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SSE to OVO - Why is my opening meter reading and account balance incorrect?

W
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The electricity account was transferred from SSE to Ovo correctly.

The gas account began with a wrong “meter” reading, apparently “supplied” by me (which did not happen because I have a smart meter for both gas and electricity!)

The result:  I am currently “in debt” by a ridiculous amount for gas “consumed” over two days, based on (a) the incorrect meter reading on the day of transfer and the day following and (b) the correct meter reading supplied by the smart meter (which tallies with the final SSE bill).

The error was reported on January 25 by telephone.  An email acknowledged the problem next day.  Since then, the only information I have received is that my gas and electricity charges are going up.

Thanks Ovo.

How about a communication from you stating that the problem has been solved, the starting reading for my gas meter corrected, and the bills in future will only show that I am in debt to you for the correct amount?

So far, my feelings as a new customer is that, if you can’t manage a simply automated computer transfer of account details from a company you have taken over, then I fail to see why I should trust you to do anything else correctly!  Prove me wrong, please!

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Best answer by Jess_OVO 23 February 2022, 17:44

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Jess_OVO
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Updated on 08/08/22 by Tim_OVO

 

I’m so sorry to hear of the issues you’ve had since your account was moved from SSE to OVO. It sounds like you might’ve been affected by an issue with the meter readings we’ve used to open your new OVO account.

If there is a potential issue with this reading our Support Team should be able to help get things sorted. They may request another set of meter readings to help recalculate what the reading should’ve been around the date your account moved over. 

Depending the difference between the readings, we may need to get this verified by the energy industry  by following a process known as a ‘Read Dispute’ - you can read more about this here.

 

During this process your regular monthly billing will be paused whilst we look to correct the opening meter reading. It may also mean that the final SSE bill you’d previously received may need to be amended. 

It’s worth mentioning that there’s not been a change to your unit rates or standing charges since your account joined us. These erroneous charges will be reversed as soon as we’re able to get that migration meter reading corrected so you’re not over-charged for any energy you’ve used since you joined us.

 

I hope this helps explain the process in getting things back on track, let us know if you’ve got any more questions.

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M
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You’re not the only person feeling the change has been disastrous for we customers. I’ve had three months of misery with my payment plan being cancelled again and again. Additionally, OVO keep telling me I need to increase my payments by a ridiculous amount. 
Surely it can’t be long before the Regulator steps in and orders an investigation into the shambles?

M
Rank

Another dissatisfied customer regarding meter reading at changeover.   2 phone calls and emails supplying previous billing history have not helped.   My gas consumption for ONE YEAR with SSE was 19.000kw, for billing period 12th Jan to 12th Feb, I have been charged 15000kw - for ONE MONTH!!  I was told, by phone, that this reading had been noticed and  disputed by the OVO team on the 21st January, so one wonders why OVO proceeded to issue a bill 3 weeks later which is so  obviously wrong.

Electricity readings have not as yet been migrated, 6 weeks after transfer.   I await this with an extreme sense of trepidation.  

To be told the billing chaos  can take 8 weeks to resolve is no help at all to someone who relies only on pension income.   8 weeks  (or perhaps more) of sleepless nights is just not acceptable.

Jess_OVO
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Userlevel 7

I’m so sorry to hear of the stress this billing uncertainty has caused, @McFarlane.

 

As outlined above the time frame for getting your opening readings corrected is dependent on some third-parties so we should’ve paused your usual billing cycle in the meantime.

 

It’s disappointing to hear that you’ve since received a statement in error. If you haven’t already we’d encourage you to flag this directly to our Support Team who should be able to get any erroneous charges reversed until we can get your migration meter reading amended. 

 

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M
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Thank you Jess, I shall certainly  flag this to the support team

M
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Unfortunately the support team were unable to remove the erroneous charge of £595 for gas for the 4 week period following takeover on the 13th January.   Informed that the team was “working on fixing the opening reading” . “The SSE superusers team will work on replacing the estimated meter reading with the actual SMART meter reading”, unquote.

Begs the question, if SSE could bill me accurately on 12th January using SMART technology and transfer my credit balance to OVO, why was an estimated reading provided?

Wasn’t the entire point of installing SMART technology to avoid widely inaccurate estimated readings, or am I being obtuse?

 

Jess_OVO
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Userlevel 7

I’m so sorry for some slight mis-advice in my previous comment, @McFarlane.

 

I’ve checked in with the team who’ve confirmed that in order to get the charges corrected we do need to get that migration read corrected first.

Unfortunately the migration reading needs to be confirmed by some third parties, which has resulted in an estimated reading being used rather than the smart readings we’re receiving. If we’re in good communication with your meters this means we’ll have all the information we need to get things corrected - and we’ll let you know as soon as your opening OVO statement is reissued.

 

I hope this helps explain the process a little further for you - if you would like to check the status of your reading correction this is best directed to our Support Team who have full access to your account. 

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M
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Userlevel 1

Hi,

My account got transferred from sse to ovo on 01.02.22 and it had a balance owed based on estimated readings. I gave the meter readings in February and the balance online still has not been adjusted a month later.

I contacted ovo via pm on Facebook but I am not given a proper answer and it's very stressful especially as I am dealing with my late husband's burivement at the same time.

I paid £200 before the DD went out and I am still told I owe money. 

When will the meter readings I gave in February reflect on the migrated account or do I have to pay for the estimated bill even if I gave the meter readings?

Please someone help me as I am at my wits end here

Thank you 

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Hey there @Maria Pulford and welcome to the OVO Forum.

This sounds like a more complicated matter that will need a closer look by the Support Team. There’s also a dedicated team handling former SSE customers right now, so you might want to call them on 0345 0260 712 and they’ll take a look. If a payment you made has gone astray, they’ll attempt to locate it and link it to your account manually as well, along with the meter readings.

I’m sorry to hear of your loss, so I hope this goes some way to helping to get things resolved.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
M
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Userlevel 1

Hi and thank you for the prompt reply 

Not complicated at all just needs someone to look at it properly.

The account migrated from sse to ovo on 01.02.22 with a debit of £256.48 that was based on estimated readings for both electricity and gas meter. I proceeded to give meter readings on 05.02.22 and been waiting since for the balance adjustment, but was advised that its with the billing team and that it takes 4 to 6 weeks to get updated. I paid £200 on top of the £94 dd set up for this is how much the historical bill is for, both payments(the one off payment and the dd) are showing on the account so there's no missing payment. I just need the balance to be adjusted accordingly to the meter readings. Now the Facebook team told me to check again on 12.03.22. So fingers crossed, A little prayer the balance will be adjusted as promised otherwise I will be back on telling my story.

I don't have a good experience speaking with ovo advisors on the phone, they couldn't even guide me on how to read my meters I had to look on youtube.

Thank you, I hope so as well but who knows, I one don't.

M
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My account migrated on 25th January from SSE to OVO.  Apart from the initial issue with incorrect meter readings given by SSE, resulting in an incorrect billing (now sorted thankfully) I am still waiting to find out what has happened to the £156.90 credit which was on my SSE account being lodged to my OVO account.  SSE advised me they couldn't refund it as the balance had been transferred to my new account, however, despite several phone calls and being told this had been raised to be looked into, this credit has still not been applied to my account.  Has anyone else had this type of problem? 

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
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Hi @Morganagael66 ,

Chances are the credit balance is still in the migration process and should be applied to your OVO account soon. You may see it as two different credits if you had Dual-Fuel with SSE though. But from now on, a single monthly payment will be taken rather than two separate ones.

You might want to try calling 0345 0260 712 as there’s a dedicated team assisting former SSE customers with issues like this one. They’re open until 6pm today and will be back again from 8am in the morning.

If you’ve done that and still haven’t any luck, try the OVO Complaints Process, it should do the trick.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
L
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I’ve just posted a similar question. My account credit has completely disappeared.

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
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I’ve responded to you in your thread, but I think I’ll ask a moderator to merge some of these together. Hang in there for a bit, this may take a while. :)

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Jess_OVO
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Userlevel 7

I’m so sorry to hear of the stress that’s been caused by the issues you’ve had with your account since you joined us from SSE, @Maria Pulford, particularly at this difficult time.

 

I’m glad to hear that you’ve managed to get in touch with the Support Team who’ve advised we’ve got the correct meter readings logged. As you mention your migration reading was previously estimated it might be worth checking out the advice given in this similar thread above.

 

I hope we’re able to get this resolved quickly and your account back on track. 

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Jess_OVO
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Hello and welcome to the OVO online community, @Lindsay and @Morganagael66.

 

It’s so nice to see a fellow community member already offering some great advice to help our newly joining SSE members. 

 

Sounds like you’ve both experience a similar issue whereby it appears your SSE balance is yet to be migrated over to your new OVO account. As you mentioned a correction to your opening meter readings, @Morganagael66, I’m wondering if this might explain the delay. If we have to correct the reading we’ve used to open your OVO account this may mean we’ll also have to reissue your final SSE bill.

 

There’s more details of this process in the related thread above.

 

As @Blastoise186 recommended it’s always worth contacting our Support Team to report any issues with your account. They’ll be able to check whether you’ve been affected by this migration issue and help get things back on track.

 

Hope this helps - Do pop back if you’ve got any more questions about your new accounts. :slight_smile:

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A
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Hi, I came over to Ovo in Jan, my meter previous meter reading for electric was incorrect from SSE, have been trying to get this sorted with advisors, resolution dept. with no joy. just keep getting fobbed off. Have sent at least 12 pictures of my meter and reading, call time over 6 hours  now and nothing. They’ve also arranged for a Meter Reader to come out once now for clarification and nobody has come wasting my time. Cannot believe what is going on. any advice would be welcomed………….thanks

i have gone to CAB they could not get though so they emailed ovo responded at last 

but still the same no move forward just told to sit in my corner and behave! now gone to omnibus people and have raised a complaint 

My problem is they have lovely front line staff and above them lie some un-interested staff that have no wish to resolve the problem

Andy

 

Jess_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hi @andrew Ruddock - Welcome to OVO and to our little online community here.

 

I’m so sorry to hear of the difficulty you’ve had trying to get your opening meter reading with OVO corrected. This is something we’ve had raised by other members joining us from SSE. As we outlined in the ‘Best Answer’ above:

If there is a potential issue with this reading our Support Team should be able to help get things sorted. They may request another set of meter readings to help recalculate what the reading should’ve been around the date your account moved over. During this process your regular monthly billing will be paused whilst we look to correct the opening meter reading. It may also mean that the final SSE bill you’d previously received may need to be amended. 

As the migration reading used to open your new OVO account needs to be verified by the industry in a similar way to the opening read following a regular switch of supplier, any amendments or corrections to this reading need to be re-agreed by following a process known as a ‘Read Dispute’ - you can read more about this here.

In the meantime we’d recommend continuing your Direct Debit payments as usual to build up a credit on your account to cover the charges once your migration reading has been corrected. As the process does involve some third parties we have to allow 12 weeks for the reading correction to be completed.

 

Sounds like you’ve already been in touch with the Support Team to get the process started, but I appreciate it’s not the quick fix which you might expect when correcting a regular monthly meter reading. We’ll be in touch as soon as the reading has been corrected and your OVO billing reissued.

 

As you’ve mentioned a missed meter reader appointment and ombudsman complaint, I’d recommend raising this one to our Support Team. Any appointment you’ve arranged for an engineers visit or meter reader appointment which fails to happen without at least 24 hours notice would be eligible for a standard £30 compensation payment. Our complaints procedure would also allow us the opportunity to investigate any shortfalls in service you might’ve experienced and look to put things right internally. If we’re not able to get things resolved within 8 weeks we’d then issue a letter of deadlock allowing you to escalate the complaint to the energy ombudsman for independent review.

 

I’m hoping this information helps.

 

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M
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Userlevel 1

My account has not been resolved even if I was assured the Billing team would have resolved my bill by now.

I wonder how many customers feel suicidal because of Ovo I know I am

I gave you meter readings on 04.02.22 and you STILL not updated my balance according more than a month later. You also sent me an email you will increase my dd from £94 to £240.

I give up!

M
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Userlevel 1

 

M
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Userlevel 1

So I called the team on 0800 069 9831 and was advised that the bill has been updated online and that all is OK now, but it's not.

I explained to the advisor that my start balance on 01.02.22 was of £256.47 based on estimates. I gave the meter readings on 04.02.22 and the bill came to £98.81 so that's £157.66 difference. Online my bill is still calculated on the estimated amount and the advisor raised a complaint me as she could not explain to me why if the billing has been updated I still carry 2 months later a debt I don't owe?!

To add insult to injury I have been told that my dd must increase from £94 to £240 per month and when I suggested I can only increase to £120 the computer said NO that the lowest ovo can accept is £201 and to contact step change if I can't afford it. Is this a joke am I being pressured by ovo to pay how much your estimates say instead of what I think it's right?

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Hi.

I’m afraid this isn’t something I can help with as a forum volunteer. A moderator has been notified and I’ve asked them to stop by.

Thanks

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Thanks for sharing this experience on the forum, @Maria Pulford. Sounds like a frustration experience you’ve had, really sorry to hear this. 

 

It’s tricky for other members to offer advice on this as it’s so account specific. As you feel you’ve not been able to make progress when you last called, I’ll ask that someone from our OVO_Forum_Support team sends you a private message on the forum. 


Thanks,
Tim​​​​​​​ 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
M
Rank
Userlevel 1

Hi Tim,

I have received the private message from the support team asking for my details

Please note that I called ovo customer services this morning at 08:00 am and agreed to increase the dd to £120 with a review on 28th of April when the new bill is issued to see if I need to increase it again based on my consumption of energy and the meter readings which I will be providing daily. 

Also I was advised that my complaint raised with the collections department was downgraded in priority from urgent to medium meaning that the complaint would be dealt with within 45 days so I requested for the complaint priority to be changed back to urgent.

I really need the billing issue to be resolved so that my online ovo account doesn't show the estimated bill of £256.47 on top of the bill issued with the meter readings that is £98.81. Billing issue outstanding since the 04.02.22 when I gave the meter readings.

 

Thank you 

 

M
Rank
Userlevel 1

I was initially told that my complaint will be dealt with in 3 working days then 45 days then 5 days.

My ovo account is incorrectly in debit by £71.03 but in reality I am in credit by £185.44 and I have just increased my dd to £120. How much overpayment will be enough for ovo? When will my billing be updated and when will I then get my credit back. 

I never had to deal with an energy company with such lack of services. You customer advisors are only trained to get as much money from customers as possible despite customers being actually in credit.

 

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