OVO's £50m Customer Support Package: everything you need to know

We’re doing this to help our customers in need of additional support because of rising energy prices. Even with the government’s support, average household bills will still be 70% higher in real terms than last winter. We know this will have a significant impact on the household budgets of many of our customers and could make this winter a difficult time.

While we recognise this won't solve the energy crisis, our Customer Support Package can make a difference for our customers who need it most this winter.

OVO’s Customer Support Package started to roll out from October 2022.

We’re continuing to review how best to help those with a real and immediate need.

We want to help those who need it most, so we’d ask you to only apply if you’re struggling to pay your bills this winter.

You may have experienced financial difficulty before, or this may be the first time. That doesn't matter to us. If you’re experiencing difficulty we want to try to help.

When you apply for support, we’ll take into account things like household income, disposable income, and medical needs to help us prioritise those who need help most.

We can’t help everyone, and some products and services are no longer available. But we hope to help as many people as possible this winter with our specialist teams.

You can do this online: apply for support.

We’ve contacted all Pay As You Go customers with details of what we’re doing to ensure no one goes off-supply this winter.

This includes extending emergency credit limits and pausing debt recovery.

The email includes details of how to apply for extra help.

When you apply, you’ll need the following information:

1. Your household income

That’s the total income before tax of yourself and anyone who lives with you. This includes any benefits you’re entitled to, like your pension or Jobseeker’s Allowance.

2. Your monthly disposable income

This is your income after tax, rent or mortgage payments and key bills. For help working this out, check out this making a budget guide.

3. Whether your home has gas or electric heating, and if you have boiler insurance

This will help us work out the best support for you.

Yes, they can call OVO on your behalf as long as they have your permission to do so.

No. The support we’re offering as part of the Customer Support Package won’t impact your energy prices. We think it’s really important to help those who need it most during the current crisis, without adding further pressure to customer bills.

As always, however, your bills will be influenced by how much energy you use. That means if you receive a free product like a smart thermostat or an electric throw as part of our Customer Support Package, your use of these products will help determine what you pay for your energy.

Yes, customers from OVO Energy, SSE Energy Services and Boost can all apply for help from the OVO Customer Support Package.

All of our customers will be asked the same questions about their current situation, and we won’t prioritise support based on brand.

We have an option to reduce your Direct Debit, which you can apply for online.

• Log in to OVO Energy account

Here are some other tips to help you save energy and money this winter:

Reduce your home’s energy loss

If you can, add insulation like a hot water cylinder jacket to your hot water tank, or reflector panels behind your radiators.

Reduce unnecessary energy use

See tips on how to:

• Check your boiler pressure
• Turn your boiler’s flow temperature down
• Bleed your radiators

You can also check the Energy Saving Trust’s guides to saving energy at home.

Keep track of your energy use

Smart meters measure how much energy you use, then share this info with you via your online account and on an In-Home Display (IHD). Unlike a traditional meter, you can see how much energy you’re using in real time on the IHD.

This can help you make small changes to reduce how much energy your home uses and cut your bills. To find out if you’re eligible, use our smart meter appointment tool.

If you’re eligible, we’ll confirm exactly what support we can offer you, and what will happen next. We’ll tailor support based on each customer’s needs.

No. While some suppliers are providing forms of support, each supplier’s plans are different.

As it stands the Customer Support Package runs until the end of March 2023, or until the products and financial support run out. That’s why we’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation.

Supporting our customers is our top priority, and we’ll continue to work with the government to develop long-term energy market reform.

No, only one application per household is allowed.

We can offer you a range of support from the package (such as direct financial support), so you shouldn’t need to apply again.

If you apply more than once, only your first application will be processed.

If anything is wrong with a product you received, the product guides have contact details for the manufacturers and instructions on how to get in touch.

If the product has been damaged in the post, the process that follows depends on the product.

Electric throws

Purple Chameleon (the supplier) will arrange for returns to be sent to their distribution centre, via courier. You can get in touch with Purple Chameleon to organise this. Their contact details are on the product guide.

tadoº smart thermostats

You should call tadoº directly if the smart thermostat is damaged or faulty. Check the product packaging for details.

If you’ve changed your mind, or found that the tadoº is not compatible with your home heating system, you can return the tadoº to us. All you need to do is let us know and we’ll arrange this for you.

Google thermostats

We’ll update this page with information on how to replace or return Google thermostats soon.