It could be a no-no if you want to call Ovo

CUSTOMERS with small energy supplier Ovo could be charged up to £60 a year extra if they contact the company by phone or email.

Under the company’s new ‘selfservice reward’ scheme starting in October, customers on its fixedrate tariffs will get a £15 a quarter discount from their bills so long as they don’t make any phone or email contact with the firm.

If they do contact Ovo by any means other than its online forum or smartphone app they will lose their discount for that quarter.

It means those without internet access and those who don’t feel comfortable managing their bills online could be left out of pocket.

The supplier, which had 680,000 customers as of June 2017, says it will not penalise customers in the event of an emergency or if customers are making a complaint.

Justin Modray, of the consumer group Candid Money, says: ‘While I can understand Ovo offering the lowest price to those who manage their account solely online, it does feel a bit unfair to those who are unable to do this.’

A spokesman for Ovo says those customers on its priority services register, who need extra support, would not have to follow the new rules. He says: ‘We’ll exclude anyone on our Priority Services register who needs to contact us as a result of their vulnerability.

‘We will give fair discretion to customers at all times.’