I give meter readings each month, why is my bill still based on estimates?

Aye, fully understand that and appreciate you taking the time to back and forth. I’ll see what happens on Sunday when I submit a reading. Worse case I have to chase them up. Best case I raise a complaint and if not resolved take it to obudsman and get a refund and compensation (And potentially get them a fine if they’ve got too many complaints open)

Hope you have a great weekend, my friend!

LIKE MANY FORMER SSE CUSTOMERS I TOO WAS TRANSFERED TO OVOENERGY AND ALTHOUGH PREVIOUSLY PAYING QUARTERLY DUE TO THE CONSTANT PRICEW RISES NOW PAY EVERY MONTH. HOWEVER, DESWPITE SUPPLYING METER READINGS FOR GAS AND ELECTRICITY ON THE MONDAY OF EACH WEEK, AND ON THE REQUIRED DATE SPECIFIED BY OVO JUST BEFORE THE END OF THE BILLING PERIOD, I TOO GET FED UP WITH ESTIMATES BEING SEEN ON MY BILLS. WHAT IS THE POINT OF COMPLYING WITH OVO DIRECTIVES IF THEY ARENOT BEING COMPLIED WITH. MY BILLS ARE ALWAYS HIGHER DUE TO THE ESTIMATES. THEY HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED MORE THAN ONCE BUT DON’T SEEM TO  WANT TO KNOW. 

RECENTLY I HAD A PROBLEM USING THIER ONLINE PAYMENT SYSTEM AFTER LOGGING INTO MY ACCOUNT. TWICE PAYMENT WAS ENTERED BUT NOT CONFIRMED SO I PAID BY A BANK  TRANSFER.  CHECKING A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER I FOUND THAT THREE EQUAL PAYMENTS OF £200 HAD BEEN DEDUCTED FROM MY BANK ACCOUNT. NOW I AM STRUGGLING TO GET A REFUND. THEY SAY CROOKS NEVER PROSPER BUT OVO CERTAINLY SEEMS TO BE OK.

AS SOON AS THE PRICE CRISIS EASES I SHALL BE LOOKING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE SUPPLIER. I WOULD ENCOURAGE ANYONE PAYING THEIR BILLS TO USEBANK TRANSFER RATHER THAN OVO’S SUSPECT ONLINE PAYMENT SITE. IT IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE AND BEING A PENSIONER IT WAS EASY TO BE CAUGHT OUT.

Can you see those 3 payments in your OVO account now @FRANK FARMER ? 

Yes. The problem seems to be that ovo produces a bill several days before a full pdf bill is available and the estimates readings are not detailed yet they still require payment.

I have lodged a complaint and have been advised that reimbursement will take up to 10 days for the overpayment to be refunded.

Clearly it should be incumbent upon ovo to confirm payment immediately and sort out a system which involves delay and estimates being used when detailed readings are sent in good time. It's all well and good for them to say adjustments will be made in subsequent bills but with thousands of customers over paying ovo are benefiting hugely in a financial yet apparent legal process.

The service charge and price of energy is bad enough without being charged extra by artificially inflated estimated readings

As long as you aren't on a fixed tariff, you can of course switch suppliers now if that is what you decide to do. In fact you might find it easier now as there are not many people switching.

The new faster switching service introduced last year, means it takes just a few days to switch, much better than the old system. 

Jeffus makes a good point about switching but it appears from the forum comments that many customers a experiencing similar problems with the estimated bills despite sending meter readings in good time. Clearly the problem lies with ovoenergy that has an inadequate computer system which is not capable of formulating precise billing. I have even received emails from ovo demanding payment within 14 days despite the fact that I have not received a full pdf bill statement.

As previous customer of SSE I had no problem calling them, providing an exact reading of both gas and electricity and then receiving an amended accurate bill. Ovo seem incapable of doing this and continue to claim that adjustments will be made after the next billing period. The problem is that these also regularly include "estimates" despite accurate readings being provided via their official website. 

Ovo have confirmed a "glitch" with their payment program which allowed three payments to be registered without confirmation. So it seems plausible to assume that the system is to say the least "problematic" and "unsafe"

Due to the large number of people commenting on the continued use of high "estimated" bills should the forum not bring this matter to the attention of ovoenergy so that these problems can largely be eradicated.

Whilst the forum is useful to highlight consumer concerns, does it have any effective means of getting the numerous issues raised actually addressed by the energy providers?

If you are successfully submitting meter readings every week your estimates should only vary very slightly from the actual amount that should be billed. My smart meter sends readings every half hour, so I know the bill will be for the exact amount each month. If you submit on a Monday and your bill is generated on a Friday then it would have to be estimated. How different is your bill from your meter reading @FRANK FARMER ?

nb if you can still edit your previous post can you delete all the blank lines please.

Hey @FRANK FARMER,

Sorry for the issues you’re having,

We don’t have access to your account here on the Forum so aren’t able to advise what date is best for you to submit your monthly readings. I do know that we send out meter reading reminder emails a few days before a statement is produced to give customers enough notice to take a reading. 

As @juliamc advised we would expect the estimates to be in line if regular readings are submitted. 

We offer a live billing system at OVO, so if you’re concerned that there’s an estimated reading on your statement you can submit a reading via your Online Account. Your account balance will update accordingly within 24- 48 hours, so you can always see exactly what you’re using even between statements. We have a great FAQ on this topic here:

We can also offer free smart meter installations, this means your readings can be sent across automatically half hourly, daily or monthly! 

Hope this helps. 

Every month I give readings on the day the app tells me to but my bill still shows an estimate for that date. I found a thread 5 years old which didn't answer this.

I'm fed up with having my readings ignored so please tell me why this happens?

If I'm giving an accurate reading on the day requested then it's not unreasonable to expect my bill to be based on reality is it?

Do your meter readings on this page https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings/history/electricity and https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings/history/gas say Smart ?

On the app go to Account > Meter Readings > View Reading History for the same info.