on my account even in some of the winter periods and they have already increased my monthly payments at the beginning of the Summer…not sure of the logic there? a bit disgruntled (but polite) i asked for an explanation as to why they keep increasing my payments when i'm always in credit. The advice was if i want full control of my payments then i should set up a standing order. Great advice, i thought.. and asked this to be actioned. Until i've just read these comments. Not at any point did the call handler advise of the change to tariff doing this. Any advice please, do continue to pay far more than my usage and continually be in credit or pay a higher tariff neither seems beneficial right now. Thanks

QrizB

Welcome to the forum @Emma3476 .

Any advice please, do continue to pay far more than my usage and continually be in credit or pay a higher tariff neither seems beneficial right now.

If you want to continue paying DD prices, you'll have to reinstate your DD.

What tariff are you on with OVO - is it a fixed tariff or are you on the standard variable tariff (SVT)?

I don't know if OVO offer the option of monthly variable DD (MVDD), where you pay for each month by DD as it is billed, but if you're on the SVT there are other suppliers that charge the same or less and which do accept MVDD. Fuse, for example, defaults to MVDD payment.

Ildhund

@Emma3476 OVO don't do Monthly Variable Direct Debits (MVDD), so that option isn't open to you.

Do you have smart meters? OVO operate a 'live billing' system, so the account balance is updated each day to reflect the previous day's usage and any other charges or credits. "I'm always between £700 and £900 in credit" would suggest that your DD is set to £200; the balance will be lowest the day before the DD is taken and highest the following day. If this is the case, then with £700 as the account's low-water-mark, you should be able to request a refund of £100 online or £500 by contacting Support.

OVO also have a policy of requiring DD accounts never to fall below one month's costs in credit. This acts as a buffer, preventing the account from falling into debt should anything go wrong with the DD payment and giving customers a month to put it right. So depleting the account to the minimum following a refund will almost certainly trigger an increase in the DD amount.

Scot_39

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82169744#Comment_82169744

Standing orders do not AFAIK qualify for direct debit rates at any supplier per se - and Ovo AFAIK do not do monthly variable direct debits.

And on their annual plans they now have quite an aggressive credit sufficiency system in place - that projects your cyclical balance ever month of the year to that point - and expects a month in credit at the end of Mar

https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/article/how-do-direct-debits-work

And by the sounds of it - your current DD level has already been adjusted to reflect the credit.

And if so potentially the new DD would have to add refund / 5 or refund / 6 to get to the same 1m balance in Mar.

Although in theory any payment on account at some can be combined with very low DD payments - iirc some pay forumites say they pay Octopus MVDD by various means inc cashback cards alongside a nominal DD arrangement in £s or £10s - to secure the DD rate. And Ofgem happy as long as account stays out of debit.

I suspect you almost certainly will be now paying standard credit rates - current DD cap £1723 - current SC is £1861 - £138 / 8% more - normally both higher SC and higher unit rates.

If you werent told that - and the rates are higher complain - ask for the DD to be reinstated and a refund on higher SC and rates paid in interim.

If you can afford to budget seasonally (£200 annualized DD might be £100-150 in summer and £250-£350 in hard winter if use a lot of heat) and want MVDD you will have to move suppliers.

Prepay may be an another option if can budget and desperately want to stay at Ovo - modern smart pay isn't normally traipsing down to the local store in all weathers with a key in one hand and £10 in the other anymore.

If willing to switch then ask by phone when setting up or when account setup to switch from annualized to MVDD.

Not all suppliers do it though - so do check before switching.

WiserMiser

It's likely that Ovo brand will disappear because E.On Next now own them, although the timescale is not yet known. E.On Next offer Monthly Variable Direct Debit, but you'll have to request it, it's not an online option.

Presumably you aren't liable to any exit fees — so why not use a few Ofgem approved comparison sites and ask the top companies whether they offer MVDD? Otherwise it could be a long wait...

Scot_39

It took maybe 2-3 years for them to transition both nPower and EOn customers over to EOn Next - combined maybe 1.5-2m customers more than Ovo's 4m.

It might be a long wait.

But as above - as Ovo used to offer it - it might be something they can switch facility back in.