electricity meter reading and bill problems

Yashara

This is going to be a bit long as there is a bit of background info, so apologies in advance.

I moved into my first home (rented) with my partner on 21st April. I would class it as a two bed terrace (it was laughingly advertised as three bed as there is a tiny room with a window about big enough to fit a baby's cot into, I use it as a cupboard). The house has gas central heating and a gas cooker. I have a fridge, washing machine (used on average once a week), no tumble dryer or dish washer etc. We have one tv that we use, a virgin box, phone and xbox, we charge our phones maybe 2-3 three times a week. We have a computer each but they barely ever get switched on. In an evening we both sit together in the living room with one light on and the tv etc and I make sure all other lights in the house are switched off when not used.

The letting agent said that we were supplied by British gas and that they would inform them we had moved in and pass on the agreed meter readings from that date. After a month and a half I figured we should have had a bill by now so I contacted the letting agent who told me they had done their part and I needed to contact British Gas, fair enough I thought, so I did, by email. British Gas got back to me after a few days and said that they were not the supplier of my address so I went back to the letting agent.

They then told me there had been a mistake and that I was actually supplied by Ovo Energy. Having never heard of them or from them, I went on their website and did some research, I also sent an email (their office hours conflict with my working hours and so I can't phone them) to ask them to confirm if they were my supplier or not and to try and set up an account.

A week and three emails later they got back to me to say they did supply me and after several more exchanges (with large-ish gaps in replying on their part) I discovered that they had not been passed the meter readings for the date I moved in as promised by the agent, so I passed these on. I then discovered that they wanted to charge me £104 a month for gas and electricity based off the previous tenants usage and not my meter readings or even an estimate of the property and the people in it until I had lived there for a good few months when they said they might be able to make some adjustments. I wasn't really pleased about that and thought that it seemed a bit of a high bill for 2 people in a two bed terrace ( but realistically I had nothing to base it on never having been responsible for the utility bill before)

So I started to look online for alternatives and found that EDF were asking for £71 a month based off the estimation of a two bed terrace with 2 adults so I agreed to switch (obviously I knew this might alter with meter readings and that monthly payments might increase to better cover my actual usage after a reading or two had been submitted but it seems to fit better for us. Ovo wanted customers to be in credit with them by paying in advance for their bills rather than arrears which at the moment doesn't suit our situation)

EDF began to supply my electricity on 3 August and gas on the 13 August and I submitted readings for both on those days. EDF have passed these on to Ovo to generate my final bill and so this is where the problems arise.

I received my final electricity bill from Ovo this morning and they were asking for £348.06 for 105 days of electricity is that unreasonable? I looked more closely at my meter readings for my electricity, the one from the date I moved in is 28438 and the one that I took on the day EDF began to supply me is 78849, I had never looked at them both together till today but if this is in KwH then that means I have used 50,411 KwH in 105 days. An average of 480 KwH a day, is that even possible, have I got this horribly wrong? I'm very new to this and want to make sure I have it correct.


But even so, if that many KwH had been used then the bill is actually way too low accoding to the electricity bill calculator I consulted online. Although I think what I'm being charged for a little over three months electricity is a bit high at £348.06 (with nothing to compare it too)

Can you see why I'm confused? I'm kind of worried about what could be making my electricity meter notch up so much and of course I'd like my bills to be correct and not over the odds, if £348.06 is correct then obviously I need to do more to save energy myself but it still doesn't explain the meter readings and how Ovo got to the final bill amount based off them.

I'd appreciate any help or advice, thanks.

notbritishgas

Look on the final bill from Ovo and see what start reading they used, if this is the only bill it should be the reading when you moved in.
NEVER rely on someone else to take readings and submit them, do it yourself.
£348 for just over 3 months of electric is high, going by your description I would say £100 would be more like it.

Are you reading the meter correctly, if it has dials they are very easy to misread, what type is the meter.

If the reading you took to give EDF is correct then the start reading could be wrong, did you take it or the letting agent.

Yashara

Thanks for the reply

The bill from Ovo shows the same meter reading that I submitted to them when I moved in, the reading was done by the letting agent but I checked it matched up before I signed the agreement so it was correct.

The meter is not dials, it's just a row of numbers and I followed the instructions given by EDF when I took the meter reading to submit to them so it should be correct.

The bill from Ovo doesn't even show this final reading, it shows the actual reading I gave when I moved in, and two other esimated readings for May and August with no others, the last esimated reading is 31247 and it's this estimated usuage that is equating to the £348.06 bill. These estimates are a lot lower than the 78849 that I submitted to EDF for my first reading for them. So this bill is not even based off my usage. I think I'd be horrified if I have received a bill based off the usage of 50,411 KWH as on the tariff with Ovo that equates to a £6,000+ bill.

Is there something wrong with my meter? How can I get it checked?

If there is something wrong with it, how can I dispute the estimated bill since the readings would be false if there were something wrong?

sithmaster

You need to turn everything off or just press the trip switch, have a look at the meter is the light still flashing?
If yes you need to contact edf and say what the problem is and why you think it's faulty, ie. Meter moving when no demand for elec

notbritishgas

The final bill from Ovo should not be to an estimated reading, it should be to the one you gave EDF, unfortunately that is the one that will give 50000kwh:eek:

To check if your meter is wildy out take daily readings at the same time each day, on your usage I would think they should be about 7-10kwh per day.

If the meter behaves OK then I still suspect the opening reading, but you say you checked it to be true? The 2 estimates that Ovo used are obviously based on an opening reading of 28438, but even so the final estimate is very high and equates to more like a years use..
Check your meter and come back to us.

Yashara

Thanks for that advice guys I will check everything when I get home, firstly I'll make sure that it's not still turning when the power is off and if that's ok I'll do some daily readings and come back with my findings.

Thanks again

spiro

The average ANNUAL usage for elec is 3300kwh so 50000kwh is 15 times that in a third of a year. To put it another way thats 480kwh/day or 20kwh/hour. So you would need 10 x 2kwh fires on round the clock to use that amount. Something is VERY wrong with the figures.

molerat

Scribbled 2s and 7s ? I think that is where the problem might lie. In future take a photo.

Yashara

The 2s and 7s thing is a possibility I guess although I write my 7s the european way with a line across the vertical section. I will double check my notepad when I get home and really really make sure I copied it over correctly. Otherwise there is something very seriously wrong with my meter.

Even if I did get that meter reading wrong I'll still need to get hold of Ovo as notbritishgas is right, they shouldn't be sending me a final bill based on an estimate.

Taking a photo is good idea, I'll do that when I get home and take some daily meter readings the same way.

Thanks everyone

Yashara

I'm such a doofus, I checked everything when I got home, I had indeed written down a 7 and submitted it as a 7 so I went to look at the meter itself and before I even turned anything off I saw my mistake.

My meter is very high up in a cupboard and I'm very short, even stood on a stool the bottom of the numbers are obscured and so what was in fact a 2, I saw as a 7 since I couldn't see the bottom bit.

so I have contacted EDF and got them to raise a query to alter my new opening reading.

Based off the correct meter reading on the online calculator, I should only owe Ovo about £77 for my electricity for 3 months and not £348.06 as thier estimated final bill suggests!

Now I'm unsure about how to proceed though as EDF said they would inform Ovo of the the new reading once it was on my account but until then I have an estimated bill waiting to be paid that's way too high, do I contact Ovo with the corrrect meter reading myself or wait for EDF to do it?

jalexa

Yashara wrote: »

Even if I did get that meter reading wrong I'll still need to get hold of Ovo as notbritishgas is right, they shouldn't be sending me a final bill based on an estimate.

Good that you have answered your own question. I suspect somebody at OVO (or their billing system) rejected your "impossible" reading and substituted an estimate. What they should (and may) have done is agreed a transfer reading with the gaining supplier. My advice is to work (only) with the gaining supplier who are responsible for managing the switch.

There is no harm however in keeping OVO "in the loop" by explaining what you have told the gaining supplier and asking OVO to cancel the estimated final bill. Make sure you maintain meticulous records of any contacts. I recommend you confirm any telephone agreement by email.