Ofgem Deadlock Letter

AnnieMoss11

My elderly mother is an OVO (formerly SSE) energy customer for Gas and Electric. 

She has dementia andhas recently moved into a care home so I'm looking after the house / finances etc., as LPOA. 

She gets paper bills as preferred (and much easier to keep tabs on usage over several years when her lifestyle has not in any way changed) as well as I'm on the app under her account details. 

She was always paying her bills QUARTERLY based on USAGE (not fixed rate) and this was then taken via DD on a date that was approx given in her bill. However OVO are now insisting that she move to a fixed monthly rate that will be taken via DD based on her annual usage. 

I've refused this as her usage now will be very intermittent (based on my presence at the house seeing to things) and they won't let me pay any other way (not even DD monthly based on usage only).  So my only option they gave was to cancel the DD and carry on paying when the bill was received (within 14 days) and thus she'll now not get the DD discount (which can I say is VERY ambiguous anyway as they don't actually tell you what that discount is as states “....your discount will vary depending on how much energy you use, where you live and your meter type".

They were QUICK to tell me that as they have not been able to resolve my issue, they issued me with a deadlock letter that they claim I now have 12 months from the date of this letter to take up the matter with Ofgem.

My question is (as I have cancelled her DD as the only option) - do I have the right not to pay ANY bills until I get a decision from Ofgem - or can they even add on this NON DD upcharge while this is going through Ofgem?

Thanks in advance for your advise / help in this matter.

MattMattMattUK

AnnieMoss11 said:

My elderly mother is an OVO (formerly SSE) energy customer for Gas and Electric. 

She has dementia andhas recently moved into a care home so I'm looking after the house / finances etc., as LPOA. 

She gets paper bills as preferred (and much easier to keep tabs on usage over several years when her lifestyle has not in any way changed) as well as I'm on the app under her account details. 

She was always paying her bills QUARTERLY based on USAGE (not fixed rate) and this was then taken via DD on a date that was approx given in her bill. However OVO are now insisting that she move to a fixed monthly rate that will be taken via DD based on her annual usage. 

I've refused this as her usage now will be very intermittent (based on my presence at the house seeing to things) and they won't let me pay any other way (not even DD monthly based on usage only).  So my only option they gave was to cancel the DD and carry on paying when the bill was received (within 14 days) and thus she'll now not get the DD discount (which can I say is VERY ambiguous anyway as they don't actually tell you what that discount is as states “....your discount will vary depending on how much energy you use, where you live and your meter type".

They were QUICK to tell me that as they have not been able to resolve my issue, they issued me with a deadlock letter that they claim I now have 12 months from the date of this letter to take up the matter with Ofgem.

My question is (as I have cancelled her DD as the only option) - do I have the right not to pay ANY bills until I get a decision from Ofgem - or can they even add on this NON DD upcharge while this is going through Ofgem?

Thanks in advance for your advise / help in this matter.

No, you do not have the right to stop paying and will likely have defaults and possibly debt recovery action taken against you. As you have cancelled your Direct Debit the rate you pay will also increase 7-9%.

Finally they are not required to offer quarterly billing so you will not get anywhere complaining to Ofgrm, they offer the deadlock letter because it concludes their complaints process and means that your complaint does not tie up any more of their resources. 

sheramber

Since you will not be paying by DD why would you get the DD discount.

That would not be fair to others who don't pay by DD and don't get the discount.

It costs more in admin to issue a paper bill which is what you are paying for.

Can you not go into the online account and change the DD if you think it is set too high.

I am not with OVO but I can change my DD online. Also, my supplier told me to change it to £10 per month as I would have too much credit by the end of the year.

HillStreetBlues

Why not change supplier.
I pay monthly total bill by DD

Alnat1

Change to a supplier who will offer what you want, Octopus are the most recommended on these forums

MWT

... and it is the Ombudsman not Ofgem that would be the next step.

OVO have stopped offering 'variable DD' as a payment method so I would also suggest the easiest solution is to switch as you are not going to get a positive outcome from a complaint...

pochase

Ovo is not required to offer 3 monthly or variable direct debit. They are offering the payment methods required by their upplier license, fixed amount direct debit and payment on receipt of the bill.

Going to the Ombudsman (not Ofgem!) will be unsuccessful.

km1500

You will pay 9%-ish more if you pay on receipt of bill but it sounds like your usage will be low anyway so 9% of not much is even less.

gt94sss2

As others have said, the unit charge will now be higher as you have cancelled the direct debit.

If you want to be billed via a variable direct debit, you have the option of switching to a different supplier if OVO don't offer the option you want 

AnnieMoss11

This is what the new pricing will be due to no DD - I need to tally up what this actually amounts to based on usage:

Thank you for your email dated 8 March 2023, requesting information about the Direct Debit discount.

Electricity:  unit rate 35.32p per kWh, with Direct Debit discount 

                    unit rate 39.06p per kWh, without Direct debit discount

                    Daily Standing Charge: 42.68p per day, with discount

                    Daily Standing Charge: 48.53p per day, without discount

Gas:            unit rate 10.29p per kWh, with Direct Debit discount

                    unit rate 11.21p per kWh, without Direct Debit discount

                    Daily Standing Charge: 28.48p per day, with discount

                    Daily Standing Charge: 33.53p per day, without discount

Please note, the above are inclusive of 5% vat, your bills show the costs without vat and 5% is added at the bottom.