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Submitting a meter reading on online account it says "sorry we were unable to submit your meter reading"?

  • September 2, 2022
  • 22 replies
  • 5317 views

Everytime i attempt to submit a meter reading it says "sorry we were unable to submit your meter reading". What do i do and how do i fix this?

Best answer by Emmanuelle_OVO

Updated on 08/09/25 by Chris_OVO:

Hey @NanaHouse,

 

Sorry you’ve had issues with your online account.

 

There are a few reasons you may not be able to submit your meter readings online. One of those that Blastoise already pointed out is if you have a smart meter. Here is a similar thread which you may find helpful:

 

 

If you are getting an error message when you try to submit your reading, it could be that the reading is a lot higher or lower than the previous readings, and as a safety feature the system is therefore trying to prevent large billing errors from occurring. You can check this by tapping meter readings then view reading history. 

 

I hope this helps! If not, I'd advise getting in touch with our support team and sending them a photo of any error message you are getting, as well as a photograph of the meter and meter reading.

 

Keep us posted with how you get on!

22 replies

Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • September 2, 2022

Hi @NanaHouse ,

I’m Blastoise186, one of the forum volunteers.

Can you show me photos of your meter please? I want to see whether you have a smart meter or not, as it will affect the advice I can offer.

Thanks!


Emmanuelle_OVO
Community Manager
  • Community Manager
  • Answer
  • September 5, 2022

Updated on 08/09/25 by Chris_OVO:

Hey @NanaHouse,

 

Sorry you’ve had issues with your online account.

 

There are a few reasons you may not be able to submit your meter readings online. One of those that Blastoise already pointed out is if you have a smart meter. Here is a similar thread which you may find helpful:

 

 

If you are getting an error message when you try to submit your reading, it could be that the reading is a lot higher or lower than the previous readings, and as a safety feature the system is therefore trying to prevent large billing errors from occurring. You can check this by tapping meter readings then view reading history. 

 

I hope this helps! If not, I'd advise getting in touch with our support team and sending them a photo of any error message you are getting, as well as a photograph of the meter and meter reading.

 

Keep us posted with how you get on!


  • Author
  • New Member**
  • September 26, 2022

Hi @NanaHouse ,

I’m Blastoise186, one of the forum volunteers.

Can you show me photos of your meter please? I want to see whether you have a smart meter or not, as it will affect the advice I can offer.

Thanks!

Hello @Blastoise186 

Thanks for the reply. Here is a photo: 

 


Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • September 26, 2022

You do have a Smart Meter. It’s a SMETS2 Landis+Gyr E470 Type 5424 and the Comms Hub is a SMETS2 WNC SKU1 Cellular.

Let’s try a few things here. :)

Please run all your meters through this tool and let me know the results

https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Also, what are the SW, WAN, MESH, HAN and GAS lights on the Comms Hub doing?


Emmanuelle_OVO
Community Manager
  • Community Manager
  • September 27, 2022

Hey @NanaHouse,

 

Looks like @Blastoise186 has got to the bottom of this!

 

If we’re in communication with your meters you don’t need to submit meter readings manually, you can check this on your historical meter reads page of your Online Account

 

If you think we might not be in communication with your smart meter. We have a really helpful guide on this topic:

 

 

If we’re only getting monthly readings from your smart meter you might want to update this to half hourly so that you can feel like full benefits of OVO Greenlight and our Live Billing System:

 

 

 

Hope this helps. 


  • Carbon Cutter*
  • January 31, 2023

Why can't i submit my electricity meter readings fot December 2022 and January 2023?


Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • January 31, 2023

Hi @100270796 ,

You can’t submit readings if they’re that old. Try getting a new reading for today and submit that instead.


  • Carbon Cutter*
  • January 31, 2023

Thanks for the the response 

 

Tried to submit december reading on the 31st of December but was unable to do so. Tried to submit January reading today 31st January and got same message "try agsin later"


Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • January 31, 2023

You might want to call 0330 303 5063 or use https://help.ovoenergy.com in that case. Support can try to fix this


  • Carbon Cutter*
  • October 8, 2023

The app tells me that the meter reading on my meter is wrong, but I see it clearly right there in front of me that that's the right number. The app is telling me it should be more than what it reads currently.  


BPLightlog
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • October 8, 2023

Hi @Del.h , it’s probably due to earlier readings or even estimations. Is there much usage history on your account with OVO? Or are there estimations in your readings which might cause that? If not then you might need to get in to customer support with a photo of the reading


  • Carbon Cutter*
  • October 8, 2023

Thanks bplightlog, I've had problems with this gas meter since I moved in even when it was with another company before ovo took over. I've sent multiple emails with photos of the meter and the readings on it and people on the phone reassuring me that the problem will be resolved (after being told many times that I was reading it wrong!) And yet this is still a problem after 3 years of living here. I just don't understand why this won't be rectified. If the company and app are refusing my readings as they are lower than their estimate then aren't I paying for more than I'm using? Doesn't sound fair.


Emmanuelle_OVO
Community Manager
  • Community Manager
  • October 9, 2023

Hey @Del.h,

 

It’s hard to give the best advice here as we don’t know what the issue is.

 

It could be that meter is registered incorrectly on the national database or that you’re a very low user.

 

Are you able to book a smart meter? Then your readings will be sent across automatically.

 

 


  • Carbon Cutter*
  • October 9, 2023

Emmanuelle_OVO, thank you for your input. I apparently cane have a smart meter because its too far away from the electricity meter, even though the electricity "smart" meter doesn't register and I have to update the readings manually anyway. That's another thing which I've raised as an issue which was ignored. 

I'm guessing that it might possibly be that I use so little that they refuse to accept my readings, which is ridiculous  because they can't make me pay for more than I use just because its less than what they expect it to be!


Tim_OVO
Retired Moderator
  • OVO Forum Legend
  • October 10, 2023

Thanks for the reply, @Del.h.

 

The system that we use to estimate your readings (when not provided with one) and to make suggestions that a reading being submitted is wrong, should update with each and every reading. It’s odd to hear you’ve had this problem for years. 

 

You can submit a meter when calling, without having to wait in a queue. If that automated reading journey also rejects the reading, our advisors can submit it for you via web chat here. As soon as an actual reading is on the account, any charges relating to estimates will be corrected.


  • Carbon Cutter*
  • September 28, 2024

Hi I got a smart meter installed Thursday just gone, I wanted to save having to keep sending manual readings and also keep an eye on my usage. I’ve gone on to check if it’s submitting readings, the gas seems fine (although quite low?) but the electricity just has this square spinning. Do I need to wait longer for the readings to show? TIA

 


Firedog
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Plan Zero Hero
  • September 28, 2024

Yes, I think is the right answer. It takes some time (from an hour or two in many cases, but up to six weeks (!) to be sure that everything is working as intended). Patience required, I’m afraid.


  • Carbon Cutter*
  • July 13, 2025

Every time I try to submit a gas reading it immediately says ‘Sorry, something went wrong’ and I have to close the app. 


  • Carbon Catcher*
  • July 13, 2025

Is your app updated? Sometimes it could be the reason.


Ben_OVO
Community Manager
  • Community Manager
  • July 14, 2025

Welcome to the Forum ​@Bente and thanks for your post 😁.

 

Thanks for your help here ​@costeek, I know our IT teams are doing a lot of work and updates on the app at the moment, and there have been reports of it being slow etc. ​@Bente if you could delete the app and reinstall it, and let us know if this fixes it we’d appreciate it. 


  • Carbon Cutter*
  • July 14, 2025

Thank you for your advice ​@Ben_OVO   

 

i’ve deleted and reinstalled the app, unfortunately the same problem keeps occurring 


Ben_OVO
Community Manager
  • Community Manager
  • July 15, 2025

Thanks for letting me know ​@Bente.

 

Please could you try logging in via the online account instead and letting me know if you’re able to submit the reading successfully on there? This will give me more of an idea as to whether this is just an app issue or something else.

 

Thanks! 😁