See how we calculate your Direct Debit amount and why it might change over the course of your contract.
When you join OVO, we work out how much energy we think you’ll use over the year. This is calculated taking into account factors like the size of your home and what you’ve used in the past. Then we divide that cost by 12 to work out your monthly payment.
We review your Direct Debit to make sure you are not paying too much or too little for the energy you’re using.
When we first work out your Direct Debit amount, we calculate a monthly sum to make sure that, when your OVO contract ends, you’ve paid for all the energy you’ve used.
We don’t want your payments to stray too far away from this target. That’s why, as the year passes, we’ll review your Direct Debit regularly, to make sure it’s on track to cover your energy bills – but without building up too much credit.
If you use less energy than your monthly payment amount, you’ll build up credit on your account. This’ll help to pay for your future energy costs when you use more over the winter – and you’ll also get our 3% OVO Interest Reward (rising to 5% in year 3) on any credit you’ve got.
We change your Direct Debit if you’re not paying enough cover the energy you’re using – or if you’re using less than we thought you might.
If your Direct Debit goes up, it’s because you haven’t been paying enough to cover the cost of the energy you’re using, and we’re making sure you don’t build up a debit balance. You can help to make sure your Direct Debit’s correct by giving us regular meter readings – once a month is ideal.
Staying in the black is a good idea for a number of reasons. As well as covering your winter spend, you’ll also have the flexibility to change suppliers. Being in debt to an energy company makes it harder to switch to a cheaper supplier, which means a less competitive energy market and higher bills. So we encourage you to stay on track.
It’ll depend on where you are in your contract, as we use different calculations for the first nine months of your plan, and the last three months.
0-9 months into your plan?
We look at the amount of energy we think you’ll use until the end of your contract, and subtract your current positive balance (if you’re in debt, we add it on). Then we divide the total by the number of Direct Debit payments left.
This gives us your monthly Direct Debit amount (we aim to get your balance to zero by the end of your contract).
Here’s an example of a Direct Debit review in April 2016:
9-12 months into your plan?
We add up the amount of energy we think you’ll use until the end of your contract, and the energy we think you’ll use for the 12 months after your contract. Then we subtract your current balance.
Next, we divide the total by the number of payments you have left (that’s the months left on your current plan, plus 12 more). Our plan is to get your balance to zero by the end of your next contract, if you decide to stay with us.
Just so you know, if you renew or roll onto Simpler Energy, our variable-rate plan, we’ll review your Direct Debit again as the rates will be different.
Here’s an example of a Direct Debit review in April 2016:
Paying in advance by Direct Debit helps us keep our costs down and means we can buy your gas and electricity in advance. We then pass these savings back to you in our great value plans.
More broadly speaking, there are benefits to staying in credit. Being in debt to an energy company makes it harder to switch to a cheaper supplier, which means a less competitive energy market and higher bills.
We’re trying to make things better. Having a credit balance gives you the flexibility to change suppliers.
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.
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Direct Debits are the most convenient way to pay your energy bills. Read on to find out how you can easily and quickly set up or change your Direct Debits.