Ovo changing billing

Effy38

Hi,

Ovo are changing customers from paying quarterly to monthly.  Spoke to someone today who could give me no explanation why.

Does anyone know if these type of decisions go to Ofgem for example? As I find it inconvenient previously was a SSE customer and transferred to them.

QrizB

OVO aren't obliged to offer monthly billing.

Ildhund

From OVO's article How billing works: a guide to common questions | Help Centre

We’ve now stopped offering quarterly bills. This is because monthly bills should help you manage your energy more easily. By getting a bill once a month, instead of once a quarter, you can:

• Keep track of your energy use and see how it changes, month to month

• Budget for energy with smaller, more regular payments spread across the year

• Help avoid larger balances building up on your energy account between bills

It's probably the last point that counts most. Ofgem are keen to see suppliers keep balances no higher than necessary. Negative balances are a thing of the past.

Scot_39

Ovo are not the only ones doing this - EDF started a while back - iirc they announced in 2023 - with target completion date spring 2025.

Its simple cash flow - your paying over 3 months late for your energy used at the start of the billing period.  

Admittedly at a premium rate.

Maybe - also - its an attempt to increase the hassle of paper billing - to force a switch to DD or prepay.

But perhaps over time - the standard credit cap cost will drop closer to DD - to reflect the lower capital and credit costs (at the same time those on MVDD risk generating an increase in those 2 cost components for direct debit payment when they also pay late for nearly the same period).