Add ability for OVO Support Team to reset the Future Annual Consumption figures

A really great suggestion here, @Jeffus.

I’ve opened this one up to votes and will check in with the team to see whether it’s within the scope of our ideas area.

Keep them coming. 👍

Thanks @Jess_OVO i think the functionality should be used sparingly, where it is pretty certain the starting value is a long way off. 

A recent example

Example 

Another example

After a LOT of careful consideration, I’m throwing my weight behind this Idea and adding my support for it as well.

Another example

Yes this an absolute priority for users on a Fixed Tariff Plan, I am sure many people are paying excessive monthly direct debits and OVO are getting a great overnight interest rate on our overpayments.

Being in this situation I am convinced it is done on purpose for previous SSE customers.

Support have no idea how to check Annual Usage and compare against previous years then adjust accordingly, it is bloody deceitful.

I’ve got an update on this idea, and I’ll be changing the status as a result:

We’re unable to action this as the future annual usage figure comes from historical read data - resetting this would only leave national average consumption as a fallback so wouldn’t rectify the problem.  Getting a smart meter is the best way to avoid incorrect annual usage estimates or by providing regular meter readings via your online account. 

Thank you for this feature idea. Any thoughts, comment below!

Interesting i think the answer has misunderstood the issue. 

These are in many cases people with Smart Meters.

For whatever reason the initial value of the Future Annual Consumption for some customers has been set too high and the system is too slow to respond to learn and correct it.

As an alternative we can suggest the customer asks for a 3 month pause or lower direct debit payments and a return of some excess credit as we have done in the past?

Alternatively perhaps some improvements in how the Future Annual Consumption figure is calculated?

Yep understood, @Jeffus. 

The issues outlined above with resetting these projection figures is that if the reset is done badly, it will impact those without a smart meter in that estimated meter readings will be potentially inaccurate. A smart meter avoids that. 

I appreciate that if the current projection of usage is way off, any estimated readings and Direct Debit suggestions are going to be off. Hence your suggestion for a reset. In those cases though, a smart meter sending readings will impact this projection over time.

In the meantime if anyone is affected by this issue that prevents a sensible Direct Debit amount, they’re able to agree on a Direct Debit amount with our Collections team on: 0800 0699 831.

Tim_OVO you have not addressed the issue which seriously effects SSE Customers transferred to OVO.

My annual usage went from 1,000 electricity to 4,000 on transfer and you tried to scam £50 per month extra DD out of me.

I have lived here since May 2019 and a Smart Meter was installed, now 4 months after transfer from SSE my annual expected electricity usage is 3,000, so it will take until next Summer to get the automatic DD correct.

It is not an isolated incident and OVO are the culprits, us customers we are just trying to pay a fair price, we should not have to write bad reviews on Trust Pilot to get rectification.

Thanks for the feedback on your experience, @SpyderDor. I’ll make sure I flag this to the team that looks after migrations to OVO. 

In the meantime if you’re affected by this issue that prevents a sensible Direct Debit amount, they’re able to agree on a Direct Debit amount with our Collections team on: 0800 0699 831.

Another example 

Another example. This one a long standing OVO customer but a relatively recent smart meter

Another example where historical data is not being used. A common issue. 

Is that a common problem? Does it perhaps arise where there is a dearth of meter readings? Or are complainers upset about the personal projection, the estimated cost of last year’s consumption at today’s rates? 

Could we perhaps be having difficulty separating the apples from the goats? The FAC is as I understand it a piece of data stored by ‘industry’ to make it possible to compare different tariffs, including those from other suppliers. It’s tied to a particular supply, not a particular user, so the figure is available even though the meter has changed hands or the user has changed supplier. 

It is however purely OVO’s choice to use this figure as the basis for calculating an appropriate level of Direct Debit. They could choose whatever measure they wanted; after all, if it’s wildly wrong, it’s revised quarterly anyway.

I would suggest that in the current climate, where usage patterns are changing radically in response to startling price changes, it is wrong and unhelpful to use the preceding year’s actual consumption to predict the next year’s expenditure. Instead, I would suggest that for the next half, say, that the personal projection should be calculated on the basis of the previous half’s consumption. The DD could of course still be set at 1/12 of the projected annual cost. In my own case, this would bring my calculated DD down from £71 to £56.

How does that work if the previous half year is all winter months, or all summer months? (Sorry I’ve not looked back at your previous explanation)

Any industry usage figure tied to our property certainly was not used when our first dd payments were calculated. We joined in an October and the first few months of use was used as a basis with no significant adjustment made for winter/summer use. 
As I’ve mentioned in another thread, it took a few calls to agree an initial level for the dd and since then I’m told that I will have a surplus at the end of my contract. 
One of the fundamental differences with OVO’s system is maintaining a credit in your account which I had not come across before, paying quarterly and at the end of a quarter 

1. I suspect it might be hard to use a smaller time frame due to annual and seasonal differences, holidays etc. But it is an interesting idea in the current environment. We haven't reduced our usage this period, but did in the first year we got our smart meter. 

2. Currently OVO don't use a 12 month time frame for calculating the Future Annual Consumption. They use a longer time frame to attempt to mitigate short term fluctuations due to holidays etc.

3. I assume OVO have tested various algorithms for how to calculate and refresh the Future Annual Consumption. We know it does not update particularly quickly and takes 6 months to settle down if the starting value is too high for whatever reason, hence the need for some customers to have their direct debits frozen for 2 three month periods by the Collections Team. 

4. It is probably challenging to get an algorithm that works for everyone and reacts quick enough. We see examples where people have installed solar PV and it takes time for the OVO system to automatically adjust as no manual adjustment is possible. 

Be interesting to know what algorithms OVO have tested, including any like the idea from @Firedog

You raise some good points @Firedog 

I must admit i and others stopped looking into this once it became clear the best advice was call collections and ask for your DD to be frozen at a lower level as suggested by @Tim_OVO . OVO wouldn't adjust the Future Annual Consumption. There didn't seem much point digging any further to understand the approach, features and issues. 

I am not sure if this helps, here are a few thoughts on the good questions you raised. 

1. I wonder sometimes if we get confused with the Future Annual Consumption figure that OVO say they calculate, with the EAC which OVO say they don't personally calculate, but is updated as meter readings are fed into it. 

You mentioned quarterly updates, i assume you mean the EAC? My Future Annual Consumption figure is definitely updated much more often?

2. Is it a common problem? I don't know the statistics, but we tend to see more cases whenever the SSE migrations pick up pace for example. There are similar cases raised on the ovo Facebook and Twitter feeds from time to time for example. Certainly the impact can be big for some of those impacted.

3. Is it related to a dearth of meter readings? We have seen a variety of examples some people have smart meters, others traditional meters. We sometimes help customers via private message so not all the data is visible on posts. There are a sample of customers referenced in this thread, but I suspect some of the links may not work as threads have been combined. 

4. Are people complaining when the issue is really about rates? I haven't seen that. The combined issue of a high starting value for the Future Annual Consumption and someone coming off a fixed rate is clearly big. Certainly some people are surprised how much rates have risen, but that tends to be a different cohort of people in my experience. 

I’m certain we do! I rather thought that Future Annual Consumption (FAC) was the mandatory one, to be used for tariff comparisons and thus stored centrally for other suppliers to access. I see it on my Plan page. The EAC, which I couldn’t find anywhere when I had a quick look just now, I rather thought was the one that OVO can manipulate and then use to calculate Direct Debit suggestions. Annoyingly, neither figure is now shown on monthly statements (although I’m fairly sure it ought to be), and, on the TIL on my Renewal page, I see yet another incarnation of this figure: the Estimated Yearly Use. I suppose, because I have a smart meter that’s been churning out figures regularly for years, they all appear to be identical, if a bit out of date. Incidentally, if I look at the code behind the website’s UI, I see a similar level of confusion as far as these and similar terms are concerned.

Perhaps @Tim_OVO could explain to us the precise meanings of these various terms (inasmuch as they have precise meanings, that is!).  

No, I was referring to the quarterly DD review. The FAC appears to be updated irregularly, but about weekly. I guess that this coincides with a new batch of data being transmitted to wherever ‘industry’ lives.   

@Jeffus The whole point of my suggestion was to work around the unacceptable 6-month DD adjustment period you referred to earlier. If a more realistic estimate of current usage were used in the first place, the DD could reach an appropriate level much more quickly without the need for CS intervention, possibly as soon as the first review (after two months for new customers). 

This would of course be a temporary arrangement until the energy market settles down. Sadly, no-one is predicting when that might happen.