Ovo Energy Reviews: Give your feedback

System · 2 February 2018 at 2:29PM

Rosie75 wrote: »

I switched to OVO for electricity last October - a price comparison website showed that I would pay £31 a month based on my previous year's usage. Now they are writing to me saying that this won't cover my anticipated usage this year, and wanting me to increase my monthly payment to exactly double the current amount.

Do your own calculation of usage based on actual readings from old bills. If you are on fixed term contract then the maths go something like this:

Estimated contract cost = £372

6 month review

Amount Paid: £186

New Monthly DD £62

Revised annual contract cost = £186 + £372 or £558

It follows that either the estimated annual usage in kWhs/year was wrong when you moved to Ovo and the monthly DD amount should have been £49 per month, or you have used more energy. This why you need to do the sums yourself.

naijan · 2 February 2018 at 4:29PM

I'm in a similar situation. My switch to OVO last October went smoothly but now they want to increase my payments by 100%. This is presumably because of higher winter usage. I would like to speak to OVO about increasing it by a smaller amount but cannot find a phone number.

laurence4fun wrote: »

I switched to OVO from EDF in October last year.
The switch went well with no problems whatsoever.
OVO fixed my direct debit, and all went well for October and November when my bill was covered by the direct debit. However, with the cold spells in December and January, I am now in a situation where my account is in debit. All perfectly understandable, but I am sure this debit will be cancelled out by my lower use in the summer months.
OVO, however, have different ideas, and they have emailed me their proposal to raise my direct debit by 65%! I have been in contact with them, and it appears, as some of the other posters point out, they want me to run up a sizable credit.
Shame, I really did hope that they were something different, as their advertising blurb states.

victor2 · 2 February 2018 at 4:39PM

naijan wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation. My switch to OVO last October went smoothly but now they want to increase my payments by 100%. This is presumably because of higher winter usage. I would like to speak to OVO about increasing it by a smaller amount but cannot find a phone number.

Their website says:

Still not found what you're looking for? Call one of our team >

Pay monthly customers

0800 5999 440

Calling from a mobile?

Opening hours

Monday to Thursday 8am - 8pm

Friday 8am - 7pm

Saturday 9am - 2pm

Pay and go customers

0800 358 3523

Calling from a mobile?

Opening hours

Monday to Thursday 8am - 8pm

Friday 8am - 7pm

Saturday 9am - 2pm

I used to be with them when their tariff was very competitive for me. I did have issues with them saying they were increasing my DD amount most months, but a quick phone call got it left where it was.
I did monitor my usage carefully and knew what I needed to pay each month based on my history. They never quibbled about leaving it where it was.

Kit99 · 2 February 2018 at 7:26PM

I have found that the arithmetic shown in the OVO Energy gas bill for the conversion of gas consumption in cubic metres to kWh to be arithmetic nonsense. The amount of kWh shown on the bill is more than that calculated using the formula shown. Has anyone else tried to check this calculation and found the same problem?

victor2 · 2 February 2018 at 9:43PM

Kit99 wrote: »

I have found that the arithmetic shown in the OVO Energy gas bill for the conversion of gas consumption in cubic metres to kWh to be arithmetic nonsense. The amount of kWh shown on the bill is more than that calculated using the formula shown. Has anyone else tried to check this calculation and found the same problem?

Always looked OK on my bills - and I did check!
Can you show us the "nonsense"?

Kit99 · 2 February 2018 at 11:43PM

victor2 wrote: »

Always looked OK on my bills - and I did check!
Can you show us the "nonsense"?

Here goes;-

Meter units: 278
Volume conversion factor: x 1
Metric Units: 278
Volume correction: x 1.02264
Calorific value: x 39.4
Convert to kWh: ÷ 3.6
kWh used: 3119

My arithmetic says the kWh used is 3111

:shocked:

victor2 · 3 February 2018 at 8:44AM

Kit99 wrote: »

Here goes;-

Meter units: 278
Volume conversion factor: x 1
Metric Units: 278
Volume correction: x 1.02264
Calorific value: x 39.4
Convert to kWh: ÷ 3.6
kWh used: 3119

My arithmetic says the kWh used is 3111

:shocked:

That is indeed the wrong answer!
It looks like they used 39.5 as the calorific value (CV) instead of the 39.4 stated.
The CV is the only value that can (and often does) vary from statement to statement - apart from the actual meter reading of course!
The CV is published by the National Grid for each gas distribution area on a daily basis. Several years ago I grabbed this daily figure for my area and used it to calculate the average over the period I was billed for. It was before the days of OVO, but the suppliers I was with used an average a fraction below the calculated one (e.g. 39.2 against 39.47 calculated and 39.2 against 39.51), meaning the calculated cost was very slightly below what it should have been, albeit only a matter of pennies, but in my favour.

I would contact OVO and ask them why the result doesn't match the arithmetic. It does only make a tiny difference, but they shouldn't print incorrect details on the bill, when it is supposed to explain how they arrived at a number.

poppellerant · 3 February 2018 at 10:46AM

Despite not being a customer of OVO for almost a year, I got a statement telling me that I was a little less than £1.00 in credit. A quick phone call later and the cheque is the post. :cool:

Cardew · 3 February 2018 at 11:29AM

victor2 wrote: »

That is indeed the wrong answer!
It looks like they used 39.5 as the calorific value (CV) instead of the 39.4 stated.
The CV is the only value that can (and often does) vary from statement to statement - apart from the actual meter reading of course!
The CV is published by the National Grid for each gas distribution area on a daily basis. Several years ago I grabbed this daily figure for my area and used it to calculate the average over the period I was billed for. It was before the days of OVO, but the suppliers I was with used an average a fraction below the calculated one (e.g. 39.2 against 39.47 calculated and 39.2 against 39.51), meaning the calculated cost was very slightly below what it should have been, albeit only a matter of pennies, but in my favour.
I would contact OVO and ask them why the result doesn't match the arithmetic. It does only make a tiny difference, but they shouldn't print incorrect details on the bill, when it is supposed to explain how they arrived at a number.

In the dim and distant past I also checked exactly the kWh figure using the declared CV and found I gained or lost a few pennies on each bill. The answer is found in this Government document:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gas-meter-readings-and-bill-calculation

Step 3

This figure is then multiplied by the calorific value of the gas which is a measure of the available heat energy. Calorific values vary and the figure quoted on your bill (eg 39.5 megajoules per cubic metre (MJ/m³)) will be an average of the gas supplied to your property (the regulations explain how this is calculated).*

If you want a little light reading, try this:

* http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/439/made/data.pdf

I believe bills are still audited and IMO if there was any suggestion of fudging the average CV figure in favour of the company it would be detected.

Kit99 · 3 February 2018 at 11:54AM

victor2 wrote: »

That is indeed the wrong answer!
It looks like they used 39.5 as the calorific value (CV) instead of the 39.4 stated.
The CV is the only value that can (and often does) vary from statement to statement - apart from the actual meter reading of course!
The CV is published by the National Grid for each gas distribution area on a daily basis. Several years ago I grabbed this daily figure for my area and used it to calculate the average over the period I was billed for. It was before the days of OVO, but the suppliers I was with used an average a fraction below the calculated one (e.g. 39.2 against 39.47 calculated and 39.2 against 39.51), meaning the calculated cost was very slightly below what it should have been, albeit only a matter of pennies, but in my favour.
I would contact OVO and ask them why the result doesn't match the arithmetic. It does only make a tiny difference, but they shouldn't print incorrect details on the bill, when it is supposed to explain how they arrived at a number.

I have found an OFGEM letter dated 5 August 2014 setting out guidance for all domestic gas suppliers on how to calculate the calorific value used for domestic consumer billing. This letter directs all domestic gas suppliers to use the average daily calorific value supplied by National Grid, "The CV used for consumer billing should be an average of the daily average values received from National Grid for the billing period. The use of a fixed CV, which some suppliers refer to as an ‘industry standard’, is not consistent with the Regulations." This might explain your billing inconsistencies.

Also there is a Requirement to truncate, "This means that for a given gas billing period, suppliers should truncate the average CV to one decimal place. Rounding average CV is not consistent with the Regulations, nor is calculating to more than one decimal place."

OVO Energy has explained the difference in the computation is due to them using 5 decimal places for the calorific value in their computation of the kWh, i.e. using 39.49999 rather than 39.4, because it's an Ofgem regulation to display calorific value truncated!

So I suppose it's off to the Energy Ombudsman next?

Thanks for your replies.

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