Feed in Tariff (FIT) or Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) payments - who to contact if I have a query?

Hey @barberndes,

I’m sorry to hear this, 

Could it be that your account needs a read dispute? There is an industry timeframe for this process. There is more information on that topic here:

Apologies if not, if you’re able to explain more about your issue we might be able to provide some more specific advice. 

Hi @barberndes 

You might as well put in a complaint if ovo have given that timeframe if you haven't already.

https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

Then if it really does take over 8 weeks and you are still not happy you can go to the Energy Ombudsman.

https://www.energyombudsman.org/

Hi Both, thanks for your support on this, I’d not considered this so definitely a good area to look into.

I’m still a little confused as our submitted meter read was 16786, and as the meter was new since our last payment I estimated we were due to be paid for 16786kWh of generation. Under the SEG payments we’d be expecting £0.04 multiplied by the meter read, which works out at £671.44. Have I estimated this correct?

Thanks,

One of the reasons I mentioned SEG was the difference between your estimation and actual payments. 
If you know that you’re on SEG then you need to check (or ask) what previous reading is being used for calculation. This is usually provided on the statement together with the rate which is being applied. 
The linked topic above shows how to reach the support team. 
One other thing on your reading .. with any new meter (unless using a smart meter) you should check that you’re using the Net reading depending on how the system is wired

I was transferred from SSE to Ovo 2 years ago and customer services has been beyond terrible since the start.  Response times to telephone calls is glacial - even if you are dealing with higher level complaints stream.  Individual complaint handlers do not have access to the information you need (ie why a FiT payment has not been made) and have to wait just like we do for the higher ups to “investigate”.  Lets be honest, this is just a matter of interrogating their data bases - should take seconds - but somehow the complaints team seem to stretch this out into months every time.  This has happened to me every single quarter.  It really is a terrible service and my advice to anyone struggling with it is quit and transfer to another supplier at the earliest opportunity.  I’m only sticking with this because for me now it’s a matter of principle.  Firms like OVO should not be able to get away with treating their customers like this.   

I have an SEG contract with OVO which commenced in April 2022. I erroneously submitted two consecutive generation readings that summer rather than the required export readings. I emailed OVO to explain this, and received a generic reply about them being busy.

I didn’t submit any further readings until June 2023, by which time my export reading was well above the earlier incorrect generation readings submitted. Since then I have submitted correct export readings.

OVO made an adjustment on my statement, but have failed to pay me for the units exported. Subtracting the opening account reading from the export reading of 30.9.2023, the total export is 4750kWh, at 4p/kWh that should maen a total payment of £190. OVO have only paid £132.32.

I’ve opened a complaint which was later closed by OVO without contacting me. I’ve had several long converstions by phone, being passed betwenn the FIT/SEG section, complaints section, and a South African call center (where Gamba agreed that they owe me money) but no hint of how I move this forward to be reimbursed. I have a second ongoing complaint (#22080051), but have seen no progress towards resolution.

How do I resolve this, or do I escalate to the energy ombudsman?

I am really disappointed in the level of customer service OVO provides, so I hope this forum can restore my faith in OVO.

OK my SEG account transfered to OVO from SSE and todate no PAYMENT received from them keep giving readings when required they have bank details but complaint just not being ignored so getting my Solar excess  for FREE l know we only get 4pKWH but makes a mockery for signing up. OVO also got the migration of my Gas/Electric accounts badly wrong had to get MP involved looks like l will have to get him involed with this and Ofgem. Moving when fixed contract finishes.

Hey @JohnMildenhall,

Really sorry to hear this,

Unfortunately there’s no contact number for SEG, only Feed in Tariff. 

If you’ve emailed  seg@ovoenergy.com  and are frustrated with the lack of response.

There is the option to raise a complaint, there is more information about this on our website. 

Thank you for the reply. It’s depressing that companies now resort to forums that one has to navigate in search of complaint resolution instead of staffing a well resourced complaints department.

I’ve emailed seg@ovoenergy.com twice in the last year to resolve this. Both times have resulted in an irrelevant reply.

Last exchange here:

Hi

I spoke to your customer services (Niall, I think his name was) on 12/9/2023 to query why I hadn't received my last SEG payment.

The payment from you of £29.60 was overdue at that date. This payment was for the export reading of 3807 dated 14/6/2023. I was advised that payment would be processed by 15 September.

This payment has still not appeared in my account. Please advise when you will send this payment.

My opening reading at the start of the SEG contract was 342. My export from start of contract to 14/6/2023 is therefore

3807-342

=3465kWh.

Total payment due at 4p/kWh= £138.60

Your payments to me have been

£57.68 (paid 7/6/2023)

£51.32 (paid 23/11/2022)

= £109

Adding the overdue £29.60 would bring the total paid to £138.60

I appear to have two SEG identities:

SEG ID E001241617

SEG1001481

These seem to be randomly attached to emails from you, so I don't know if they are both in use. Perhaps you could clarify that.

Response here, totally failing to answer my question:

Thank you for contacting the SEG team.

We are currently experiencing an extremely high volume of enquiries and therefore it is taking longer than usual to respond. We really appreciate your continued patience whilst we look into your query.

Due to a higher than expected amount of new applications, emails and switches, it is taking longer than usual to process these. If you have recently applied for SEG payments from us, please ensure you send all of your documents as soon as possible to prevent delays. These documents are:

• Photo ID (photographic, a copy of your passport or driving licence)

• Proof that you own the installation (a copy of the installers paid in full invoice, or a letter from your solicitor confirming ownership of the panels).

• MCS installer certificate or equivalent which is accredited in accordance with EN 45011 or EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012.

• DNO notification (a G83, G59 or G98 provided by your installer)

And if applicable;

• Battery schematics, company authorisation letter, third party photo ID and grant information.

• Proof of address (e.g. utility bill, bank statement or council tax bill dated within the last three months) You don't need this if your home is already supplied by OVO Energy

Once we are in receipt of the above information we will then be able to continue with the application and apply for the export MPAN. It can take around two to three weeks for the DNO to generate this and we will then contact you for your opening reading, which will be used to open your account.

Please note that we experience an increased workload at the end of each quarter as customers send in their SEG reads for payment. At these busy times it can take up to 4 weeks for us to respond. If your query is urgent, you can call our customer care team on 0330 303 5063 between 8am-6pm Monday to Friday.

You might find the answer to your query using our SEG FAQ's page:

https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/smart-export-guarantee.html

For our application guide, please click here:

https://www.ovoenergy.com/binaries/content/assets/documents/pdfs/help/seg-application-form-and-supporting-documents-guide.pdf

Kind regards,
The SEG Team

I’ve called OVO three times since this exchange, and had a converstion with the chatbot. All to no avail.

Do you honestly think it is worth me trying again? Should I direct my complaint to Zoe or Kirstie *edited by moderator to remove full names* in the hope of an answer? 

Thanks,

John

Hey @JohnMildenhall,

I’m really sorry to hear this, it sounds very frustrating.

There is the option to raise a complaint, which at this point seems like it may be the best option, as you’ve had no response to your email. There’s more information about this on our website.