Energy Switchover Warning

brispy

brispy said:

I changed energy suppliers on the 18th February 2021, moving from British Gas to Octopus Energy. A few days before the changeover, Octopus Energy contacted me and asked for a meter reading, so I sent them one thinking that they would use it to check the actual reading at switchover.

Octopus Energy used the smart meter reading that I gave them on the 15th February, before the switchover, when they billed me and British Gas used the smart meter reading at switchover on the 18th February to produce their final bill.

I initially contacted Octopus Energy who told me that the reading that I gave them had been agreed and that I should contact British Gas. However if you fill in an online complaint form with British Gas, you will receive an email several days later stating that due to Covid, they don’t monitor that inbox.

I contacted Octopus Energy again and escalated the complaint with Octopus and pointed out that according to Ofgen, I can raise the matter with either supplier. The complaint wasn’t escalated and I received the same response telling me to contact British Gas.

After a lengthy online chat with British Gas, they have re-issued a new bill using the readings from the 15th February, I should point out that this is the 3rd final bill from British Gas. Unfortunately for me British Gas decided to take more from me than the amount on the final bill (almost double what I owed them) via direct debit, hence forcing me to contact them and them having to produce a modified second final bill.

However, I am now being penalised for the energy suppliers mistakes because in my third bill, the “BG Energy Rewards” amount, although small, has been removed.

I would therefore suggest that when switching energy suppliers, you ignore requests for meter readings from your new energy suppliers until you have the final readings from your old supplier and then send them those, it may save a lot of time wasted later on trying to sort this out.

Also I wonder how many people actually check their bills at switchover to ensure that they are not being charged twice?

 

Thanks for reading this.

I realize that I should point out that I have smart meters installed, this enabled BG to produce a final bill straight away without waiting for a customer generated reading, the problem may not exist if the old supplier has to rely on a reading from the customer via the new supplier.

MWT

brispy said:

I realize that I should point out that I have smart meters installed, this enabled BG to produce a final bill straight away without waiting for a customer generated reading, the problem may not exist if the old supplier has to rely on a reading from the customer via the new supplier.

It doesn't change the correct procedure though as the industry process can still alter even a smart meter reading, crazy as that may seem.

I've just completed a switch for a relative from SSE to Octopus and it was pleasing to see that even with a smart meter installed, SSE correctly waited for the approved reading before raising the final bill.

If the losing supplier jumps the gun and issues a final bill too soon and with the 'wrong' meter reading you just have to contact them and remind them that they have to use the approved reading.

Nebulous2

British Gas appear to be willing to ignore the industry process of validating readings. I was transferring from BG to Green Network Energy. 

I didn't understand how it works, gave a meter reading to Green Network Energy, which was then altered to an industry validated one. Realising that BG were billing me for more than I had used I phoned and moaned at them.  The call centre staff simply changed it back to my reading and gave me a new final bill. 

I then contacted GNE to say they hadn't charged me enough. They couldn't change it however and asked me to submit photos of my meter readings to validate them. They have subsequently gone into administration, so I can imagine this will take forever to resolve. 

[Deleted User]

Nebulous2 said:

British Gas appear to be willing to ignore the industry process of validating readings. I was transferring from BG to Green Network Energy. 

I didn't understand how it works, gave a meter reading to Green Network Energy, which was then altered to an industry validated one. Realising that BG were billing me for more than I had used I phoned and moaned at them.  The call centre staff simply changed it back to my reading and gave me a new final bill. 

I then contacted GNE to say they hadn't charged me enough. They couldn't change it however and asked me to submit photos of my meter readings to validate them. They have subsequently gone into administration, so I can imagine this will take forever to resolve. 

Both suppliers are legally required to accept validated readings subject to certain limits. The important thing is that both suppliers must use the same reading. The gaining supplier provides the old supplier with the reading that has to be used to open/close accounts. Sometimes the validated readings work in the customer’s favour: that is, you overpay the losing supplier for energy that hasn’t been consumed at it’s cheaper tariff price, and then you only pay the the gaining supplier the daily standing charge until the actual meter reading passes the opening reading. We are talking pence here as the actual difference to the consumer is the difference in unit prices. For example, old unit price 14.6p/kWh and new unit price is 15p/kWh. You have overpaid your old supplier for 200 kWhs at a cost of £29.20 BUT you will not pay your new supplier for the first 200kWhs at a cost of £30. You have saved 80p. Clearly, if the dice roll against you you could underpay your old supplier £29.20 and pay your new supplier £30: wow, you could be 80p worse off.

brispy

Dolor said:

Either supplier can raise an Agreed Readings Dispute. That said, I am confused. Did you provide your new supplier with meter readings on switch and have these readings been used to open your new account/s? If so these readings will have been passed to the losing supplier via an industry data flow. What, specifically, are you now asking the two suppliers to agree? Have you actually had a FINAL bill from the old supplier or just a bill? If it wasn’t a final bill then any overcharge/undercharge will be adjusted when the industry-agree opening/closing readings are received and the bill is issued.

Thanks Dolor,

I did supply the new supplier with the meter readings when requested by them in the email titled "Act now to avoid double charges", which was before the agreed changeover date. I also received a Final bill, not a normal bill,  from BG on the day after switchover; it was for energy useage up until the end of the 18th February, Octopus took over on the 19th. Several days later I received an email from Octopus stating that the readings that I had submitted had been accepted.

When BG took my direct debit in March, they took a random amount of money, when I contacted them they issued a new Final bill with the same final energy readings, the ones they used from the smart meter reading on the 18th February, not the ones submitted to Octopus. I actualy have 3 Final bills from them, they all end on the 18th February, only the last one has the same readings as Octopus Energy but that only occured after I challenged them in April.

I was, quite reasonably I think, asking both energy suppliers to agree to use the same readings, I really don't care which as long as they are the same.

The problem that I had has been resolved but only by contacting both suppliers and I wasn't aware of a problem until I received my first bill from Octopus Energy in late March, almost a month after switchover.

The question, that I was asking though was do you know what the correct procedure is when your energy consumption dispute is below the Agreed Resolution Dispute?

brispy

brispy said:

brispy said:

I changed energy suppliers on the 18th February 2021, moving from British Gas to Octopus Energy. A few days before the changeover, Octopus Energy contacted me and asked for a meter reading, so I sent them one thinking that they would use it to check the actual reading at switchover.

Octopus Energy used the smart meter reading that I gave them on the 15th February, before the switchover, when they billed me and British Gas used the smart meter reading at switchover on the 18th February to produce their final bill.

I initially contacted Octopus Energy who told me that the reading that I gave them had been agreed and that I should contact British Gas. However if you fill in an online complaint form with British Gas, you will receive an email several days later stating that due to Covid, they don’t monitor that inbox.

I contacted Octopus Energy again and escalated the complaint with Octopus and pointed out that according to Ofgen, I can raise the matter with either supplier. The complaint wasn’t escalated and I received the same response telling me to contact British Gas.

After a lengthy online chat with British Gas, they have re-issued a new bill using the readings from the 15th February, I should point out that this is the 3rd final bill from British Gas. Unfortunately for me British Gas decided to take more from me than the amount on the final bill (almost double what I owed them) via direct debit, hence forcing me to contact them and them having to produce a modified second final bill.

However, I am now being penalised for the energy suppliers mistakes because in my third bill, the “BG Energy Rewards” amount, although small, has been removed.

I would therefore suggest that when switching energy suppliers, you ignore requests for meter readings from your new energy suppliers until you have the final readings from your old supplier and then send them those, it may save a lot of time wasted later on trying to sort this out.

Also I wonder how many people actually check their bills at switchover to ensure that they are not being charged twice?

 

Thanks for reading this.

I realize that I should point out that I have smart meters installed, this enabled BG to produce a final bill straight away without waiting for a customer generated reading, the problem may not exist if the old supplier has to rely on a reading from the customer via the new supplier.

I am going to swim against the tide here, I now think that where you have working smart meters installed, it makes more sense for the losing supplier to generate a reading at the end of the last day of supply and for that reading to be passed on to the new supplier via the customer. In my case it would mean readings and standing charges would be synchronised to the actual changeover dates.

I understand that this is not appropriate when you do not have smart meters.

So I am now thinking that BG did what was best but not what was procedurally correct and maybe the procedures need to change to take advantage of smart metering.

Awaiting to be shot down in flames!

[Deleted User]

When we all have smart meters, the problem goes away. However, given the mix of smart and non smart meters, the use of meter indexes or 30 minute usage for billing, and the Licence obligation that the gaining supplier manages all aspects of a transfer of a supply, I cannot see the system changing in the near term. Suppliers do not have a cosy chat when we switch. The transfer is managed by automated industry processes and data flows. All the losing supplier has to do is sit back; wait for the validated readings, and then raise a Final Bill.

I know that people get excited by overpaying the the losing supplier but the actual difference in cost in most cases is negligible as we do not pay for the same units twice.

PS There were 5.93M energy switches in 2020. The number of posts about switching issues on MSE does not suggest that there is a widespread meter readings validation problem.

brewerdave

Dolor said:

When we all have working smart meters, the problem goes away...................

Altered it for you  

brispy

Dolor said:

I know that people get excited by overpaying the the losing supplier but the actual difference in cost in most cases is negligible as we do not pay for the same units twice.

PS There were 5.93M energy switches in 2020. The number of posts about switching issues on MSE does not suggest that there is a widespread meter readings validation problem.

My post is specifically about paying for the same units twice, I would have lost either £13.50 or £15 (depending on which supplier changed their meter reading) had I not checked, so part of the £25 MSE cashback for switching.

If I had acted immediately on the email from Octopus Energy with subject line: "Action: Act now to avoid getting double billed", it would be closer to £20.

So from my energy useage as an example, I would either lose or gain 50p per day depending on when I took the reading and assuming both suppliers used the same meter readings, obviously the amount varies due to tariff and energy useage per day.

There may or may not be widespread meter reading problems, I don't know, I certainly would hope not, and as good as the MSE Forum is, the number of posts in this forum can't be used to suggest anything really.

The purpose of posting in this forum was to make people aware that the switchover process doesn't always go as smoothly as one would expect and that they should check their bills to ensure that they are not getting charged twice.

People have responded, and I thank them for that, most of the responses were positive, i.e. their switchover was fine, so far only one person has had had a similar experience to myself.

phillw

Anyone caught up in Yorkshire energy debacle would be wise to ignore validated readings because in my case my readings have not been validated. Yet I've had final bills from both Yorkshire energy and Scottish power.
I had to give Scottish power the closing readings from Yorkshire energy, because the administrators aren't going to come back with a different bill later. Then Scottish power decided to raise a huge "final" estimated bill.
I have no faith that my readings will ever be validated now. But regardless,  its in my interest for SP to use the correct readings I gave them.