Final Readings used for switch

moneysavingcharlie

Hi,

I recently switched from OVO to Outfox. I submitted electricity and gas readings on the day of the switch. Both companies used the submitted electricity reading, but for gas, they did not use the reading I provided. OVO decided to use a reading higher than what I provided, overestimating my usage by £78, whilst Outfox decided to use a different reading, lower than what I provided. Luckily, I noticed this, but I wonder how often this happens without the customer noticing. I thought that the meter readings to be used are agreed by an independent body, and in any case both companies should use the same readings, so I don’t understand how this could happen accidentally. Am I being paranoid, or is this just due to incompetence?

I’d be interested to know if anyone else has had different readings used by the outgoing and incoming suppliers. I can perhaps understand using the wrong readings, but they should always be the same ones used by both companies, shouldn’t they?

Charlie.

QrizB

I recently switched from OVO to Outfox.

How recently was this switch? It can take several weeks for the industry workflows to establish a validated switching reading, so if the switch was recent enough it's quite possible that OVO's "final" bill isn't final at all and they will issue a revised one sometime during September.

I can perhaps understand using the wrong readings, but they should always be the same ones used by both companies, shouldn’t they?

Yes they should be, and if they aren't you are justified in complaining!

moneysavingcharlie

The switch was mid-June. I have already complained and both companies have accepted the time stamped photographs of the meters that I sent them and adjusted their records accordingly. OVO have sent me a refund for £77.77, but unfortunately, they did that via Paypoint as they say they no longer know my bank details. They didn’t warn me they would be refunding via Paypoint, so that email went to my Junk and I am now waiting for them to issue the refund again.

Ildhund

@moneysavingcharlie wrote:

OVO have sent me a refund for £77.77, but unfortunately, they did that via Paypoint as they say they no longer know my bank details.

Once you stopped being a customer of theirs, they were no longer permitted under GDPR to retain your bank details unless you told them they could. Refunding via Paypoint suggests that you were perhaps a prepayment customer - is that the case? If so, they wouldn't have had details of your bank account anyway, would they?

I'm not sure what your last sentence means; if they didn't 'warn' you that they would be refunding via Paypoint, what was the email that went to Junk about?

Ildhund

@[Deleted User] asked:

Could you provide a verifiable source for that assertion please?

I suppose you're referring to this:

• Once you stopped being a customer of theirs, they were no longer permitted under GDPR to retain your bank details 

… and I'm afraid the answer to your question is NO. I try to be careful about only making statements I can verify, but you caught me out here. I honestly can't remember where I got this from, but I must have trusted the source. It may have been in connection with my supplier's use of a third party (GoCardless) to handle Direct Debits; once that arrangement has been set up, there's no legitimate reason to my mind for the supplier to store a customer's bank account details at all, so GDPR's Art. 5(1)(e) on storage limitation probably applies. But then, IANAL.

Sorry.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82117770#Comment_82117770

The critical point is the existence of a contractual basis for holding the information and different suppliers will form their own opinion on that.

So Octopus may regard the contractual obligation to repay the balance as sufficient basis to retain the bank details, another supplier may not.