Changing supplier, what happens on switch date?

maas

Hi, I'm switching gas and electric supplier from Scottish Power to Ovo and the switch date is today, am I supposed to do anything, such as take meter readings or anything?

JJ_Egan

Yes take meter readings anyway even though the actual readings used for the change may be different .
Gives you some proof in case of dispute .

dogshome

YES - Take the meter readings today and keep the record safe.

What is supposed to have happened is that Ovo should have contacted you some days ago and asked for your meter readings, and even though these are some days prior to the actual Switch, these are the one's that Ovo base their 1st bill on, and SP their Final Bill

benwarwick123

if you can take a picture of your meter readings on the day of switch, because british gas tried to overcharge me by £50 about 30 more kwh even though I gave meter readings to both parties. British gas basically called my a liar and I had great satisfaction sending the picrure of my meter to them, Even gave me £50 compensation for the trouble.

maas

dogshome wrote: »

YES - Take the meter readings today and keep the record safe.

What is supposed to have happened is that Ovo should have contacted you some days ago and asked for your meter readings, and even though these are some days prior to the actual Switch, these are the one's that Ovo base their 1st bill on, and SP their Final Bill

I've had a couple of letters through from Ovo confirming the switch date and direct debit details and sit tight they'll sort everything.

Scottish Power rang me last week slithering to see if they can "win me back". :rotfl: Never said anything about meter readings though.

Just taken meter reading and photo's, will wait and see what happens.

chanz4

just email your read to your NEW supplier, they will pass to the old one.

shazzablue

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Yes take meter readings anyway even though the actual readings used for the change may be different .
Gives you some proof in case of dispute .

so true! having switched from bg to co op energy 24/2 I now find myself being billed 445 units more by bg who claim this is the opening read supplied by co op energy,a dispute has now been opened,luckily I kept a note of both opening meter reads,my gas meter 5wks later has nowhere near what bg claim is my final reading.

fred7777

Yes, definitely take meter readings and email them to both companies.

Don't telephone Scottish Power, their customer service is so bad it's legendary, and waits are 30min+.

I have just change from Scottish Power to First Utility and only found out yesterday that my switch date was 5th of March as neither company bothered to respond to any of my emails or inform me on the progress of the switch at any stage! I am now dealing with complaints to both companies as Scottish Power sent me an estimated final bill with numbers that were completely made up and a lot higher than reality.

couponkingpeter

Always keep a record of your meter readings, just in case.

System

The process of switching is undeniably convoluted as customer meter readings have to be adjudicated on by the Metering Authority. For example, a customer works out that he will be 'x' pence per unit better off by switching so he provides a meter reading which is a few 00s of KWhs less than what is stated on the actual meter. The Metering Authority notes the discrepancy (error); it then adjusts the reading and passes it on to the old and the new suppliers. Both have to agree. If they disagree, an appeal is made and so on. Bring in an IGT for gas and the switching process becomes even more convoluted. Patience is a factor here. My start date with OVO was 14 April but it took until Jun to get an accurate gas statement. I then had to check back to my final statement with EDF to find that the latter had quote manually unquote done their own thing in producing final meter readings. This took a further couple of weeks to resolve. Smart meters - whether you are for them or not - will simplify the switching process.

The key thing here is that the meter readings do not have to agree with what a customer sends in - the opening and closing meter readings just have to be the same. The difference in cost to the customer if they are slightly out is likely to be minimal.

maas

Very good post Hengus. I experienced these problems when I eventually did my switch from SP to OVO. The final meter readings I gave to my new supplier (OVO) were disputed by SP

To be fair I had used a lot less gas in the final month (virtually nothing) so they were estimating I had continued with the same level of consumption.

But the main problem was that OVO were using my actual meter readings to open the account and SP were using their inflated estimated readings to give me their final bill, ultimately meaning I was expected to pay twice for 30 units of gas overlap.

It took me almost 3 months to dispute it with SP (not helped by their atrocious customer service and call waiting times) where I was given incorrect advice claiming that it is normal and I'm suppose to just pay it!

I think its something which people need to look at closely when they change supplier/move house as I am sure many people are given incorrect billing/information and if they are on direct debit they may not even notice.