Billing discrepancies

QrizB

No_Worries22 said:

QrizB said:

No_Worries22 said:

Hoping someone might be able to explain what may have happened.

If you can tell us what your meter reads today, and share *all* the merter readings & dates that OVO have used to bill you, we might be able to help you decipher things.

Thank you. They’ve sent me over 100 pages of readings! 

Oh.
Maybe summarise them?

No_Worries22

sorry just home from work, but if you can tell me the figures you’d need I’ll try summarise the best I can. From the statement, there’s a few readings per day so I have been trying to focus on the first disputed month recently to show the difference in figures.

QrizB

It can wait until tomorrow, you don't have to do this tonight!

Your supplier can only bill you for the electricityyou've used, at the tariff that applies at the time. For them to want an extra £1000 they're either saying that you've used more energy than they thought, or your tariff is more expensive than they thought.

The amount used is relatively simple to check, as it's directly related to your meter readings.

So, what's the first (oldest) meter reading & date on all these bills, the one they begin with? Has that changed?

And what's the last (newest) meter reading & date? Has that changed? How does it compare to the reading on your actual meter today?

Phones4Chris

And as asked previously - Does the meter serial number on the bill match the number on the meter? (don't post the actual numbers (or redact some of the digits).

born_again

No_Worries22 said:

It's OVO. They reissued my bills over a 6 month period due to a 'technical billing error' which put me in a negative balance.  They sent me a statement of accounts so I could see what I was being billed for/what the smart meter had sent them over this period as I couldn't see how I'd used that much extra energy consumption, especially in the summer. When I've calculated every reading, it doesn't tally on a monthly basis with what I've used in kwh and therefore feel I'm not being billed correctly.  Hoping someone might be able to explain what may have happened.

You said in a previous post that "I have a smart meter. I've not given any manual readings"

So where are you getting your "what I've used in kwh" from?

Scot_39

First thing to check is the absolute reading "today" or as close to last Ovo statement including the £1000 debit balance correction.

Are they roughly in the correct ball park - say if within the month - within your c350-400 kWh measured from one assumes manual readings you took for own records but didn't submit.

If they are - there is also a real possibility you can still owe money if Ovo were somehow underbilling you.

As even if they match - periods of underestimated unit readings - on past bills can cause a similar bill catch up shock (*).  Given they mentioned a technical error - I wonder if they were applying the right readings or some such to your account.

So then need to go back and if possible - find a point in past were billing was actually correct (if it ever was under Ovo - if you are a relatively new customer) How long have you lived there - or if shorter - when was your smart meter fitted ?

Start say monthly on billing date from both sets if need to go back historically.

Compare as originally "billed" kWh and not just use - but critically - absolute meter reading numbers - with new claimed kWh figures.

Check serial numbers - and check absolute readings.

Was your smart meter working and sending readings throughout the contested usage period ?

They can stop and restart in some locations - sometimes just be woken back up - by remote proding.

(*) How far back does your c375 vs c925 kWh per month correction type discrepancy go ?

550kWh at single rate c25p = c£140 - so guessing - at least 8 months if consistent.

And arguably again if this has gone beyond a year - there might be backbilling protection to prevent them recovering charges for the whole units now claimed.

brianposter

No_Worries22 said:

From the statement, there’s a few readings per day .................................

Can you find any readings that are obvious nonsense ?

dealyboy

Hi @No_Worries22 ... sorry to hear of this ...

Clearly this is a huge worry and is a complicated matter, smart meters and billing discrepancies can be a devil to sort out ... and do any of us trust our supplier? Whilst a number of concerned MSE'ers are trying to help it might be worth making an appointment with the Citizens Advice Bureau in parallel, they have been very helpful to me recently and will give you a telephone call back.