Octopus not responding to refund request

tj_online

Last year I had solar panels fitted. I was already an octopus customer but had to have a smart meter fitted to enable solar tariffs. As part of that s/m installation, the Octopus appointed engineer fitted the CT clamp incorrectly and after the first month my bill was even higher than before Solar despite lots of sunshine. I discussed with my solar installer who pointed out the CT clamp error which I corrected. I’ve been trying to get Octopus to refund the excess bill for that period but they’re just not answering. Should I go to OFGEM. We’re talking about £150 excess payment.

QrizB

You're claiming that Octopus's engineer was negligent and, as a result, has cost you £150? What has Octopus said when you've put this to them?

Have you followed their complaints process?

Petriix

Solar panels don't normally use CT clamps so I would assume that there is a battery system or some other solar diverter type device (water heater or EV charger etc.). While it's possible that an incorrectly fitted CT clamp could cause some additional costs by drawing from the grid at the wrong time, I'm extremely curious as to exactly how you've calculated the extra cost.

We need a lot more detail on your exact setup and what actually happened as a result of the error. A vague "my bill went up, not down" is pretty meaningless. What do you think caused your bill to increase and where did that energy go?

Is everything working correctly now? 

Ultimately Octopus only charge you for the energy you've drawn from the grid and used. They also pay quite generously for everything you export. Have you factored in the export payments to your compensation claim? 

tj_online

Didn’t feel I needed to give that level of detail for the question I was asking. 

Yes, there’s a battery (master plus slave) involved. 

Everything started working sensibly on the day the CT clamp was reversed. (See attached discussion)

I know the usage per day (average for month) from before the installation from the bill detail.
I know the usage per day from the detailed graphs from FoxESs app and bills after installation, so can make a pretty good estimate of the overcharge - admittedly assuming similar sun conditions.
Ive no detailed knowledge of why the excess usage was caused but certainly saw the battery charging and discharging during the day according to FoxEss.

Posted the following at the time
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6533998/solar-install-with-smart-meter-showing-weird-readings#latest

tj_online

And no export included because between solar installer and octopus there was a mess up re meter ID and only got registered for export tariff 6 months later.

tj_online

Octopus havent responded at all. Despite the graphs and data being presented to them.

Petriix

I find they're responsive on X (twitter). I don't use it for anything else. 

Assuming the battery CT was reversed the battery would see export as import and ramp up its output to try to match. This would quickly escalate until the battery was exporting at its maximum rate until empty. 

Then it would see import as export and try to charge itself to match that. As import ramped up, the battery would charge at its maximum rate from the grid until fully charged.

In theory this could happen multiple times per day as the battery would dump itself to the grid as soon as the solar output exceeded home usage and then charge again as soon as there was any import. You should be able to see this happening by looking at your smart meter data for the period in question.

Are you saying there was a delay in assigning your export MPAN? If Octopus were at fault for that then they might compensate you for the missed export as well. That should be easy to work out as the smart meter has a cumulative export register. 

Have you made a formal complaint? 

tj_online

Unfortunately, I’m asking this on behalf of the friend who had the panels and battery installed. I tried on X but they need to chat with the bill owner and he doesn’t do technology very well. Maybe I can get him to authorise me on his behalf.
Interesting re the mix up on MPAN (there are two meters at the location and apparently the wrong one was sent). Was prepared to let that go because estimate - say £20 export for 4 months - underpayment received and my friends family were slow to follow up requests to provide correct details after the error.

tj_online

Complaint was raised but it’s against that we’ve heard nowt. At least 2 months now.

QrizB

tj_online said:

Complaint was raised but it’s against that we’ve heard nowt. At least 2 months now.

If it's definitely been 8 weeks, you can refer your complaint to the Ombudsman and ask them to adjudicate.

matt_drummer

Surely this is not a failure to deal with a refund request?

No refund is due until the amount you have been over charged is established?

That must be your first step, establish that you have actually been over charged and agree that with Octopus?

They have charged you for what you have imported, they haven't actually over charged you have they?

What you really want is compensation to put you back in the position you would have been in had the ct clamp not be reinstalled incorrectly.