When is the best time to give my meter readings to avoid estimated bills?

Just moved to OVO, so that my bills are accurate when should I submit meter readings, the day of the Billing Date, Day Before or Day After.

Hi @ScDc44 from what we’ve seen and experienced, the morning of the day following. It mimics a smart meter reading which is taken just after midnight 

Oooh, that’s a bit ambiguous. If your billing period runs from the 15th of the month to the 14th of the following one, submit a reading as BP advises in the morning of the first day in the billing period, in this case the 15th. 

Meter readings are recorded for billing purposes as being taken at midnight (GMT), There’s a little bit of confusion at the account website, because midnight belongs to two days. The reading recorded for our example 15th will be used as both the closing reading for the period ending on the 14th and as the opening reading for the next period starting on the 15th. Readings on the readings history page are dated and apply at midnight at the start of the day whose date is shown.

It doesn’t hurt to submit readings more often, so if you’d like to check this, next time submit a reading on the last day of the period (e.g. the 14th) and again on the first day of the next period (e.g. the 15th). Then see which one is used to calculate the bill when it’s ready. I’m betting that you’ll see your reading for the 15th labelled ‘Closing reading as of 14th ...’ 

Having supplied actual meter readings for the end of my billing cycle in Sept & Oct,  Ovo seems to prefer to use its own estimates this time round, 

 although starting to roll backwards is something new 🤭

Tom…

That’s odd, I agree, and it ought not to happen. We’ve seen a similar case just recently where an estimate was used for billing when there was an actual manual reading for the same date. In that case, the anomaly was in OVO’s favour, which is admittedly more concerning. The amounts involved are admittedly small, and the aberration won’t endure longer than a month, but even so, there can be no excuse for induced inaccuracy when actual data are available.

@Abby_OVO Could you add this to the other case of an estimate trumping an actual reading? It’s a bit worrying if this practice has become systemic, and it needs investigating. 

Hey @Firedog 

Thanks for flagging this!

I’ve raised this internally, so the team can investigate. Hopefully it’s not impacting too many people and can be quickly resolved.

This particular account of mine with a traditional gas meter dose like to use a slight over use with an estimated reading on the same day I have supplied an actual reading, it’s 50 / 50 as to the what route the actual bill is calculated on.

A new manual reading dose force the correct bill to be generated, so I’m never actually being overcharged as such,

Ovo using my actual given meter reads, then  marking them as estimated❗️

Ovo using an estimated reading for the same day I have submitted an actual read ❗️

is all to often an occurrence on this account,

but rolling there estimates backwards is a new one 🤭

Tom…

I know my traditional gas meter has in the past!  caused a few issues for myself & energy companies.

With the last 18 months being fairly uneventful, meter readings given on time, 

1 minor blip with an estimated reading again being the cause, things have taken a nosedive of late.

Some minor anomalies on DD forecast, billing & usage gone haywire.

Been onto ovo chat to get my erroneous estimated meter readings cleared up & have my usage & billing data to reflect actual meter reads.

Ditched by 1 agent, 2nd agent couldn’t help & suggested raising a complaint,

I agreed 👍 & I’m expecting a callback within 3 days to sort this out.

As of today, my billing data for the year 2023 is out by £1.41 (by my reckoning) that I have not been billed for, (due to the pricecap reduction on Oct 1st)

The issue(s) I have is that

:historical usage / billing data  (actual data or what ever data ovo decides to publish) who knows)

:any predictive energy forecast & associated DD payment’s, calculated on corrupt data,

:actual given meter reads being ignored & overwritten by estimates.

Due to how this gas meter operates, high usage over the summer & zero usage over the winter, it’s always given any automated billing system a headache at times, hence the need for human intervention from time to time.

@Blastoise186  / @Abby_OVO  Can my monthly usage / billing totals be re-adjusted to reflect  usage based on actual meter readings ? (Going back a couple of months only)

Or is it the computer says NO.

Any insight as to why the billing system has ignored my actual meter readings? Opting for wayward estimates.

Or taking actual meter reads & marking them as estimates?

Manual meter readings are

04211 @ 9th Aug

04362 @ 9th Sep

04362 @ 10 Oct

Should state zero usage 9th Sep - 10 Oct

TIA

Tom…

Those are weird numbers, and the bizarre estimates for 10 September and 9 October must have been made manually.

You won’t normally be out of pocket (or the opposite) because of estimates, because it all comes out in the wash after a reading is submitted, so long as it’s reasonable. One time when it does matter, though, is when tariffs change, like they did on 1 October. The bill you screenshot part of should have shown what estimated reading was used to calculate the costs at the old and new prices. If it was too low, the error is in your favour. I suppose it doesn’t matter much if there’s zero usage, though.

It looks as if your billing period is 10th - 9th. It seems to be best practice to submit a reading early on the first day of the billing period - the 10th, before the system generates one. That should then be used both as the closing figure for the old period and the opening one for the new period. Apart from that, it’s a good idea to submit one early on the first day of the quarter, to avoid the error aforementioned.

It would have helped to see the figures for the previous period. If that closed at 4289, you weren’t billed then for the missing 73 m³ that now appear. If some of that was charged at the new, lower rate, you’ve made a little bit on the side. Is that the £1.41 you refer to?

@Firedog  You are correct with regard to the £1.41 charge, billed for usage after 1st October at the lower unit rate.

My total usage & subsequent billing for the year is correct,

albeit this £1.41 charge that Ovo has yet to bill me for.

The issue I have is twofold,

:why is the billing system ignoring my actual meter readings, in favour of estimates,

:any upcoming usage forecast will be based on incorrect data.

*the computer model & forecast implies that more gas used over the colder months, 

That would make sense, as the central heating is used as the weather outside gets colder.

This gas supply in reality is the complete opposite! (V high usage over summer & zero usage the rest of the year).

Actual experience has shown,

That I’ve had my direct debits increased due to the predicted higher usage in the upcoming cold winter months.

Customer service eventually override the computer & set my DD accordingly as this gas meter will have zero usage over winter.

With genuine readings it has been a challenge sometimes to get energy companies to accept that the computer has got it wrong. Hence human intervention.

Moving forward, how could I historically prove that this particular gas meter is only used during the height of summer, given that ovo have attributed usage well into autumn.

Tom…