Problems with electricity at house purchase

Hood_2

I exchanged on a house last week and still don't have electricity. The property was a rentel before my purchase and has a liberty secure 100 installed (no idea on gas as yet). I'm wanting electricity for power tools etc while doing some work on the house. The meter told it was suppled by Ovo so I phoned them and was told the meter is showing arrears of £58 on the electricity and she wasn't sure of the gas but that would be higher. I explained the situation that I purchased the house recently and don't want a PAYG going forward but I'll do with it for now. I was told there was nothing she could do as they only provide PAYG. The line then went dead and I had to phone again and explain the whole thing to somebody else.

This time I was asked for proof such as a tenancy agreement, I explained I don't have that. The house was purchased, I was then asked for maybe lease details? again I don't have that. I emailed proof which was sufficient to show I purchased the property last week. I was then told a new account had been made, the debt cleared and I was given two 19 digit numbers and told the electricity would be on within an hour and a prepay card would arrive in the mail.

Four hours later there is still no electricity. Do I need to input these numbers at the box or is it all done on the suppliers side? Would I be able to switch now to another provider that will bill me quarterly or monthly DD or do I need to get switched on the PAYG system first?

Can the secure 100 be removed or does it just become a passthrough when I switch to another provider? do they send a guy out to do it or something? I'm really not familiar or impressed by the meter.

I'm just not sure how to go about getting it on with a supplier I choose on a monthly DD, if somebody could explain the process I'd appreciate it. I'm pretty much in the dark (literally).

Neil_Jones

Do check its not something obvious like the master switch is off.  If the house has been empty for a while its plausible the entire lot is off.

Hood_2

Yeah I checked the mains switch, I actually switched it to off as I left just incase it comes on at some point.

Gerry1

https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/smart-meter-troubleshooting#my-smart-meter-has-been-installed-why-is-it-now-off-supply

https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/after-your-smart-meter-installation#how-do-i-take-a-smart-meter-reading

Hood_2

Thanks for the links, following the first I do have an off icon on the meter but I don't understand their wording.

If your screen shows OFF or READY, your meter’s off supply, so you need to wake it up and get it back on supply.

Do I just shake it? I'm guessing it's phone them and let them know and they switch it back on?

Gerry1

Try the magic numbers they gave you.

https://www.boostpower.co.uk/help/topics/payg/smart-payg/how-do-i-add-credit-manually-on-a-smart-meter.html

Hood_2

yeah I did that already,  it said rejected. I'll just try phoning them again tomorrow.

gollum007

The numbers sound suspiciously like account numbers to me.

If so, you can probably go to a PayPoint with these, and ask them to add credit to them. (IIRC you need to get them to type them in as if they are a magnetic card; I need to be in front of the PayPoint machine to remember how though )

Hood_2

Ovo/boostpower are awful, £30 worth of credit in phone calls today. Numerous ignored emails requesting a call back, disconnects while on hold and I'm still sat in the dark.

Gerry1

Hood_2 said:

Ovo/boostpower are awful, £30 worth of credit in phone calls today. Numerous ignored emails requesting a call back, disconnects while on hold and I'm still sat in the dark.

You must be on the world's worst mobile phone tariff! Ten hours on 3 PAYG would have cost £18.
You should have called 08000 699 831 Option 2 which is free and probably has a much speedier response. 

Hood_2

Yeah I was exaggerating I don't know check my balance all that much but still I started phoning at 10am, was told their system was down and ring back in 30 minutes. This continued until 6:30pm which is when I gave up.