When an appointment was made to remove second meter and fit a smart meter I was given a choice of three plans. As I am 77 years old and live alone I chose the anytime plan as I don't need heating on from 6a.m. I want to take advice about this. I have read elsewhere that I can't change my mind. Is this true? 

We may be able to help if told us precisely what the three tariffs contain, along with figures for how much energy you’ve used at the two or three or four rates you’ve been billed for until now. That may mean digging up old bills: it’s the meter readings on your latest bill and the corresponding one from last year I’m interested in. If you have access to your online account, you should also be able to see the bills on the billing history page, and/or the readings themselves (with a lot of scrolling) on the reading history page.

It’s apparently not possible to change your mind in some cases, for example if you’re on an Economy 7 tariff with the same rate for peak and offpeak usage, you can’t then ask to switch to the plan’s day and night rates. Whether the single Anytime rate would be best for you depends a lot on what sort of heating you have, e.g. space heating, hot water and showering.

1947 was a vintage year   

Hi @Kjack2005 ,

It all depends on your circumstances. If you’re offered to KEEP THTC, then the prices and tariff behaviour will stay the same and nothing changes on that front, other than having one meter going forward rather than two.

If you’re offered to CHANGE tariff, OVO will discuss with you what the options are and work with you to find the best possible option - which could well be cheaper than THTC.

Thank you. I'll look to call and discuss then. Much appreciated.

I am interested as to whether we will be able to easily change tariff. 

I predominately use the panel heaters for heating as they are on the 24hr cheaper rate and I can control when they come on and the temperature so I don’t use the storage heaters.

My usage last year was Standard (Lighting, Cooking etc.) - 1903Kwh, Heating - 3273 Kwh

Comparing the simpler energy tariff with the THTC one show I would have paid approx £46 more if I was on a single rate meter (this is based on current costs not the October rises). If I am offered E10 then I lose 24hr cheap rate heating and it’s not easy to model how much energy I would use at each rate to compare to the single rate meter cost. So if I could opt for E10 I could use the figures over a few months to see what the difference to the single rate was. Would I be able to change fro E10 to single rate easily?

It may be possible to change your mind later - it does depend on what tariff(s) you’re offered as part of migration though. If you’re only offered THTC then you can’t switch tariffs later due to DNO restrictions. Otherwise, it might be possible. I’d still suggest picking and sticking with your first choice if possible though, for the smoothest experience.

Is the solution for those staying on THTC being rolled out? Your original note said it wasn’t ready yet. 

Hi @awills61,

I’ll ask the team about this and be back as soon as I have a response for you.

Hi @awills61,

I’ve checked this with the team, they’ve responded saying:

“Customers won’t be able to stay on THTC, they’ll have to arrange an exchange to a different tariff. We’re contacting all customer who are eligible to ask them to get in touch with us but some won’t be eligible until later in the year.”

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply but this contradicts what was stated in the original RTS (Radio Teleswitch Service) Shutdown Update article which says that some people will have to stay on THTC due to being in an LMA. 

In this situation it’s best to speak to OVO’s team directly as they’ll have insights into exactly what is available in your circumstances. AFAIK there will remain a small group of customers who may have to stay on THTC at this time but this could still change later.

I wrote that particular guide myself and had OVO double check it before publishing. If we get any updated statuses, we’ll be sure to post those in there so please check back from time to time.

I wasn’t trying to ask what was available for me I was just enquiring as to whether the roll out for the THTC solution had started.

Ah yeah, gotcha. At the moment, the solution for those in Load Managed Areas - which does include some THTC customers - hasn’t started yet.

However, THTC → Smart Meter migrations have started for those who aren’t in an LMA - OVO will let you know when you’re far enough up the queue to be able to migrate.

Thanks. The implication for me then as I have been sent an email is that I am not in an LMA and will find out my options when I ring up.

np. The information we’ve had so far suggests that coming off of THTC may well end up being cheaper anyway - it has been a horrible value tariff in recent times.

OVO will try to get you the best deal they can as part of the migration, but it’s ultimately up to you as to what tariff you want to migrate to.

Hi @awills61,

Apologies for the confusion. It seems that our forum volunteer Blastoise has already cleared this up. 

We’ll update all relevant topics as soon as there is any progress on this for customers in Load Managed Areas.

Hi @Kjack2005,

It seems our forum volunteer has already given some good advice here.

Please let us know if you need any further help.