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Why am I still getting charged for gas? - My faulty gas meter was removed!

H
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Hi for the last two months I have been getting billed for gas I could not have used as I no longer have a gas meter, how do I go about having this extra charge removed from my bill.

 

I have tried contacting ovo several times of the last couple of months due to errors in ym bill but have heard nothing from them, it took 3 months for them to accept that my meters are faulty and agree to replace them.

 

this error is costing my at least 40 pounds per month just now in gas charges and my electrictiy chrages range from 92p to over 10 pounds per day, this i kind of expect as I am all electric including my heating, however i have been charged 10 pounds on two sepecrate days this week when i was not in my home to use energy and my heating is manuel controlled by myself.

 

this is becoming more and more distressing I am not looking forward to see what they will be charging me next month.

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Best answer by Tim_OVO 21 March 2022, 12:51

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Tim_OVO
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Userlevel 7

Updated on 26/05/23 by Abby_OVO

Hi @hillfort, I’ve replied to your other comment on the same issue, here. So I’ll copy the relevant bits of my comment below so this question has its own space:

 

I’m happy to help as best as I can here but it sounds like you’ll need a member of our Support team to take a look at your actual account.

 

If you had your gas meter tested for a fault, the meter is always replaced and taken off site for testing. A new meter is fitted. The charges are then re-calculated based on the degree to which the meter is faulty. Is this what happened in your case?

 

This really isn’t good to hear about those gas charges after the meter was capped. As you mention, if you have a gas supply to the house (even if it’s capped), you’ll pay a standing charge. It costs £106 to remove your meter and disconnect your supply. More info here:

 

 

It sounds like the billing platform hasn’t been updated to show this meter is capped. So it will be estimating usage based on your annual projection, based on years of usage history. Please speak to our Support team to get this flagged. 

 

Any charges that have been incorrectly estimated will be removed from your account if we’re made aware of the supply being capped. 

 

Similarly, if the meter was removed and there’s no longer a gas supply at the property, it’s possible that the details haven’t been updated on the system yet. The Support Team can work on this to remove the meter details and remove any additional charges since the meter was removed, they’ll then rebill the account based on the removal of any back dated charges.

 

We’ve recently made some great online resources to help members with price cap rises. See this page here for more info on that. For lots of advice and support with your energy payments, go here. 

 

Need more help and advice?

For free, independent advice on debt, energy costs, and other areas where you might need support, these organisations and charities can also help: 

  • Citizens Advice - visit your local branch, or their websites: for England and Wales and for Scotland. You can speak to an advisor online, in person, or over the phone: 0800 144 8848 (England), 0800 702 2020 (Wales), and 0800 028 1456 (Scotland). 
  • National Debtline - call 0808 808 4000 or visit their website.
  • Step Change Debt Charity - call 0800 138 1111 or visit their website. 
  • Civil Legal Advice - call 0845 345 4 345 for free, confidential legal advice in England and Wales, if you’re eligible for legal aid. Find out if you are here.

 

If you have a negative balance of more than £150 and you’re unable to pay your energy bill, you might qualify for a one-off payment from our OVO Energy Fund. Contact the Support Team who’ll can discuss this with you.

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

We had our gas meter (/ gas supply) removed 21 April 2022. Despite numerous online and phone 'discussions', we are still being charged standing charge and some dreamed up gas usage. Has anyone else had this problem, and any suggestions for resolving it?

M.isterW
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Userlevel 7
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Yes, we have this problem. Our meter was removed at the beginning of April and we're still being charged. I've spoken to customer service three times and every time I've been told that they will sort it out... but they haven't.

 

As there's two of us now maybe one of the moderators could get someone to address the problem? @Emmanuelle_OVO 

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
M
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Badge +1

Make a formal complaint as a matter of course.  If your direct debits include these amounts the bills are invalid and you can reverse the Direct Debit using the Direct Debit guarantee via your bank - its instant.  It might also get OVE to act more quickly.

Eon and EDF customer. Don't think smart meters are worth the expense.
Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @EBD,

 

I’m sorry to hear about the issues you’ve had.

 

As you and @M.isterW have both had your gas meters removed this is a slightly different process than electricity. 

 

With electricity the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) has to come out and arrange a disconnection as well as the meter being removed by OVO.

 

If you are removing a gas supply, we remove the meter itself and then it’s raised to our Metering Team who let the national database know that the supply needs to be withdrawn. 

 

There is more about this topic here:

 

 

As this is account specific I can only make suggestions as to what the issue may be; but it sounds like it may not have been raised to our Metering Team so it could be the supply is still appearing as live on the national database. 

 

Another potential reason would be that we haven’t yet got the job report back from the engineer’s who removed the meters. 

 

Or it could be that the billing platform is unaware that your meter has been removed so is still automatically charging you standing charge and estimated usage. 

 

Check out these similar threads that you may find useful:

 

 

As you have both already raised this to Support, as @meldrewreborn you could raise a complaint. There is more about our complaint procedure here. 

 

Hope this helps. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
E
Rank

Hi, 

I am just wondering how many others have this problem.

I had my gas meter (never connected to the inside of the property) removed on 21 April 2022.

Despite numerous phone calls, online contacts and complaints submitted (no reply), the issue has not been sorted.

One advisor did tell me that the meter removal report (including pictures of my no-meter box) had finally been logged to my account, back in July. But, no movement since then.

To add ‘insult to injury’, this morning I have received letter containing a “Say hello to your new gas top-up card” from Boost/Ovo!

What??

We, as Ovo customers, are paying for this gross inefficiency ...

E
Rank

Sorry, in my frustration, I deleted the line stating that Ovo is still charging me for gas - standing charge + a few units ...

M.isterW
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Userlevel 7
Badge +4

I had exactly the same problem. I ended up writing an email to complaints@ovoenergy.com. I explained exactly what the problem was and what I wanted them to do about it. The company's complaints process states that they will respond in 5 working days, which they did.  They removed the gas from my account and refunded all my standing charges.

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
E
Rank

Hi M.isterW

Thanks for replying.

You are very fortunate.

I have lost count of the number of phone calls (all advisors very sympathetic and ‘helpful’, but achieved nothing), online interactions with Ovo’s bots, which passed me on to online advisors, emails, and, so far, submitting four of Ovo’s ‘official complaints’ forms - to which no acknowledgement, let alone a reply, has been received …

The only response I have ever had from Ovo in over five months is a gas top up card received this morning (and I do wonder why!!)

M.isterW
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Userlevel 7
Badge +4

I had numerous conversations with customer services before I complained and I don't think the complaints form works.

The email, however, did work.

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
E
Rank

Thanks M.isterW, I will try a direct email on Monday (seeing as sadly Ovo is unavailable on weekends).

Failing that, I may just have to send my young nephew along to HO with his Batman kit and plastic sword!!!

E
Rank

Ha ha, hi again M.isterW

I have just had a response from Ovo! First ever, apart from their sending me a gas top-up card today.

They blocked my reply to you instantly (so much more efficient than customer services), I guess because I commented that all else failing I would have to send a young nephew in his Batman suit plus plastic sw...rd to their HQ to sort the problem out …

 

Blastoise186
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Userlevel 7
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Sounds like the forum might have swallowed something you posted. I’m immune to that as is M.isterW because otherwise it’d swallow something like 90% of my content! :P

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
E
Rank

Blastoise186, yes, you’re so right.

I placed my comment (send nephew, Batman suit and his plastic sw*rd) just for a laugh and out of interest to see how Ovo would respond. It clearly got blocked before anyone working for Ovo saw it.

I am not happy with Ovo’s on and on lack of response to my having gas meter removed, and so, so much more unhappy that me, you, I and no doubt so many other Ovo customers are paying for their ineffective ‘customer support’ calls, etc.

Perhaps Ovo should put a price on this and reduce our bills accordingly.

I am still smarting on the gas top-up card they sent me yesterday! I have no gas meter; removed April 2022; acknowledged by two Ovo Helpdesk operators several months later.

Who is paying for this gross inefficiency?,

Apart from us …

 

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @EBD,

 

Sorry for the issues you’ve had.

 

This does sound like a very frustrating situation. Have you tried @M.isterW’ suggestion? If you ever contact Support and say to an advisor you aren’t happy with the resolution they provide and would like your complaint to be escalated. This will then be passed on to our resolution team. 

 

You can find out more about our complaint procedure here. 

 

Keep us posted with how you get on.

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
E
Rank

Hi again M.isterW,

I tried your suggestion and emailed Ovo direct (not via their site) last Sunday. Got a reply on Thursday, which was not helpful, including “I can see from the account that the case dealing with this issue (ref 06891926) is on hold and this is because the database needs updating to reflect your property not having a gas meter, ...”

Which tells me nothing more than the third (I think, could have been more) customer services advisor told me back in July - that the engineer’s report + photos had now arrived, and all would be sorted for my August bill ...

Johnd1949
Rank
Userlevel 3

My meter was removed by OVO's agents, at my request, on 12th Sept. They have cancelled my fixed price gas contract and replaced it with a variable tariff and are continuing to charge me (now higher!) Standing charges. How can I stop this madness?

Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Sorry to hear there’s not been any more progress in updating the account to show you had that gas meter removed, @EBD.

 

As I’m sure you already know, you can disregard charges that relate to the gas meter’s usage. You can also disregard the standing charge if the work that was done included disconnecting the supply via your local gas transporter. 

 

I understand it’s not ideal to have these charges as it will be affecting your credit balance and perhaps direct debit recommendation. With that in mind, you might consider raising this as a complaint and, due to the time frames you’ve already experienced, requesting that it gets escalated. The Complaints team will take ownership of the issue at the final point of escalation which gives you access to a dedicated complaint handler. See the process outlined here. 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
Tim_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hi @Johnd1949

 

It sounds similar to the best answer in this topic. 

 

“This really isn’t good to hear about those gas charges after the meter was capped. As you mention, if you have a gas supply to the house (even if it’s capped), you’ll pay a standing charge. It costs £106 to remove your meter and disconnect your supply. More info here:

 

 

It sounds like the billing platform hasn’t been updated to show this meter is capped. So it will be estimating usage based on your annual projection, based on years of usage history. Please speak to our Support team to get this flagged. Call, online chat options are available.

 

Any charges that have been incorrectly estimated will be removed from your account if we’re made aware of the supply being capped.”

 

This is also a good guide to refer to:

 

 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
Johnd1949
Rank
Userlevel 3

Hi Tim, Yes, it is similar, and I saw another one dated April 2022 which sounded even more similar to my situation. Do you know if any of them have yet had a satisfactory outcome?

Taking standing charges from my account after having arranged for my meter removal seems to me to be quite close to fraud, but it is more likely due to ineptitude. Either way i would like it to be resolved. It is costing me £8 a month.

OVO are asking me to increase my Direct Debit as they anticipate it being insufficient for my winter load. It will be insufficient if they keep on milking £8 a month for a fictitious gas meter!

M.isterW
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Hi. I'm one of the people who had their gas meter removed and continued to be charged. It eventually got resolved after I raised a complaint. You need to use the complaints email address - complaints@ovoenergy.com - because the online form doesn't seem to work.

 

In my email I stated clearly what I wanted, for my gas account to be cancelled and all the charges back to the removal date to be refunded. I also reminded them of OVO's complaints procedure which gives them 5 working days to respond.

 

It would be great if OVO were able to sort these cases out without us having to raise complaints.

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
Johnd1949
Rank
Userlevel 3

Thank you M.isterW, I will give the complaints procedure a try. I have already tried a real phone call and an on-line “Live-Chat” with no positive results, so the complaints looks like the next step. It is encouraging to know that it worked for you.

M.isterW
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

It seems I spoke too soon. The gas charges have just reappeared on my account. I've raised another complaint but that really is unacceptable. I shouldn't need to watch my account every week to see if OVO are going to mess it up again.

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
Johnd1949
Rank
Userlevel 3

Hi M.IsterW

I followed your advice re the complaints procedure and have now been told, by an advisor yesterday, that they should resolve it within 47 days !

I have also had your experience of it apparently being sorted, only to reappear a few days later! They even cancelled my fixed price gas contract and it reappeared as a variable one with higher standing charges. They really are inept. It is so frustrating. For a so called Green Energy Supplier to be so cavalier with people who are trying to behave responsibly is appalling.

Emmanuelle_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

Hey @M.isterW and @Johnd1949,

 

Really sorry to hear this isn’t resolved for either of you.

 

Could you ask to be put on a temporary billing suspension to stop negative charges? Provided your direct debit is accurate and covers your usage this could work although not ideal?

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.

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