Can OVO install a meter for a new gas connection?

Been trying to get in touch with the new connections team for over a week now because my mother was due a meter install and no one showed up. It’s getting cold and she’s vulnerable so it’s becoming very urgent! 

If anyone has a way of reaching the new connections team please can you advise?

Hey @Vsteele8,

Sorry to hear no one turned up for the appointment, that must be a frustrating situation for your mother.

If your mother calls Support they can send someone to attach a meter to the new connection. You can call with her, but unless you are named as financially liable on the account we will need to speak with her directly. 

If they are able to book in an emergency appointment an engineer can be round within the next 3-4 hours. 

At a new build property I am in the process of receiving a supply, the lady on the phone said " your gas will be free until we connect you". What I need is this confirmation that it was SSE protocol to receive this, and not a unique offer to myself. Can anyone confirm this offer of free gas until connection is from the training given to staff to offer to new customers. 

Actually, you won’t get any gas at all until the supply is fully set up.

Nope. New build has gas and we've been using it since we moved in last April. As I said the lady from SSE said on the phone it would be free until they set up the new account. What I need to prove is that what she said is from their training protocol rolled out to new customers.

Hi @Emmanuelle_OVO ,

Similar to above, I was due to have my new gas meter fitted weeks ago but the engineer never showed up. I have been in endless phone calls with the new installation team but they won’t give me a new date for the meter installation. I have had to delay the boiler installation because of this and now it is starting to get very cold. When I contact the new installation team now they say the team has been closed! Above you say an emergency meter can be fitted in 3-4 hours. Who do I call to get this sorted?

Hi @jacob_mc - very sorry to hear of the difficulties you’ve had since the missed appointment. 

To arrange the new appointment and to make sure you’re compensated for the failed appointment where you weren’t given at least 24 hours notice, call our Support team directly: 0330 303 5063. Thanks for bearing with us during this very busy time. 

Hi, what is the phone number for the support line? I’ve just been on hold for half an hour, then I got put through to new connections and was told (by SSE) that they’re not doing new connections due to some sort of company migration. What is the correct phone number for new connections?

I just need a meter installed ASAP. The emergency section of the ‘support’ part of the website just talks about gas leaks. 

It’s 0330 303 5063.

I want to use a different supplier for my new gas connection, however other companies are saying they can’t install the meter because Ovo is listed as the supplier on my account. Ovo has also told me that they aren’t doing new gas connections or meter installations. 

How do I get Ovo removed from my account? Note - every time I call they say they are not my supplier but they are in fact showing as my supplier on the national database.

Hey @Vsteele8 !

How long has it been since the connection was first set up?

Hey @Vsteele8,

Sorry for the issues you’re having. 

If you’re already an OVO customer and on the national database this means you already have a MPRN number (supply number for gas). So should be able to switch to another supplier by signing up normally. 

OVO can now take on new connections if you already have the infrastructure in place (pipework from the gas main in the street should be on site). All the energy supplier, in this case OVO would be doing is connecting the meter to the pipework. 

Hope this helps. 

I had been with OVO now for a number of years for gas and electric. I had a house fire last year and both connections were destroyed, and disconnected at the road.

This year OVO have been back to install my new electric meter, which is all fine. I am now ready to get the gas meter installed.

The gas pipework has been reinstated to the property, and a white gas meter box installed on the outside of the property with the pipework leading into it, ready to install the gas meter.

However OVO have told me they are unable to install gas meters to new connections. This isn’t a new connection, it’s an existing connection that needs to be instated with a replaced gas meter. They said a “big 6” company will need to install it.

I called British gas, and they said they are unable to install a gas meter as OVO are connected to my MPRN and are my current gas supplier - they said it’s entirely within the remit of OVO to install the meter.

Now I’m in a bit of a stalemate. OVO saying they no longer install gas meters, and british gas saying they can’t install the gas meter as I’m with OVO?

Any help would be much appreciated. 

Thanks 

Hiya!

I think I’ll ask @Tim_OVO and @Emmanuelle_OVO to stop by here. If OVO is the active supplier, it’s best to get OVO to do this as they are now capable of doing it. You just got some outdated advice by mistake.

That’s great thanks, I thought that was the case.
 

But speaking to several different customer service reps they said OVO were not able to install a gas meter - it was only a big 6 company that could. So good to know OVO can as I want to stick with my current tarrif!

thanks 

No worries. OVO is now capable of doing it and the Big 6 doesn’t really exist anymore as such. The market has been shaken up so much that it’s more the Legacy Big 6 and half of them have bit the dust anyway

Yep I agree, it sounds like miss-advice, @ianbristol. 

OVO are now able to create new gas supplies. But also, we don’t need to as the supply already exists. The MPRN has already been created. This should be an engineer job with a cost of £106, as outlined here:

• Non-essential meter maintenance, relocation or removal - Engineering work we can arrange and job costs Tutorial

Could you start a web chat conversation with our Support team and link them directly to this topic? If you still get push back, I’ll need to get our Forum_Support team to help you and also find the agents so we can pass on feedback. 

Hi all,  I presently only have an active electricity supply to my house, with SSE. In October of last year SGN installed a gas supply at my house, and when I approached British Gas to install a gas meter they told me that they were unable to as OVO gas ltd had attached themselves to my MPRN number on the database. I then called OVO and asked them to install a gas meter and they told me it was SSE I need to contact. I duly did as they suggested to be told that it is OVO that I need to talk to. I’ve spent hours on the phone back and forth to both companies but am just going round in circles now, I’ve even tried the webchat facility but after waiting in a queue for the best part of an hour I was told that I’m an SSE customer and that I would have to contact them, then the advisor ended the chat. I’m mega frustrated and don’t really know where to go from here- I thought I would have a fully functioning heating system in place by now but I can’t even get a gas meter installed. Grateful for any suggestions/advice. Thanks

You have been given entirely the wrong information, I wouldn’t strongly suggest to avoid the web chat as everyone I have spoken to on there has given me incorrect advice. I wonder if they are from a different help centre.

It actually took a couple of different people on the phone, but someone you speak to will eventually book you in a gas meter installation. 
 

I had a confirmation through today via email confirming the date and time of my new meter installation.
 

You call OVO and ask if you can have a new gas smart meter. They should happily change over your meter so long as new meter fits in the existing box. They so love pushing smart meters. However, depending on where you live they may not be able to fit a medium pressure smart meter for you. IT DOES NOT FIT in most boxes. You cannot change the box without getting OVO engineer to remove old meter AND fit a new box. Nothing happens on the same day. 

Most properties don’t need a medium pressure meter anyway. U6 gas meters work fine for well over 90% of domestic properties in the UK. Only a handful actually need a U16.

I spoke to someone at Ovo 2 weeks ago who assured me that I could get a gas meter fitted and they gave me a provisional date of 1st feb and said someone would be in touch to confirm. Having heard nothing I phoned this morning to be told there is no record of me having phoned and that I would have to speak to SSE. I refused - SSE have never provided me with gas and it’s nothing to do with them and it’s Ovo’s details that are registered against the MPRN number and I would like a gas meter fitted. The gentleman on the phone told me that ovo are not fitting gas meters presently and I would have to contact sse. At this point I asked if there was a number I could call to complain. He popped me on hold- for 10 minutes. He then came back to me and assured me that he was speaking to ‘resolutions’ to get this sorted. I was then on hold for approx 30 mins with him popping back on every so often to say thanks for waiting, I’m trying to sort this. 45 minutes into the call he asked me my name, how long I’ve lived at the property and when I got the gas supply put in. Just as the call time hit 1 hour he came back on and said I’ve to phone back on Monday because from Monday they will be issuing appointments for installations of new gas meters (miraculous timing). Then he hung up before I could say anything else. I’m so frustrated I could cry, I’ve spent hours on the phone trying to get this resolved and it seems like no one is able to help me. I don’t know where to go from here because I don’t know if I can face going through all of this again on Monday. I honestly thought that getting a gas supply put into my  1970s ex council house would be beneficial but instead it’s been hours of stress and phone calls and I’ve spent thousands on a new boiler and heating system that can’t be installed until I get a gas meter. Is there some sort of magic phrase or password that I need to get ovo to either come and fit a gas meter or remove their details from my MPRN on the database so that I can get someone else to provide a meter?! 
Sorry for ranting but I just want this resolved, I have already purchased a boiler and heating system (at great expense) which is useless until I can get a meter fitted. 

Hi,

Only the active supplier can install a meter. Have you tried to escalate this via https://ovoenergy.com/feedback by any chance? I will also inform @Emmanuelle_OVO 

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately the number you gave me is simply a recorded message telling me to contact ovo to register my interest as they are not currently making appointments for gas meters, or alternatively to get another supplier to provide a gas meter. I spoke to British Gas regarding this and they advised that since ovo is attached to the MPRN they are unable to do this unless ovo removes their details against my MPRN on the database. I phoned ovo to enquire how to remove ovos details from my MPRN but was told to contact sse - I did this and they told me that they have nothing to do with it and to contact ovo. I’m at a loss now- any advice?