OVO says my gas meter serial number is incomplete and I owe them money....

Mazo

Hi,

OVO has recently emailed saying the gas meter serial number is incomplete and they've been undercharging me.
I've been with them since 2018 and they've never queried it before AND since then a Morrisons meter reader took a manual reading in 2019 and that didn't flag anything up.

OVO has written off the debt from 12 months onwards (I believe that's the law) but have now emailed to say they'll increase my DD by £60 a month from April 2023.

My question is: is it my legal liability if they didn't have the complete serial number?

I was with OVO in 2014, then switched to Greenstar, and then back to OVO in 2018, and it's never been an issue before. I can't find anything online that outlines the regs on serial numbers. TBH - I've never had to give serial numbers to any supplier and never had an issue with billing before.

If the fault is mine, that's fine. If the liability is with OVO, I'll tackle them.

Many thanks!

Maz

km1500

Could you clarify how an incomplete serial number leads to undercharging ?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

how does meter number on bill differ from actual meter?

Mazo

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

how does meter number on bill differ from actual meter?

The bills from OVO show only the last 3 digits of the gas meter
serial number.

Mazo

km1500 said:

Could you clarify how an incomplete serial number leads to undercharging ?

TBH I don't know. I assume the serial number indicates some type of unit usage for that particular model of meter??

peter_the_piper

When you first went to and then went back to ovo were they given the correct, full number?  How would ovo be able to give a bill to a customer if they only had 3 digits for the meter?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Mazo said:

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

how does meter number on bill differ from actual meter?

The bills from OVO show only the last 3 digits of the gas meter
serial number.

maybe that's all they've got, that's why number incomplete.

pochase

Main question here is did you give them regular meter readings? Are the readings you submitted the same as used on your bills?

If the bill showed lower usage than what you really used they are able to bill you for the last 12 month to make up the difference. You ar elucky as legally they could do that for 6 years, Ofgem backbilling rules stop them from doing more than the last 12 months, and you already wrote they are writing off additional charges older than 12 months.

The £60 higher DD will be both, making up the debt, and catering for the new higher estimated use.

MattMattMattUK

Mazo said:

Hi,

OVO has recently emailed saying the gas meter serial number is incomplete and they've been undercharging me.
I've been with them since 2018 and they've never queried it before AND since then a Morrisons meter reader took a manual reading in 2019 and that didn't flag anything up.

OVO has written off the debt from 12 months onwards (I believe that's the law) but have now emailed to say they'll increase my DD by £60 a month from April 2023.

My question is: is it my legal liability if they didn't have the complete serial number?

I was with OVO in 2014, then switched to Greenstar, and then back to OVO in 2018, and it's never been an issue before. I can't find anything online that outlines the regs on serial numbers. TBH - I've never had to give serial numbers to any supplier and never had an issue with billing before.

If the fault is mine, that's fine. If the liability is with OVO, I'll tackle them.

Many thanks!

Maz

You are not absolved of liability due to an incomplete serial number. You already got a free pass for the usage from 2018-2022, the fact that you have to pay for the bit not covered by back billing is entirely correct. 

macman

Gas meters only read in 2 types of units: imperial in 100's of cu ft, and metric in cu m. 
Nothing to do with the serial number.
Can you post the (redacted) text of the email you received, as this makes no sense. Bills are based on units used. The only difference the s/n would make is if you were being billed on the wrong meter. Is the meter inside your property, or in a communal area with other meters?

Mazo

pochase said:

Main question here is did you give them regular meter readings? Are the readings you submitted the same as used on your bills?

If the bill showed lower usage than what you really used they are able to bill you for the last 12 month to make up the difference. You ar elucky as legally they could do that for 6 years, Ofgem backbilling rules stop them from doing more than the last 12 months, and you already wrote they are writing off additional charges older than 12 months.

The £60 higher DD will be both, making up the debt, and catering for the new higher estimated use.

Hi, Yep, I give monthly readings - but good point, check whether the readings match the amount billed. Thanks!