Sodding OVO keeps putting up my direct debit amount

[PickledElectricity]

Just that really.

I have about £250 in credit.

My direct debit was £110/month.

I got an email saying they had increased it to £128/month!

I tried to put it back down to £110 but it wouldn't let me.

There was then some kind of "I'm struggling" button which allowed me to reduce the amount by 10% to £116, which is still more than what I was playing.

This feels incredibly intrusive and frustrating.

It seems to be all the energy providers?

Octopus customers, you can just set your direct debit in the app, and they don’t question it or try to change it. They suggest an amount when I look at it but I just leave it at that amount that suits me and my usage. I’ve never had to phone them 🤔

I am perfectly capable of paying my bills, have done for 15 years without issue. Been with OVO for 6 years since we moved to this property. Think we were with eon before.

I find it so intrusive and patronising.

£83

It wouldn't let me input an amount less than the £128 they decided I need to be paying.

@PickledElectricitywill they agree to variable monthly direct debit?

Mines just gone up as well - £226 per month!!
Now need to investigate why our bills are so high.
Going to follow suit & stop the DD & just pay when I get the bill.

Don’t stop Dd. It’s cheaper on DD. Just insist on monthly bill Dd on what you have used. For Eon next it’s called direct debit variable monthly payment. Meaning you are on direct debit but they only take what you have used. You have to be on a smart meter for that.

I’m with BG , both fuels , they are always refunding my credit even when I don’t want them to and don’t adjust the direct debits unless absolutely necessary . They seem to be very against me overpaying . I also find them very reasonable .

Ovo like you to have 3 months credit on your account. They will up DDs based on this.

Just phone them up! That’s what I did when
Ovo tried to do the exact same thing to me! So cheeky!

If you can budget for higher energy bills in winter and lower energy bills in summer, go for variable direct debit (if this is an option, as not all energy companies offer it) where you pay on actual usage month by month.

You still get the direct debit discount, and also won’t be giving the energy company an interest free loan of your money (which is what you are effectively doing by running a credit balance with the energy company).

I was with OVO until just recently and then I read on google news OVO is in big trouble and may go bust soon. I changed immediately online to British Gas as the cheapest and they do a 6 day superfast change over. They owed me about the same as you. This is all in the last few weeks and OVO have just said what they owe me is going to be given back in the next few days. Worth considering most definitely.

We have the same issue with Ovo every 3 months. It’s incredibly frustrating. We put a complaint in recently.
maybe time to switch

I just pay for what we use. The amounts creeping up is why I won't do a direct debit.

This disgusting scam company keeps making shit with my bills. Through the winter, everything was fine at 181 pounds a month, but now they suddenly changed to 415 a month, ridiculous

They did with me. I didn’t set up
a dd as simply I can’t afford to have a high DD when I’m not using as much so every month I log on when I get paid and pay it.
then the other day I was on chat with OVO, as always they tried to push the DD angle. But then I was shocked when they said current monthly DD would be over £400!! My largest bill for both electricity and gas in a month has been about £170. Why would I pay £400
a month?! It’s crazy, I couldn’t afford it anyway

EDF keep doing that sort of thing to us, but DH rings them up, talks AT them unceasingly until they give in and change our dd back to what it was or change it to something DH will agree to. I reckon that in the end they’ll just do anything to get him off the phone!

I pay with standing order to stop that happening.

I don't do heat well, so my electricity is more expensive in summer when I have the air con on. EDF (and every other company's algorithm can't cope).

Cancel the direct debit and set up a standing order instead

I left OVO for exactly this reason. With octopus for the past 6 months and they haven't tried it on (yet).

Go to Octopus. Same happened to me, kept rising every month. Switched to Octopus and so much better!

Energy companies are anticipating large oil price increases because of the Iran situation and many of them have withdrawn their fixed deals and are only offering variable tariffs. Anticipate considerably higher bills once the new energy price cap is reviewed. By all means pay the actual bill by DD rather than a fixed DD but people might want to put some money aside in a separate savings account to pay for the winter bills.

OVO keep doing this to me and its so hard to get through to anyone on the phone. I've worked out that if you cancel your direct debit they then email you a coupe of days later asking you to set up another and you can choose how much for!

It is just one thing after another isn't it.