Direct Debit reviews explained

Setting your initial Direct Debit amount

We use the information you give us when you join OVO to make a prediction of your energy use for the entire year. This can include information like the size of your home or how much energy you used in it previously. The cost of this energy is evenly split into your monthly Direct Debit transfers.

Where does your Direct Debit go?

The money you transfer to us via Direct Debit is deposited into your energy account. Each month, we charge your energy account based on how much energy you used.

Why is it important to get Direct Debit amounts right?
 

Your energy use changes throughout the year, so it’s normal for your energy account to fluctuate between being in credit and debt. However, at the end of your contract, your energy account should be as close to £0 as possible. This prevents you from having to pay off a large negative balance in one go. It also means you haven’t been depositing too much into your energy account, each month.

What is a Direct Debit review?

After you’ve submitted a few meter readings, we might see that our predictions don’t match up with your actual energy use. If this is the case, then we know your energy account will be in debt or credit at the end of your contract. To avoid this, we update your Direct Debit amount and let you know, ahead of time. We also give you opportunities to update your Direct Debit amount yourself.

Calculating your new Direct Debit amount

If you have 3+ months left on your contract:

If you have less than 3 months left on your contract, then we’ll spread the debt over an extra 12 months to make the amounts smaller and more manageable. If you leave us at the end of your original contract, then we’ll just settle remaining balance on your energy account then.

Getting multiple Direct Debit reviews

Everything from a cloudy patch of weather, to a good run of TV can change the amount of energy you use, which is why we run every customer's account through several health checks each year. So it’s possible that we’ll need to change your Direct Debit amount more than once.

Direct Debit glossary

• Unit rates: This is the fixed price you pay per unit of energy (e.g. 1 kWh costs 10p). 
• kWh: Is a measure of how much energy you’re using (e.g. 1 kWh costs 10p). It equals the amount of energy you’d use if you kept a 1,000 watt appliance running for an hour. Eg. a 100 watt light bulb would take 10 hours to rack up 1kWh.
• ‘Usage’ or ‘energy use’: How many units of energy you use. This can vary based on things like your lifestyle or the weather
• Energy account: The pot where we take your energy payments from.
• Direct Debit transfer: The money that goes into your energy account to cover your energy payments.
• Energy payment: The monthly payment from your energy account for energy you’ve actually used.

If you need more help

More help is on hand for this topic on the OVO Forum. And if you don't find the answers you need, feel free to ask a question and one of our forum users can help.