My understanding is that you put in Actual meter readings on the last day of your current billing period then you get a bill based on those readings
If this is the case then why am I getting an estimated reading on my heating meter only on the 30 th September when my current billing period ends on the 8 th October which is when I should submit actual readings to obtain up to date bill for that period I only have electricity energy Not gas
Best answer by Tim_OVO
Updated on 27/08/25 by Ben_OVO
Hi
Yep you’ve pretty much nailed it in terms of when to provide a reading, although you can also provide a reading on any date and the billing will update.
Sorry to hear about the confusion caused by the differing dates you were advised to give your meter readings. If you haven’t had smart meters installed, we’ll send you a meter reading reminder a few days before your monthly summary is created. The easiest way to submit these readings is on the ‘Meter readings’ page of your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS),
The best date to submit your reading is on or just before the date shown on your bill - the email or text reminder you receive may suggest you enter this the day before to make sure it’s received on time. If you do enter the reading slightly early we’ll only estimate your usage between the date you entered the reading and the date the statement was generated, so it should be fairly accurate.
Every time you enter a meter reading on your online account, your account balance is recalculated to include your usage costs up-to-date. The balance will usually update instantly although it can take up to 24 hours. It’s worth checking the balance before submitting your readings, so you can easily check that the balance has updated. If the balance show on your monthly statement is estimated, you can always check the accurate balance by submitting another meter reading.
If we ever use an estimated reading on your monthly statement, this is calculated based on the last actual reading you gave and your Estimated Annual Consumption (EAC) to give us an idea of what the reading is likely to be. You can always correct any over or under estimated readings by submitting an accurate reading.
As a smart meter can be programmed to send us a reading half-hourly or daily, we can always be sure we’ve got a reading on the date your monthly statement is issued. This will mean no more worrying about reading the meter manually and more accurate billing and usage information on your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS)
Hi Folks
Last few months account has been fine However this has now changed and of course is now wrong again
Received visit from Morrison Data Services wasn’t at home card in letter box regarding meter readings
This was 22nd March 5 days ago. I sent readings online on that day. I also sent readings to Morrison pointing out I did not require them to visit premises as I can do my own readings online and have accurate readings up to date I received an email from Ovo customer care that this information that I did not require house visits and do my own reading from Morrison.
they asked me for account details etc, so they could change account accordingly to reflect this. Shortly after another email from ovo stating they have amended the account so no more visits from Morrison required
so on 22 nd March I put in my readings and balance of account etc, was as it should be. Keeping an eye on account a few days later I saw the same meter readings entered again but still stating the same date 22 nd March ie, duplicated I assumed it must be Morrison Data Services putting in the readings that I sent them despite pointing out I had submitted them It didn’t seem to matter to the account as still all looked fine with a balance at that time was £42.18 so no changes
On checking the account today my balance is now £254.95 in CREDIT ?Why my balance from today taking into account all accurate readings from beginning of this billing and readings submitted on 22 nd March and the 5 days from 22 nd to today 29 th with vat should be todays balance of £49.47 in DEBIT which is what it should be based on accurate readings vat etc,
Also why this sudden credit as all previous bills since migration to ovo has been paid in Full day after billing period. Account was fine until Morrison data services and ovo customer care intervened
If I contact Ovo who knows what they’ll do with the account next How can a simple adding and subtraction IT System get billing completely wrong on a regular basis
so the dilemma is contact ovo or wait to see if it corrects itself although I doubt it will
Since the above question I have looked at my bill since being migrated since September 2023
According to my billing downloads I started with being in credit accordingly I have been paying each billing period balance as after putting in each reading it comes up to a debit balance hence paying that monthly bill.
each download since migrated states a credit balance since I have as said above paid each billing period as it always shows debit after submitting readings at end of each billing period.
So unless there’s something I don’t know if I’m in credit as a result of paying each billing period How does it show a debt due after I have been submitting accurate meter readings
im finding it a bit strange that at migrating I started off in Credit when I always only paid the previous bills prior to migrating in full and in accordance with accurate meter readings I’m afraid something doesn’t make sense unless there’s something I’m not aware off
Any ideas an account that doesn’t make sense can produce any type of billing in the future
Well folks didn’t contact ovo. Checked online account today found that todays balance has resorted back to what it’s original balance of Debit and the £254.95 Credit has now disappeared on it’s own
can any customer really trust Ovo Energy when they can’t keep their online accounts accurate and stable See what account shows tomorrow who knows
+4Hi
I think this could be easily explained with a call to our Support Team. If you get in touch I’m positive they will be able to talk you through the balance.
We also have a lot of information on our Billing system here.
Keep us updated on what you find 😊
I have an account with OVO that was £130 in credit. I’ve been automatically paying estimated electricity bills for the past year due to a fault with my smart meter. My recent September bill showed a reading of 13255 and the bill has been paid. Today (9 days later) I have given an accurate reading of 13288 and have just been charged £70. That’s more than a month’s usual bill. I can’t understand why 33 units difference has cost £70!! I wonder if anyone could explain to me, in simple terms as the OVO staff member was less than helpful and put the phone down on me!
+4Hey
Sorry to hear this.
It should show on the bill what that £70 charge is made up of and from when. Would you be able to share a screenshot? (removing any personal details)
That would help in trying to advise where it may have come from. Did the Support Team look at the meter connectivity while you were on with them to try and get the smart meter communicating again to avoid this in future?
I’ve linked below to a couple of topics which might also be helpful here:
I hope this helps take you a step in the right direction, if you can share a screenshot that would help us advise in more detail but as it’s an account specific issue we can only make our best suggestions at this stage.
Hi Abby_OVO
unfortunately I can’t give you a screen shot as this happened over the phone. I rang your customer services as I couldn’t get access to the app. The member of staff solved the issue and confirmed that my account was in credit of £130 which I checked on the app. She then asked me for an electricity meter reading which I gave. Whilst on the phone I saw that my balance had suddenly reduced to £60 on the app. When I queried why £70 had suddenly been removed from my account I was told this was because the last estimated bill was less than the meter reading I had just given. The call taker said my smart meter wasn’t sending readings and so she would get an engineer to come and upgrade it. Bearing in mind I had just paid the last bill 9 days ago I asked again how an extra 33 units could have suddenly cost me £70. The call taker just kept repeating it was the difference between the estimated bill and the meter reading. She would not explain how 33 units had resulted in £70 being removed from my account and then abruptly put the phone down on me. I can’t get a straight understandable answer as to why OVO has removed £70 credit from my account!
how is it that your meter reading is allways in hole numbers but when you get the bill there is allways fractions after the whole numbers .
+8Howdy
That’s because ALL Smart Meters do record to three decimal places, but most of them don’t show it on the display - Aclara is one of the only exceptions where you can get the entire reading out of it if you know where to look.
The decimal places don’t usually do much to the bill however - you’re talking just a few pence at most and it’ll balance out by the next bill anyway.
+4Hey
Thank you for that information.
You’ll still be able to see where this has come from when the bill is produced. Have you checked the app since for an amended bill?
Without any further context or ability to view the history, it can be very tricky to identify the issue as this is specific to your account, and we don’t have access to accounts here at the Forum.
If there’s no new bill, would you be able to share a screenshot of the last bill? I’d also suggest reaching back out to the Support Team to have an amended bill produced based on the new reading so they can explain where this has come from.
+7how is it that your meter reading is allways in hole numbers but when you get the bill there is allways fractions after the whole numbers .
If you have a non-smart meter you have to read yourself, the readings you submit will be in whole numbers. Modern smart meters automatically submit readings with three places of decimals (i.e. to the nearest Wh). Older ones send readings with two decimals.
If you’re seeing readings with three decimal places on your bills, it’s likely that they are estimates. If you submit a reading before the end of the billing period, the billing system will estimate your usage to the very end of the period with three-figure precision. You can avoid this by submitting a reading each month in the morning of the first day of the billing period. For example, if your bills run from the 16th of the month to the15th of the next month, submit your reading in the morning of the 16th of each month. If your billing period is the calendar month, submit on the 1st of each month.
Better still, ask for a smart meter to be installed. It’s completely free!
+7Aclara is one of the only exceptions where you can get the entire reading out of it if you know where to look.
All my bills for the past few months have been amended. All are now dated 25/09/25 so I’m not sure how that would assist. All the readings on the bills are the same but the amounts have all been changed and the original bills are now longer available on my account. I’m now £70 out of pocket and my bills have all been altered
+7All my bills for the past few months have been amended … All the readings on the bills are the same but the amounts have all been changed ...
This would suggest that the billing people have found a reason to amend the opening balance some months ago. This will of course necessarily change all subsequent bills*.
Most customers get an email once a month headed something like Your latest energy bill with the bill attached as a PDF. Do you have these emails since the time before the bills were amended? You should try to find the oldest changed bill together with its new version and, if you can’t spot what happened, post redacted photos of them here.
* There are many who think this isn’t right. If there has to be an historical amendment, it should result in a new statement explaining what the change is and showing the adjustment - whether credit or debit - as a separate item. The closing balance on this statement would then become the opening balance for the next regular one.
Hi, it’s quite a confusing situation to me. I don’t get bills by email. All my bills are shown on my app. All bills were generally the same amount each month and showed the opening and closing balance. Whilst on the phone to OVO over something unrelated, the call taker asked me for a meter reading for electricity as my smart meter hadn’t been sending readings through. I gave her a reading which was 33 units higher than my last estimated reading so she said she would adjust my account. As I watched on my app, my balance credit went from £130 to £70 and when I asked why she said because the new reading was higher. I asked how 33 units had just cost me more than a month’s electricity bill and she couldn’t explain why, she just kept saying the new reading was higher. When I checked my old bills on my app, the opening and closing balances and amounts paid have all changed and the old ones are not there any more. Since that day the credit balance on my app has been decreasing daily as though OVO are taking money every day from my account and not once a month as usual. I can’t get a straight answer from them.
My account has always been in credit. My energy bill is paid by 15th of every month (gas smart meter pays daily with readings sent but the electricity smart meter wasn’t sending readings so the bills were estimated). My direct debit would then top up my balance to around £130 on the 22nd of every month and the cycle would continue. This month, the bill was paid on 15th as usual and then my direct debit topped my account up on 22nd as usual so the balance was £130. The last estimated electricity reading on 15th September was 13255. I gave the new reading of 13288 on 25th September and my balance was instantly reduced to £60. OVO cannot tell me why an extra 33 units of electricity between the last estimated reading and the new correct reading has cost me £70. They just keep saying it’s the difference between the estimated reading and the new reading but surely that’s not right as that’s an extortionate amount for 33 units of electricity!!
+7I’m sorry, but I’m having difficulty understanding how your account is working. You apparently have a Direct Debit that is taken on the 22nd of each month. It looks as if there may have been a change; if the balance was only being updated once a month until recently, but now it’s being updated daily, it could be that the account has been moved from one billing system to another. Could I ask when you became an OVO customer, and who your supplier was before? Many customers have been through this migration, but it shouldn’t by itself have any effect on your balance.
I’m afraid we won’t be able to shed any more light on this without some evidence to illustrate what has happened. Support agents have access to your account, but no-one in this forum does, so we’re totally dependent on what you show us.
+4When I checked my old bills on my app, the opening and closing balances and amounts paid have all changed and the old ones are not there any more.
I do accept that that something has changed (and from some time ago) or the bills would not have been given a new date.
However if you don’t have copies of what the bills used to say then any help that can be given is limited.
PS. It’s a good idea to download your new blll as it becomes available to download each month.
The copy downloaded and saved on your computer is your original copy - if anything should get changed later you can compare them and see exactly what changed.
My September bill isn’t ready for downloading yet but in a few days will be and I’ll download and save a copy:
Since that day the credit balance on my app has been decreasing daily as though OVO are taking money every day from my account and not once a month as usual. I can’t get a straight answer from them.
That is how the ‘Live Balance’ on your account has always worked, - it changes daily.
The ‘Live’ (daily) balance decreases as you use energy and standing charge(s) daily, it increases as and when you make a payment.
Your bills/statements are still monthly.
Think of it more like a bank account,
In both cases the balance goes down throughout the month as you use it, then goes up again when money is paid in.
Your statements are still monthly.
I was with SSE but was moved to OVO in 2022 with a credit balance of around £70. The latest OVO bill I have is the period up to 15th September 2025 (which was paid on 15th) it still shows a reading of 13255 which is the bill I paid prior to speaking to OVO on 25th September which is when I gave a reading of 13288 and then my credit balance went from £130 to £60 following that conversation. I’ve had no new bill or breakdown to evidence where that money has gone or showing a new meter reading. As I say, it’s 33 units of electricity difference and OVO just kept saying the £70 is due to bills being amended for the past 12 months as they were all estimated. It confuses me as all past bills have been paid in full whether estimated or not. The total difference between what OVO estimated I’ve used in 12 months and the actual total is only 33 units more. I think £70 is extortionate for 33 units. When I continued to question why £70 had been deducted as I didn’t understand the OVO call taker just put the phone down on me
I have had a smart meter since October 2024 and it sends the readings to ovo , when I look at the meter it's only whole numbers no decimal points for fractions but when you look at the readings on you bills there is always fractions after the reading number , for example if the smart meter reading is 123, when you get the bill it says units used 123.321 so why do we get extra numbers after the reading
+4Hey
“It confuses me as all past bills have been paid in full whether estimated or not.” I understand your concerns! Just a little note about how billing works: if you haven’t submitted your meter readings and your smart readings aren’t available, don’t worry! When you provide your next reading, we’ll make sure to recalculate your account. This way, your past and future bills will accurately reflect the energy you've used instead of relying on estimates. We also have some helpful articles on similar topics that you might want to check out!
I hope this helps!
+4Hey
Welcome to the community,
You’ve received some great answers from the community already. It’s true that modern meters display whole numbers, but some older meters still have decimal places, and our billing reflects this. You don’t need to worry about the fractions between the numbers; just continue using the whole numbers from your meter and on your bills. I recently had my meters changed from one that showed decimals to one that operates in whole numbers, yet my billing still looks the same.
If you have any questions about your usage, our Support Team is always available to help. You can use the link below to reach out to them regarding your account.
Why is this website now so confusing. I’m 88 and. I just wish to see my account details why have you concocted such a confusing mess.?
+8Hi
You can find them under Profile or via https://account.ovoenergy.com/profile
+4Hey
I’m sorry to hear you found it difficult to locate the profile section, though I am glad to see one of our volunteers has already stopped by with some really helpful advice.
Have you been able to follow that link through to the information you had needed to find?
Hi
You can find them under Profile or via https://account.ovoenergy.com/profile
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