Octopus Energy lost our smart meter data for 17 months – now wants to bill on estimates

Qyburn

I must say I'm surprised it went on so long as well. We had two periods where they weren't getting data. Octopus did not bill on either occasion until the meter was working again and the missing data retrieved. But in our case it was only a couple of months each time.

They didn't mention any possibility of estimated billing using our TOU tariff. It was all or nothing, either TOU bills once they get the data, or billing on standard variable rate if they conclude that they won't get it. We ended up with just one day billed at standard rate.

When you say "estimate",  presumably Octopus have actual import and export totals, read from the meter itself. Maybe you could confirm.

Scot_39

Qyburn said:

I must say I'm surprised it went on so long as well. We had two periods where they weren't getting data. Octopus did not bill on either occasion until the meter was working again and the missing data retrieved. But in our case it was only a couple of months each time.

They didn't mention any possibility of estimated billing using our TOU tariff. It was all or nothing, either TOU bills once they get the data, or billing on standard variable rate if they conclude that they won't get it. We ended up with just one day billed at standard rate.

When you say "estimate",  presumably Octopus have actual import and export totals, read from the meter itself. Maybe you could confirm.

Interesting.

So does that mean smart t&cs clause 1.5 and their 4 days in a calandr month rule is new ?

As says explicitly will use daily totals ?  (It says "readings at midnight") to estimate missing half hourly in the bit i didn't quote above?

Which is in itself curious as would need nightly registers - which would imply a part communicating meter - at least once a month - to get that data if uses the ildhund monthly cyclic buffer data above.

And reversion to full blown estimation if cannot.



There is no mention of retrospective recovery for months on end in that clause - just  differing modes of  estimation.

matelodave

I dont have a TOU tariff but I would have thought (hoped) that there would have been meter readings rather than just a rolled up total, although possibly you may have to search your account on -line to get more accurate data. Otherwise its got to be almost impossible for anyone to work out whether their bills are right or wrong.

Assuming that readings are available, what happens if there are missing ones, is there an estimate indicator to show that they've had a guess rather than a real reading.

What sort of info can you glean from an Octopus CAD rather than just an IHD

Qyburn

Scot_39 said:

Interesting.
.
So does that mean smart t&cs clause 1.5 and their 4 days in a calandr month rule is new ?

At a guess they waived it in my case as I had an open complaint and was in regular contact. One person said they would be able to suspend billing past a price cap change, but they didn't enforce that either.

Scot_39 said:

As says explicitly will use daily totals ?  (It says "eadings at midnight") to estimate missing half hourly in the bit i didn't quote above?

Which is in itself curious as would need nightly registers - which would imply a part communicating meter - at least once a month - to get that data if uses the ildhund monthly cyclic buffer data above.

And reversion to full blown estimation if cannot.

For our one day they used an estimated end reading.

Scot_39

Off topic for OP.

But can anyone with export data - so datarecorded in meter 1/2 hourly even if not on a fkux type bilking - check out if it is stored beyond 3 months as the govt draft - possibly even tge same 13m as consumption (import).

Do apps like bright of the  home mini etc or even Octopus app / portal even give access to not just import but 1/2 hourly export historicalky ?

Its possible 3m as spec is iust a minimum limit and they may have used tfe same limit ?

matt_drummer

I can see half hourly export data from at least two years ago in my online Octopus account.

I can choose any day I like and it is all there.

I have been on IOG since September 2024 but prior to that I was on Outgoing Fixed and before that Flux.

All the half hourly data is there whatever the tariff I was on.

Half hourly import and export data is included with my bills.

I would contact Octopus immediately once I found out it wasn't there.

I also check my account daily, it takes seconds as I leave the account open at all times on my computer at home and at work.

There have been a handful of days when it has taken a day or two extra for the data to appear but usually the data from the previous day arrives by late afternoon.

Qyburn

matt_drummer said:

I can see half hourly export data from at least two years ago in my online Octopus account.

I can choose any day I like and it is all there.

That's data already collected from the meter and stored at Octopus.

matt_drummer

Qyburn said:

matt_drummer said:

I can see half hourly export data from at least two years ago in my online Octopus account.

I can choose any day I like and it is all there.

That's data already collected from the meter and stored at Octopus.

And?

It is what Scot asked isn't it?

Where else would I get my data from if Octopus didn't have it?

Surely that is the point of this, make sure your supplier has the half hourly data so that your complex electricity use is billed as you would like it to be rather than at standard rates?

It's crucial I would have thought!

Scot_39

matt_drummer said:

I can see half hourly export data from at least two years ago in my online Octopus account.

I can choose any day I like and it is all there.

I have been on IOG since September 2024 but prior to that I was on Outgoing Fixed and before that Flux.

All the half hourly data is there whatever the tariff I was on.

Half hourly import and export data is included with my bills.

I would contact Octopus immediately once I found out it wasn't there.

....

Thanks for looking - but suspect that's likely data already received and stored on their servers  though.  So your right - I should not have asked about their portal / app.

And in the ops case - the data isnt being sent.

It was more a question in my mind whether the export  data even exists in the meter now  for a significant period in the event a supplier did try to retrieve it now after a long period of no data messages. 

matt_drummer

Scot_39 said:

Off topic for OP.

But can anyone with export data - so datarecorded in meter 1/2 hourly even if not on a fkux type bilking - check out if it is stored beyond 3 months as the govt draft - possibly even tge same 13m as consumption (import).

Do apps like bright of the  home mini etc or even Octopus app / portal even give access to not just import but 1/2 hourly export historicalky ?

Its possible 3m as spec is iust a minimum limit and they may have used tfe same limit ?

You asked this Scot and that is what I answered.

Surely that is data that has already been received by the DCC in all cases?

I can't imagine that any consumer could extract the data from the meter?


In any case, if your supplier isn't getting the data you have a problem with billing. And as it is so important to users like the OP, you would expect them to be checking.

And if I understand correctly, the OP knew that Octopus were not showing the half hourly data and did nothing about it as the money side of things was acceptable to them.