How often should I get a meter reader visit?

A man in a Morrisons Data Services uniform just knocked at my door asking to read the meters. I didn’t let him in as I send meter readings via the app, I was alone in the flat, Ovo had not informed me to expect someone, and I didn’t know why a guy from Morrison would need my meter readings. In the 4 years I’ve been living here they have never come to take readings. I was unsure if it was a scam so I said no. Can someone advise please? Thanks.

More than likely it was an authorised visit on OVO’s behalf. Morrison Data Services is a legitimate company that OVO has an active contract with.

Their staff will visit from time to time to check on the meters, submit a verification reading and check for signs of tampering or damage. They will still visit even if you have smart meters.

If you’d rather have an OVO engineer do this instead, I think that can be arranged via Support. You can also set up Priority Services Register with the Engineer Password option to help verify visitors.

An engineer  visited my Elderly Mother on Mon 25th. He said he was there to read her meter. She has a smart meter fitted in her property.  She had not been given any prior notice of this visit.

I want to ensure her safety in her home as she is Elderly and vulnerable. 

I also need to report this to the police if it wasn't am Employee of OVO energy. 

Thankyou. 

Hi @MELW68 ,

Yes, they sometimes do this. It’s part of bi-annual health checks on the equipment which OVO is legally required to perform - even with Smart Meters. They don’t usually do appointments though, it is done whenever someone happens to be nearby.

OVO’s Engineers ALWAYS carry ID and you have the right to request that they show it - as well as the right to refuse entry if they fail to do so. Likewise, engineers stopping by on OVO’s behalf, such as from SMS or Morrison Data Services, do the same. They literally just check the meter and nearby equipment, grab a meter reading and immediately leave the property as soon as that’s done, usually within a few minutes and will do absolutely nothing else. You are, of course, welcome to escort them around the property and supervise them doing so. If asked to leave, they will respect your request and leave the property immediately - though please be aware that it may take them a few moments to pack up and walk out the door so please be patient.

If you decide to call the police when this happens, I wouldn’t hold it against you. I would imagine, however, that the police would do their checks and most likely confirm whether the visit was legitimate - and would close the matter if it was.

You can ask for the Engineer Password feature of the Priority Services Register if that makes you feel safer. Let OVO Support know - they’ll set it up for you.

We are no longer with Ovo except for FIT generation.  However, I have had an experience with a meter reader in the past from SSE which was quite unacceptable.  I had no idea there was an engineer password.  I was unable to let the meter reader into our property because we were going away and my husband had locked up the garage and had the key with him (he wasn’t there)  I explained this to the female meter reader who walked away accusing me of being a fraud for some unknown reason.  This was to read the electricity meter not the Fit meter.  I did complain and was given a monetary sum in recompense.  I have a smart meter know and am with another supplier as I felt the organisation had declined even further with OVO.

OVO did make mistakes, I won’t hide that from you - I noticed too.

However, recently I’ve noticed that things seem to be improving again which is a good sign. However, as one of the Forum Volunteers, I’m VERY well known to OVO and my own account has a lot of flags on it that may cause me to have an experience that’s different from other customers - especially the fact that my account is now managed by a different team to most people.

At this time, those flags are NOT on my account purely because I’m a Forum Volunteer - it’s a perk that might (or might not) happen in the future, but the reason I’ve got them right now is due to my personal circumstances e.g. Autism. The flags in question helps OVO to know how best to support me and makes sure I get routed to agents who understand my circumstances. Anyone in similar circumstances might also get offered these features.

To counter that and allow me to monitor performance, I’ve got ways of testing OVO’s skills without them knowing it’s me. Any and ALL failures that get picked up via these techniques get rapidly flagged because I want to see things improve for everyone, and not just for me.

My exact methods, strategies, tactics and techniques are highly confidential because I don’t want anyone figuring them out. But I can say this much - they work, and they work very well.

I also want to comment on this directly. However, as a Forum Volunteer I can only speak as myself since I don’t work for OVO (I will feed this back though!).

As far as I’m concerned, it’s not acceptable to automatically accuse someone of fraud just because the key to the meter cupboard isn’t available. While it can be a signal of possible/potential fraud and/or fraudulent behaviour on the grounds of abstracting electricity or gas, it’s not enough evidence by itself because there’s tons of legitimate explanations too… Like the fact the landlord has exclusive control over said key - not recommended but it happens more often than I’d like to admit.

Hi @MELW68, 

I’m sorry to hear about the experience you had. 

I can see @Blastoise186 has already shared some key information about the Priority Services Register. You can register your details with us so we know the best ways we can offer additional support when required. As part of this service, we can set up a password if we have to perform any site visits and our Engineer will be made aware of this and will reiterate this upon arrival for you. 

You can register for the service here

Let us know if you have any further questions.