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Does OVO have a slow accounting system?

  • 7 February 2024
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At the end of my current billing period I send a current meter reading online. Then I wait for 24 hours giving time for my bill to be calculated before then paying the required amount through my online account. Monitoring my payment through my bank the payment takes at worst 24 hours. It is then with extreme annoyance that after a delay of between 3-6 days I receive an email statement saying that I owe an amount which is always slightly different to the one I have just paid.

My query is having worked in computer software for over 35 years and fully realising the speed that the modern banking systems work, why does my payment take so long to get from my bank to being recognised by OVO’s accounting system. Could the answer be that when dealing with millions of accounts, any even small delay, can accrue significant interest just by holding onto the money in a different account.

In this modern world I find that being told that I owe an amount of money that I paid several days earlier is extremely irritating, if not frutrating because it then requires some investigation to check if the information is either correct or a breakdown in procedure.

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Best answer by BeePee 7 February 2024, 16:14

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BPLightlog
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Hi @Denbigh New , presumably you don’t have a smart meter or this wouldn’t occur. 
What we’ve noticed from others is that if your billing period ends on say 5th of the month, then you are better off sending your reading early on 6th otherwise their system estimates the final reading as the billing doesn’t end until midnight on 5th (in that case).

A smart meter sends readings just after midnight so by sending your reading the day after your billing ends , you are mimicking what the smart meter does and shouldn’t have estimates applied. 
Presumably the ‘delays’ are for checks to be carried out and the gas consumption calculated (as the grid don’t release the calorific values until after each days supply)

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Hi @Denbigh New 

What @BPLightlog says about Calorific Data is generally correct. The data is released the following day, BUT it can be revised so can take another day or two to be finalised. I always assumed OVO waited an extra day or two before releasing the final bill to ensure that they used final values.

 

The detail:

Each consumer is allocated to a “Local Distribution Zone” or LDZ. Gas chromatographs monitor the gas composition of the natural gas entering and leaving the LDZ and an average Calorific Value (CV) is calculated based on these readings and the relative flows into and out of the zone. This is averaged over the 24 hour period. There are then additional rules that are applied, such as if the average deviates by more than a certain amount from any of the inputs (then the lower value is used to benefit the consumer). These additional checks can take a while since operators may need to go back to the original data to check that the instrumentation was working correctly. The data for each LDZ can be downloaded from Find gas data | National Gas Transmission Data Portal. You can see that it has date applicable and date published options as well as options to download the latest final data or all the data (including the revised values).

 

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Hi BPLightlog and BeePee

I am sorry to cause confusion but I should have stated that I was talking about my electricity supply account. Where I live there is no piped gas supply. Still a mystery why my account is so slow to be updated.

As I see it there is one big potential drawback with Smart Meters, which is that the tariff can be increased for parts of the day when demand is highest. Though this is not yet in operation as far as I know it is probably a safe bet that it is not too far away. People are always searching for ways of extracting more money from us and increasing profitability.

We all see the arguments for having a Smart Meter, like it saves you money and you can see your useage at a glance, but for me who only has appliances on when being used and give accurate meter readings each month I can’t see where any significant savings can come from.

A lot of sites on the Internet including some comparison web sites say the Smart Meter actualy costs you money not saves you money. This will be an essential to bill you if the tariff is going to change during different daily periods. Not such a good idea then I think.

BPLightlog
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Actually @Denbigh New , my tariff is one that charges more at peak rates (and less off peak - not with OVO currently) but with my solar and battery feed, it actually costs me less than on standard tariffs 

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Hi @Denbigh New 

I don’t know but maybe OVO have decided to run all billing jobs say 5 days after the reading for all customers regardless of just electric or electric and gas? Simpler that way?

Variable hour by hour tariffs work both ways. The Mixergy - Smart and Connected Hot Water Technology can take advantage of low tariffs to recharge water cylinders at (much) reduced cost, but I don’t think OVO have a tariff that is suitable (Octopus energy?).

OVO are currently running their power move challenge: use less than a certain proportion of your energy between 4pm and 7pm and get a credit (of up to £15) on your next bill. So far I have managed 4 months (£60 credit). I was a little late replying because I was just running around the house disconnecting laptops and chargers!

I’m not sure how having a smart meter can directly cost (or save) you money, but they do help to see where the money goes. There is a recent topic on smart meters that might be of interest.

Do you think Smart Meters are the next best thing since Sliced Bread? | The OVO Forum (ovoenergy.com)

Firedog
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With several million bills to be produced each month, I wouldn’t expect every one to be available within 24 hours of the end of the period it relates to. I’m sure that there will be some proportion of them that will have to be looked at before issuance - missing readings, or unexpected ones, for example. For the past many months, my smart-meter-based statement has arrived by email on the fifth of the month, and it usually tallies exactly with what I could see online on the first. 

I can’t say why there are several days between a payment leaving your bank account and being credited to your energy account. However, since OVO don’t charge interest on negative balances, there’s no incentive for you to pay what you think you owe before the monthly statement arrives a couple of days later. Apart from that, paying by Direct Debit is £130 a year cheaper for the average customer than paying on demand as you do - and it eliminates the frustrations you seem to be suffering from.

I would echo the positive remarks made earlier about the benefits of a smart meter. Your fears that the price you pay for electricity could be increased when demand is highest are not justified, though. While it would be possible to make use of a smart meter to do this - and it may well happen in the future - it’s currently illegal. A supplier is obliged to give reasonable notice of any tariff change that would be to the customer’s detriment, so he has time to make other arrangements. 

That said, ‘time of use’ (ToU) tariffs are already with us: Octopus have some that vary the price in response to factors like forecast demand and CO₂ emissions. ‘Swings and roundabouts’ come to mind, but it is of course the customer’s choice whether to take this sort of gamble. Forced ToU pricing is a long way off. 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
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Hi,

Thank you all for your interesting responses and points of view, obviously everone’s individual circumstances, situations and expectations are different. My home is a small very well insulated one heated by a ground sourced heat pump so I think even a variable tariff would not benefit me that much as the largest individual consumer of electricity in the house is the cooker. That being said the microwave is used if that is adequate for what is being prepared.

I have a reticence about direct debit because of something that happened to my mother a couple of years ago when she was in her 80’s. She lived in a small one bedroom council flat, well insulated and draught proofed with double glazing. When Centrica took over from British Gas the first thing they did was to change the gas meter. My mother being elderly and a trusting soul did not think to record the meter reading before they took the old meter away. When the next bill arrived it was for a sum over £2,000 which would have been absolutely absurd because used the heating very sparingly as she rarely felt cold and cooked only small meals. This happened at the end of the 1990’s, after many protestations Centrica insisted the bill was correct even though it woud have represented several years of use at her rate of consumption.

If she had been on direct debit, the money would have been taken out of her account and she probably would never have got it back again.

I think I could see what had happened, Centrica did not take a reference that the meter had been changed and then taken the reading from the new meter as a continuation from the old one, Either that or Centrica were just trying to apply an exorbitant charge for the meter replacement. In either case on direct debit the money would have gone from her account and the onus would have been on her to prove the error was on Centrica’s side,

 

Emmanuelle_OVO
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Hey @Denbigh New,

 

Some really detailed advice and suggestions here from our Community Members. Does that help? 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
Firedog
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I have a reticence about direct debit ...

… the money would have been taken out of her account and she probably would never have got it back again.

 

There are different sorts of Direct Debit, e.g. this one, where the payee decides how much he wants and the bank hands it over. That’s not how OVO DD works. The customer agrees beforehand on a constant monthly amount to pay to cover the cost of energy over the next year. 

Direct Debits - What do I need to know? (ovoenergy.com)

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
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Thank you Firedog for your response. I am aware that Direct Debits have changed over the las quarter of a century even though I do not have any. For regular amounts I do have Standing Orders. I am quite content with my present way of doing things, it allows me to see what I am spending, also monitor costs and charges for services used regularly even though I would save a small amount by going the Direct Debit route.

 

 

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