Octopus- 630Kw discrepancy ,"not a problem" now it is.

SRRAE

I moved into my house August 2022.  Within an hour of moving in I took a photo of all the metre readings. The previous owner was with Scottish Power and I wanted to stay with Octopus.

My first bill in September i checked everything.  The meter reading was wrong. My actual meter was about 630Kw more than what was on the bill.

To be clear, I hadn't used 630Kw more,  their base meter reading was wrong. For example the bill said on the 26th August my meter read 10,000Kw, but my actual reading was 10,630Kw. 

I contacted octopus with the meter reading saying they are 630Kw out.  I was told when a house changes provider the old and new provider agree what the metre reading is.  They agreed 10,000. I told them this is wrong and they said they will dispute it.

A few months later, bills still showing an approximately  630Kw discrepancy, I emailed again with my concern stating that should octopus suddenly read the actual meter I'll be charged for this 630Kw aprox £160.

I was told, not to worry because I have a smart meter, my bill is based upon an accumulation of my daily usage. For the next 3 years my bills are 

UNTIL!!!!

I use approximately 400Kw a month. May 2025, I used 410Kw. This is stated by the Octopus app and website,my smart meter and by another energy app on my phone. All report my usage for May was 410Kw.

My bill for May was about £160 more than expected  and I was billed 1040Kw. The difference?  630Kw. And all of a sudden my bill meter reading and my actual metre reading now match.

I contacted Octopus,  pointing out on several occasions I brought this 630Kw discrepancy to their attention. After investigating octopus said it must have used 1045Kw in May.  This is 2.5x my normal amount.  To use that much I would to have my oven on full for 31 days straight.

Now that octopus have denied there is an issue, what's my next course of action?

MattMattMattUK

SRRAE said:

I moved into my house August 2022.  Within an hour of moving in I took a photo of all the metre readings. The previous owner was with Scottish Power and I wanted to stay with Octopus.

My first bill in September i checked everything.  The meter reading was wrong. My actual meter was about 630Kw more than what was on the bill.

To be clear, I hadn't used 630Kw more,  their base meter reading was wrong. For example the bill said on the 26th August my meter read 10,000Kw, but my actual reading was 10,630Kw. 

I contacted octopus with the meter reading saying they are 630Kw out.  I was told when a house changes provider the old and new provider agree what the metre reading is.  They agreed 10,000. I told them this is wrong and they said they will dispute it.

A few months later, bills still showing an approximately  630Kw discrepancy, I emailed again with my concern stating that should octopus suddenly read the actual meter I'll be charged for this 630Kw aprox £160.

I was told, not to worry because I have a smart meter, my bill is based upon an accumulation of my daily usage. For the next 3 years my bills are 

UNTIL!!!!

I use approximately 400Kw a month. May 2025, I used 410Kw. This is stated by the Octopus app and website,my smart meter and by another energy app on my phone. All report my usage for May was 410Kw.

My bill for May was about £160 more than expected  and I was billed 1040Kw. The difference?  630Kw. And all of a sudden my bill meter reading and my actual metre reading now match.

I contacted Octopus,  pointing out on several occasions I brought this 630Kw discrepancy to their attention. After investigating octopus said it must have used 1045Kw in May.  This is 2.5x my normal amount.  To use that much I would to have my oven on full for 31 days straight.

Now that octopus have denied there is an issue, what's my next course of action?

Did you sign up with Scottish Power then when you moved in, then switched to Octopus, or did you do something else, somehow transfer the previous occupants account rather than your own?

Mark_d

If Octopus bill you on the daily usage figures from your smart meter - you can add up these figures yourself by looking up data in the app.  You should be able to prove that (1) your May bill does not equal the sum of the 31 days (2) that there is a huge discrepancy of 630kWh (3) that this discrepancy matches the discrepancy with the opening reading - you have your photo, bill and correspondence with Octopus when you moved in.

Have you followed the Octopus complaints process?  If so then your next escalation point is the Energy Ombudsman.

Lorian

MattMattMattUK said:

SRRAE said:

I moved into my house August 2022.  Within an hour of moving in I took a photo of all the metre readings. The previous owner was with Scottish Power and I wanted to stay with Octopus.

My first bill in September i checked everything.  The meter reading was wrong. My actual meter was about 630Kw more than what was on the bill.

To be clear, I hadn't used 630Kw more,  their base meter reading was wrong. For example the bill said on the 26th August my meter read 10,000Kw, but my actual reading was 10,630Kw. 

I contacted octopus with the meter reading saying they are 630Kw out.  I was told when a house changes provider the old and new provider agree what the metre reading is.  They agreed 10,000. I told them this is wrong and they said they will dispute it.

A few months later, bills still showing an approximately  630Kw discrepancy, I emailed again with my concern stating that should octopus suddenly read the actual meter I'll be charged for this 630Kw aprox £160.

I was told, not to worry because I have a smart meter, my bill is based upon an accumulation of my daily usage. For the next 3 years my bills are 

UNTIL!!!!

I use approximately 400Kw a month. May 2025, I used 410Kw. This is stated by the Octopus app and website,my smart meter and by another energy app on my phone. All report my usage for May was 410Kw.

My bill for May was about £160 more than expected  and I was billed 1040Kw. The difference?  630Kw. And all of a sudden my bill meter reading and my actual metre reading now match.

I contacted Octopus,  pointing out on several occasions I brought this 630Kw discrepancy to their attention. After investigating octopus said it must have used 1045Kw in May.  This is 2.5x my normal amount.  To use that much I would to have my oven on full for 31 days straight.

Now that octopus have denied there is an issue, what's my next course of action?

Did you sign up with Scottish Power then when you moved in, then switched to Octopus, or did you do something else, somehow transfer the previous occupants account rather than your own?

It does sound like the deemed account has not been addressed on moving in

debitcardmayhem

When you moved in was it on the day of completion, and had the house been unoccupied for a while?
The previous owner may have closed their account before completion, just an idea.

Swipe

Lesson to others reading... Take photos of your meters when you move in, vacate a property or have your meters replaced. Trust no one!

QrizB

I'm wondering if this is a "hidden second register" problem?

OP do you have a smart meter? Are the.meter readings on your bills (ever since you moved on) marked as "smart" or as something else?

What make and motis your meter?

SRRAE

MattMattMattUK said:

SRRAE said:

I moved into my house August 2022.  Within an hour of moving in I took a photo of all the metre readings. The previous owner was with Scottish Power and I wanted to stay with Octopus.

My first bill in September i checked everything.  The meter reading was wrong. My actual meter was about 630Kw more than what was on the bill.

To be clear, I hadn't used 630Kw more,  their base meter reading was wrong. For example the bill said on the 26th August my meter read 10,000Kw, but my actual reading was 10,630Kw. 

I contacted octopus with the meter reading saying they are 630Kw out.  I was told when a house changes provider the old and new provider agree what the metre reading is.  They agreed 10,000. I told them this is wrong and they said they will dispute it.

A few months later, bills still showing an approximately  630Kw discrepancy, I emailed again with my concern stating that should octopus suddenly read the actual meter I'll be charged for this 630Kw aprox £160.

I was told, not to worry because I have a smart meter, my bill is based upon an accumulation of my daily usage. For the next 3 years my bills are 

UNTIL!!!!

I use approximately 400Kw a month. May 2025, I used 410Kw. This is stated by the Octopus app and website,my smart meter and by another energy app on my phone. All report my usage for May was 410Kw.

My bill for May was about £160 more than expected  and I was billed 1040Kw. The difference?  630Kw. And all of a sudden my bill meter reading and my actual metre reading now match.

I contacted Octopus,  pointing out on several occasions I brought this 630Kw discrepancy to their attention. After investigating octopus said it must have used 1045Kw in May.  This is 2.5x my normal amount.  To use that much I would to have my oven on full for 31 days straight.

Now that octopus have denied there is an issue, what's my next course of action?

Did you sign up with Scottish Power then when you moved in, then switched to Octopus, or did you do something else, somehow transfer the previous occupants account rather than your own?

No. I was with Octopus at my old house,  I told them i was moving and what date.  I only know it was Scottish Power before because octopus said when I dispute it. 

Peter999_2

QrizB said:

I'm wondering if this is a "hidden second register" problem?

OP do you have a smart meter? Are the.meter readings on your bills (ever since you moved on) marked as "smart" or as something else?

What make and motis your meter?

I have similar with my meter.    I get a day and night reading as a throwback to when the owners before me were on Economy 7 (never understood that as it is gas CH and the day rate was really expensive). 

The meter has two readings (which was very hard to actually get the second reading, you have to press a stupid combination of buttons on the meter).    Octopus get these two readings and just add them together.    My meter is therefore always showing figures that are below what the real figure is.

I still take a picture of my meters every month as I do not trust the incompetancy of the energy companies - I've had a few problems before with them and I only got it fixed because of the pictures I could provide.

SRRAE

Mark_d said:

If Octopus bill you on the daily usage figures from your smart meter - you can add up these figures yourself by looking up data in the app.  You should be able to prove that (1) your May bill does not equal the sum of the 31 days (2) that there is a huge discrepancy of 630kWh (3) that this discrepancy matches the discrepancy with the opening reading - you have your photo, bill and correspondence with Octopus when you moved in.

Have you followed the Octopus complaints process?  If so then your next escalation point is the Energy Ombudsman.

I have complained to octopus and they acknowledge my complaints about the discrepancy i reported 3 years ago, but say I must have used 1045Kw in may

SRRAE

debitcardmayhem said:

When you moved in was it on the day of completion, and had the house been unoccupied for a while?
The previous owner may have closed their account before completion, just an idea.

We moved in on completion date.  The goods wasn't completely unoccupied, the previous owner stayed in it once or twice a week for insurance reasons.