Ovo energy

cas13g

I pay my energy bill by DD monthly and never check my account until January this year.It showed over £1000 in credit.I questioned it and was told they didn't have a meter reading for my electric despite having a smart meter.I gave it 10 days after the engineer had been out questioned the credit again.I cancelled Januarys DD then set it up after the due date again.I was told I would have a cheque out in the post 7-10 days.No cheque.Contacted then again to be told that someone had cancelled it.They asked for another meter reading then said they had requested a cheque again which by now was down to about £700 in credit.No cheque again.This time I was told it had been cancelled because my meter hadn't sent a reading.Cheque issued for a 3rx time and I raised a complaint.No cheque again so I contacted them to be told the cheque was cancelled because there is a fault with my meter and complaint had been closed without asking me.The complaint was reopened and engineer sent out to fit a new meter.Complaints have called me 3 times now and I've been told they have never had an electric reading since November 2024, on top of the they have just discovered that the new meter isn't sending readings back because the engineer closed the job and sent them the wrong serial number.I am now down to about £600 in credit and worried that once this is sorted, if they ever manage to sort it out, then I end up with a large bill that I cant afford to pay.I am now 5 months on and still trying to sort this out.Im wondering how I stand if they suddenly give my an enormous bill.

Brie

I would suggest that you set aside an amount to cover the monthly bills so that you know you have the ability to pay at some point.

Have you checked your bills to see if they claim to have actual readings rather than estimates? That's where things can go wrong.

You don't say who the provider is. I know that Outfox do refund within 2 weeks leaving 1 month's DD as the credit balance.

la531983

About to say, have you actually read the meter and given them a manual reading at any point? If not, you really need to.

QrizB

I pay my energy bill by DD monthly and never check my account until January this year.It showed over £1000 in credit.I questioned it and was told they didn't have a meter reading for my electric despite having a smart meter.

At this stage, you could/should have read your meter yourself and provided OVO with that reading.

I gave it 10 days after the engineer had been out questioned the credit again.

Why did the engineer come out? You haven't said.

They asked for another meter reading

Did you give them a meter reading then, when they asked for one?

The complaint was reopened and engineer sent out to fit a new meter.

Do you now have a new meter? Did the engineer leave a card or sticker beside it with the closing reading from the old meter?

I am now down to about £600 in credit and worried that once this is sorted, if they ever manage to sort it out, then I end up with a large bill that I cant afford to pay.

Do youstill have an active Driect Debit with OVO? Are they taking monthly payments? If your credit balance is dropping, does this mean that OVO are issuing you with estimated bills?

Im wondering how I stand if they suddenly give my an enormous bill.

That's going to depend on how their estimates of your usage compare to the actual metered consumption. If ou could share more info on their estimated blls, the actual reading on your new meter and the closing reading of the old one, we might be able to help you work it out.

You don't say who the provider is.

The title of the thread says OVO, so I'm assuming it's them!

Scot_39

No supplier is going to validate a large refund without an actual reading from the meter.

Cancelling the DD likely just made an easy but not necessarily quick process more complex - and of course as soon as you did so - likely increased your charges if on a variable tariff by c7% - for however many days it was dead.

After a long gap - at some - likely a series of at least 2 readings - weeks apart in some cases - and often asking for photographic time stamped evidence to be sent (e.g. email of smart phone photos)

Pre smart - after a readings issue - that was 2 professional meter readings 1 month apart - the first over a week ater one by family with photo aknowledget - over 6 weeks in total to resolve the real readings - then 2 months to revolve bills - at S Gas (BG's Scottish wing)

And if your one of the c10% according to a recent MSE article whos smart meter doesn't now (or never has) communicated readings to suppliers - that often means submitting manual readings - in my suppliers case - thats a monthly requirement - for old or dumb smart meters.

So if been getting estimated bills for a while - if you can read the meter you should have - and if you couldn't for physical age / disability type reasons - then try to get registered with their system on PSR - to get them to send readers or prioritise solving the smart comms issue.

cas13g

Engineer came out in January this year.I gave them another meter reading in February.I was asked to take a photo of the meter in April and email that to them.They haven't given me any estimate as they have said they don't have any readings from November 2024 until now so I don't know how they will work out any electric used as they told me the meter stopped reading in November 2024.When the engineer left after fitting the new meter, he said Ovo would activate it remotely.Probably hasn't helped that he gave them the wrong meter serial number when he closed the job.

Reed_Richards

Smart meters come in two sections which can be separated by the installing engineer. The bottom section does the metering and the top section does the communication. Do you know if the engineer who came in January replaced both sections or just the top section, the "Comms Hub"? There should be a card by the meter with the date of installation. If that date is earlier than a date in January 2026 that means only the comms hub was replaced. That's what happened to me when my smart meter stopped communicating last July, only the Comms Hub was replaced.

The engineer who visited me had a hand-held tablet device. This read a bar code on the meter which held details like the serial number, I believe. But maybe Ovo installers do things differently. He waited until the Comms Hub had completed "commissioning" (=activation) which is initiated remotely but seemed to take about 15 minutes when successful. Your account of what happened makes me think that your engineer was not able to get your Comms Hub to communicate so you are no better off than before the visit.

Under new rules introduced since January, if you try again to get your communication problem fixed and the engineer fails then you will be entitled to some financial compensation.

QrizB

I gave them another meter reading in February.I was asked to take a photo of the meter in April and email that to them.

Do you still have those photos? What were the meter readings on them? Could you share them here?

they have said they don't have any readings from November 2024 until now

But you provided readings yourself; during that period? And you still have records of those readings?

I don't know how they will work out any electric used as they told me the meter stopped reading in November 2024.

Again, you have readings that you have taken on occasions since November 2024. What are those readings?

When the engineer left after fitting the new meter,

The engineer will have taken a closing reading from the old meter, will have written it on a card or sticker that will have been left adjacent to the old meter, and will have communicated this reading to OVO.

What are all these readings?

Ildhund

OVO have an excellent account website for their Pay-Monthly customers. Sadly, we learn that something over 50% of customers never bother to visit this site; it would save an awful lot of heartache, frustration and wasted time and effort if they did so now and again.

@cas13g All the electricity meter readings for your account, however they get there, are shown on the meter readings history page. What do you see there?

cas13g

I will have a look at that, thank you.I have only been told this week that my meter hadn't sent any readings since November 2024.Nobody contacted me to question anything.I never checked either as my direct debit was going out monthly and I had no idea there were any issues.

Reed_Richards

@cas13g if you look at your bills they will always say if the reading used was real or estimated. This may be designated by a single letter after the reading and a key saying what that letter means but it's always wise to verify that you are bien billed on real rather than estimated readings. And when an engineer came in January it would have been prudent to ask them why they were there.