Looking for advice — long-running Octopus Energy billing/metering issue (Ombudsman involved twice)

Littlemurf

I’m posting to see if anyone with metering or industry knowledge has dealt with something similar, as this has been going on for a long time and standard complaint routes haven’t actually fixed the root problem.

We have a complex meter setup (dual circuit / RHT configuration), and Octopus appear to fundamentally misunderstand how our supply is configured.

The core problems

• Switched meter reads
Our day/night (or circuit) readings have repeatedly been recorded against the wrong registers. This has led to usage being billed at the wrong rates and incorrect consumption profiles.

• Fictitious / manufactured debt
Because of the incorrect register mapping and billing errors, the account has shown large amounts of “debt” that don’t reflect our real usage. This debt has effectively been system-generated rather than consumption-based.

• Ongoing billing inaccuracy
Even after corrections, bills don’t remain accurate or regular. Fixes seem temporary, and the account eventually drifts back into error, suggesting the underlying meter configuration in their system is wrong.

• Ombudsman involvement twice
We have already gone through the Energy Ombudsman process two separate times and were awarded in our favour on both occasions. While compensation and adjustments were made, the root technical/billing issue has not been permanently resolved, which is why the problem keeps reappearing.

What seems to be the underlying issue

Our property has a dual circuit / RHT style setup, which is not a standard single MPAN, single-rate configuration. It appears:

• The meter registers may not be mapped correctly in their billing system
• The switching/timing configuration may not align with how the tariff is set up
• Support staff often treat it like a normal Economy 7 or single-rate meter, which it isn’t

So every “fix” addresses symptoms (balance adjustments) rather than the technical data behind the account.

What we’ve already done

• Provided repeated manual meter readings
• Raised multiple formal complaints
• Been through the Ombudsman process twice
• Had bills reworked and compensation awarded

Yet the account still cannot remain accurate. We are now in our 4th year with this issue and colossal debt they keep generating.

What I’m trying to understand

Has anyone experienced:

• Registers being billed in the wrong order or swapped?
• Dual circuit / RHT setups being misconfigured in supplier systems?
• A situation where Ombudsman rulings didn’t force a proper technical correction?

And more importantly, who actually fixes this?
Is this a data flow / MPAN configuration issue, a meter technical issue, or a supplier billing system problem? It feels like frontline support simply can’t handle non-standard metering.

Any insight from people with metering or supplier back-office experience would be hugely appreciated 🤞

gpman

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6652932/looking-for-advice-long-running-octopus-energy-billing-metering-issue-ombudsman-involved-twice

Sorry, I cannot assist directly.

What I do know is that complex metering is complex not just in the technical sense of metering, but also in the generally understood sense.

Complex metering was an old system used before Octopus Energy even existed. It probably would have been best if you were still supplied by the original supplier (or their successor). i.e. the one that supplied the property at the time the complex metering was installed.

The bad news is they probably won't take you back on the original plan.

What makes it more complex is that different supply regions had different approaches to such arrangements. Complex meters were generally installed back in the days the you had to buy your electricity from the local supplier.

What I would like to question is that you say you've been through the ombudsman process twice about this issue. How did that come about?

When you escalate a complaint to the energy ombudsman service, they investigate (based on evidence you and the supplier provide them) and propose a resolution. You then either accept or reject the ombudsman's proposal.

If you reject, that is normally the end of the ombudsman's involvement.

If you accept, then you do so in full and final acceptance. (It is therefore important to ensure you fully understand and agree before doing so; in my experience, the ombudsman is very willing to explain anything you do not fully understand, and is willing to make minor adjustments to their resolution before finalising it should there be any possible wriggle room for the supplier to meet the proposed resolution as originally drafted without actually resolving the your complaint in the way the ombudsman intended)

In either event, if you attempt to raise the same matter with the ombudsman again at a later date, the matter is usually closed as a duplicate.

ETA:

As I said I cannot assist directly with regards to your complex metering, not least because I do not know the exact set up you have.

But in regards to incorrect registry allocation, that would appear to be a common issue based on the numerous comments posted on this site. It really should not need the involvement of the ombudsman service to resolve (but sadly some suppliers do need a kick up the b…). Anyway, once resolved, I don't know how it can go astray again, unless you change supplier, or the meter is changed, as it's usually obvious which registry a particular reading belongs to based upon previous accepted readings.

I guess it might go wrong if the registry readings are very similar, but the nature of these set ups usually means the they are very different once up and running.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6652932/looking-for-advice-long-running-octopus-energy-billing-metering-issue-ombudsman-involved-twice

Did Octopus install a smart meter for you?

They would normally want to move you from complex metering to a single smart meter on E7.

QrizB

Did Octopus install a smart meter for you? They would normally want to move you from complex metering to a single smart meter on E7.

I was wondering something similar.

The permanent solution to the complex metering problem is to move away from whatever legacy metering system the OP currently has and onto a smart meter with a current tariff.

They'd still need to sort out their current muddle, but they'd avoid any future problems.

Littlemurf

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81862002#Comment_81862002

The first time we went to the ombudsman was to get an Isolator switch installed, necessary to have smart meter. The second time was the once the smart meter was installed, we stopped being billed on a regular basis but our meter reads where being switched by them creating fictious debts which they are expecting us to pay off. They admitted the smart meter wasnt working at some point and that the remedy was to bill us monthly. That hasnt happened.

We want to leave them and find an energy supplier that can handle this very complex configuration and in hindsight from what you said it would be have been wiser to remain with who we had when we moved in, however with the debts that they keep creating, we cant leave.

Littlemurf

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863635#Comment_81863635

Octopus installed our smart meter. The first bloke refused to do it because he said our electricty set up was too complicated. The second chap installed it but since then we have not been billed for any of our E7 components.

They keep switching our night and day readings around and every time they do this (4th time now) it creates a massive debit which we are expected to pay off. Last year we moved out of the property for a month whilst extensive renovations took place and during this time they switched our readings around and it created a £800 deficit which we knew as impossible for us to have created, as we werent living there.

tim_p

do you have any meter readings you’ve taken during this period?

QrizB

The first time we went to the ombudsman was to get an Isolator switch installed, necessary to have smart meter.

This puzzles me.

Generally, if an isolation switch is required it's installed after the smart meter. So you don't need one as a precondition to having a smart meter.

Is there something really weird about your setup?

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863976#Comment_81863976

Agreed, the isolator switch is usually installed at the same time as the smart meter, or sometimes afterwards, but never in my experience before a smart meter as it is certainly not a prerequisite.

… and as you say, it is located between the meter and the house so not on the incoming supply so not a factor when changing a meter, but it is useful to have when you need to get the complex metering arrangements re-wired after the smart meter is installed…

Hard to imagine any reason for the Ombudsman to insist on unnecessary hardware being installed before the smart meter…

QrizB

Octopus installed our smart meter. The first bloke refused to do it because he said our electricty set up was too complicated. The second chap installed it but since then we have not been billed for any of our E7 components.

OK, so you don't have compex metering any more (tho' you may have done so once upon a time), you now have Economy 7, and you should only have a single MPAN.

This is quite a different situation to what you originally described, and I agree that Octopus should have no trouble whatsoever in billing you correctly,

Littlemurf

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863941#Comment_81863941

Yes we have and when Octopus change our meter reads around they dont match.