OVO saying my daughter cannot move off Economy 7 - is this correct?

Mr_Brinkworth

Hi,

I hope someone can help me. My daughter is a student and moved into her flat thsi weekend. She called OVO as they were supplying the flat and was immeadiatly told by customer services that as they did not have her DD details they would be blacklisting her for the the £7 electricity showing used on teh account since her tenancy started (despite being told she had 7 days to provide these). Next she was told she was on the Economy 7 tarrif and could not change this. She has no use for cheap electricity during the night so is therefore paying over the odds now during the day. There is a Smart meter for her flat but they say there is no way for her to come off the Economy 7 tarrif. Does anyone know if this information is correct. She does not have stoarge heaters or anything that needs electricity at night. It seem so unfair.

MyRealNameToo

Mr_Brinkworth said:

Hi,

I hope someone can help me. My daughter is a student and moved into her flat thsi weekend. She called OVO as they were supplying the flat and was immeadiatly told by customer services that as they did not have her DD details they would be blacklisting her for the the £7 electricity showing used on teh account since her tenancy started (despite being told she had 7 days to provide these). Next she was told she was on the Economy 7 tarrif and could not change this. She has no use for cheap electricity during the night so is therefore paying over the odds now during the day. There is a Smart meter for her flat but they say there is no way for her to come off the Economy 7 tarrif. Does anyone know if this information is correct. She does not have stoarge heaters or anything that needs electricity at night. It seem so unfair.

What is heating the flat and the hot water?

It was always possible previously to come off E7 but you would still need to give the two meter reads but the deltas would be added and charged at a single rate. 

WiserMiser

With that attitude, it's not surprising that Ovo have the lowest customer rating in the 17 suppliers listed in the Which? 2026 survey.

Ditch and switch !

Slinky

Careful about moving to EDF. I was told I could switch away from E7 after 30 days of moving to them. After 30 days, they claimed to know nothing about this. I had to take a complaint up as far as the chairman's office before it was resolved satisfactorily.

Outfox the Market I had a fix with them on single rate with an E7 meter, but when I came off the fix, they dumped me back onto E7 saying they couldn't (wouldn't) have two meter readings on a single rate, despite this being possible on the fix, hence why I moved to EDF.   So I'd avoid them also.

I'm currently on E7 with Octopus with a smart meter. When I moved onto the E7 tariff with them (from a single rate smart meter) they said if I wanted to come off E7 at any point (we now have solar and batteries), it was possible to do, but the meter would remain showing on the system as an E7 meter.

Scot_39

Thats particularly awful Ovo CS - but given they are failing Ofgem's new financial checks - they were threatening to lay off 100s as part of seeking new financing - I suspect they may not be the happiest company to work for right now - or the most flexible.

Until recently their was an Ofgem edict that suppliers had to bill some complex meters - but bog standard E7 meters were strictly excluded - to be billed at single rate.  But in reality most suppliers allowed it for any twin rate metering. That was extended at least once - but iirc only to the June 2025 delayed target for old RTS upgrades.

And I'd go for a formal complaint about the threat to her credit rating for £7 and 7 days.

(But note if her tenancy started 7 days ago - before moving in this weekend - thats when she became liable - not on moving in day)

I am sure you will have looked at heaters etc - but have you considered HW - that can be non trivial for smaller properties - especially modern efficient flats that can use very little heating cf most homes.

My HW tank is also het by restricted - using around 2-3kWh per day - and if it fed my shower (1.5kWh for a 10min cold fed electric shower in my case) - the two combined - would use c1/3rd of my annual use - and so make E7 potentially similar to single rate - just on HW alone. Thats in a 2 bed house - but het modestly vs most. 

But not a massive saving.

If not willing to bill the two registers at one rate.

As she has a smart meter - assuming it's one of the 90% communicating with suppliers - any decent supplier could even reconfigure the meter for single rate.  

[Caution - E7 isn't always just as simple as just the tariff though - it also traditionally at least - often came with two sets of home circuits - one live 24/7 - and one only live for 7 hours (in case of e7) - which would traditionally feed NSH and HW tank immersion heaters. Looking at the meter or consumer units / fuse boxes would help resolve whether any restricted circuits remain. They appear from my limited viewings of flats with niece about 15m ago - less common on modern builds - but a couple of flats - were still e7 label metered - prmarily I guess for the HW tank with own timer - which did feed the showers - in two of the multiple flats viewed over weeks.  But would have done the panel heaters over night if set to.]

If you decide to move - I would just for the blacklist threat - 

Check with you own - or other relatives - you and she may both be able to get upto £50 each in referral bonus / credit etc - 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/energy-supplier-rewards-and-referral-schemes/

As a tenant in a standard property - she can normally switch suppliers - but there may be something restrictive in student flat type accommodation leases. My neice couldn't move her hall flat share supply - in part as that included initially free - then a capped - still decent IIRC - allowance for heating and HW power use.

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

Mr_Brinkworth said:
I hope someone can help me. My daughter is a student and moved into her flat thsi weekend.

Congratulations to your daughter. Is she a sole tenant or is this a flat share? A private landlord or college-owned?

How long is her tenancy for and when did it commence?

I ask these questions because late January is a relatively unusual time to take up student accommodation and there might be subtleties that we're all missing.

Mr_Brinkworth said:

She called OVO as they were supplying the flat and was immeadiatly told by customer services that as they did not have her DD details they would be blacklisting her for the the £7 electricity showing used on teh account since her tenancy started (despite being told she had 7 days to provide these).

That sounds unlikely. OVO aren't allowed to operate a blacklist and having a frontline customer service rep admit to one would be deeply incriminating.

Is it possible that she was just told something like that she wouldn't be able to switch away until her account was settled?

Mr_Brinkworth said:

Next she was told she was on the Economy 7 tarrif and could not change this. She has no use for cheap electricity during the night so is therefore paying over the odds now during the day. There is a Smart meter for her flat but they say there is no way for her to come off the Economy 7 tarrif. Does anyone know if this information is correct.

If the flat has a smart meter, and that meter is communicating properly with the DCC, OVO should be able to switch her onto a single-rate tariff. But, as others have already stated, you need to check whether she has storage heaters and/or stored hot water. Heat is a major electricity demand and E7 is one of the cheaper ways to provide it.

If she doesn't have storage heaters, she's going to be paying full standard rate for her heat and that's likely to be expensive. See the link at the bottom of my post for example price comparisons.