Ovo Energy customers can now get help to cut energy bills forever

Ovo Energy customers will now have the opportunity to borrow money from HSBC for solar panels and batteries, under a scheme aimed at increasing the uptake of low-emission home upgrades. The energy supplier has announced that its four million customers won't need an account with the bank to access financing for green energy devices.

In addition, customers will be able to utilise HSBC's lending product Flexipay for heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers in the future, according to Ovo. As energy companies increasingly explore financing options with lenders to help customers make their homes more efficient, Ovo revealed that upfront costs are consistently cited by its customers as the biggest obstacle to installing upgrades.

David Buttress, Ovo's chief executive, believes this move will assist people in adopting green technologies which will cut energy bills for good. While consumers can already receive grants from the Government or their suppliers to help cover the cost of upgrades for devices like heat pumps, these products are much more expensive to buy and install than gas boilers.

However, heat pumps are significantly more energy efficient and studies have shown they can be cheaper to run. Ovo confirmed that customers looking to install tech for their home will be able to access HSBC's Flexipay lending product even without an HSBC account.

Andrew Rankin, interim head of unsecured lending at HSBC UK, stated that the next decade will see a "significant acceleration" in people investing to make their homes more energy efficient. He also stated that instalment-led lending is becoming increasingly popular among consumers as a budgeting tool, providing fixed repayments and a set end date, reports Devon Live.

"We are excited to support consumers through a fully regulated journey aimed at delivering great customer outcomes. We will enable this through key, select merchant partnerships of which Ovo is the first."