Hi @Valandroy6 ,

This comment was left by a Forum Volunteer

I have flagged this thread for moderator attention. Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble - the type of flag I have applied just adds it to a priority review queue for faster attention when they next check in.

The In-Home Display supplied with the meter will provide an easier and safer way to check the meter balance and apply manual top-up codes. If your parents didn’t get one, please let Support know. The meter itself also provides these functions. The app will also provide UTRN codes for each top-up that you can immediately punch into the meter or IHD if you want to speed up the transfer - you will never get in trouble for doing this, as OVO fully permits it and the meter will automatically figure out how to handle having the same code twice by only accepting it once. The automatic transfer usually completes within 40 minutes though.

However, with that being said it is my view that Prepayment/Pay As You Go is NOT suitable nor appropriate for the circumstances you’ve described. If you haven’t already, I would strongly recommend you sign your parents up for the Priority Services Register - especially due to that careline, age and their vulnerabilities - and I would strongly recommend moving them to Pay Monthly. They’ll still only pay for what they actually use, but without the risk of being randomly cut-off and would never have to touch the meter.

I wouldn’t want them to risk a fall, so this is also a significant factor I considered when giving this advice.

Finally, I’m also a Fire Service Volunteer, for which I’ve verified my status with the Forum Moderators. I think it’s in everyone’s best interests that I give you one more thing that may help, for which the Forum Moderators have given me permission to do. This isn’t an OVO sponsored or endorsed thing and neither myself nor OVO gets any commission or kickback from it, but it helps all the same. But it is something I do recommend when I feel it might be a good idea.

All Fire Services across the UK offer free Home Fire Safety Visits - free for the visit itself, free for any and all advice given and free for any and ALL equipment provided - and I think your parents would certainly benefit from one. We want them to feel safe at home, which is one of the biggest reasons all this stuff is done completely free of charge. If that sounds good to you, the online tool to request one is https://www.safelincs.co.uk/hfsc or you can alternatively give the fire service in your area a call and they’ll set one up for you that way.

The Fire Service can also use this opportunity to update their records with anything that might make incident response easier, such as (with your consent) securely recording any keybox codes on their system which would allow them to get in without breaking the door down and mean they can just lock the door up when they’re done and put the key back. They can discuss all of this with you and your parents during the visit.

I hope this helps. If you’ve got any other questions, please reply to this thread and I’ll swing by again in the morning.

I’m sorry I can’t help with managing your parents’ pre-payment meter, because I’ve no experience of them. All I would say is that pre-payment (‘PAYG’) is not a suitable arrangement for the elderly and vulnerable, precisely because of the sort of situation you find yourselves in.

I’d strongly recommend switching to a standard tariff, preferably with by Direct Debit, simply because it’s the cheaper option. With your Power of Attorney, you should be able to arrange this for them, after which they can with any luck almost forget about it. There’s never any danger of the meter running out of credit, and while power cuts do occasionally happen, that’s beyond anyone’s control.

They should also be on the Priority Services Register; this is allegedly shared between the utilities involved (gas and electricity suppliers and distributors and water companies) to ensure that vulnerable citizens get the help they need with managing those utilities.

Hi @Valandroy6 

I’m sorry to read about the trouble you and your parents have been having.

Our Volunteers, Blastoise186 and Firedog, have left some really good advice here and I agree with what they’ve said in this situation, it’ll definitely be worth looking into changing things so they are better suited.

If your parents aren’t already registered, I’d highly recommend getting them onto the Priority Services Register too like Firedog touched on, you can do that here: https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/article/priority-services-register.

It may also be worth contacting the team again about the screen stuck with £43 on it, especially if your parents continue to use PAYG, you’re going to want to know the real balance. 

Let us know how you get on with everything.

Hello Abby many thanks for your message.. I have since spoke to the team on Saturday and and they were never given a separate piece of hardware a in home display unit so obviously without this nobody could see a balance! My app is still showing £43 balance on the 1/1/24 and I’ve tried deleting the app and reloading it but still the same…I have put my parents on your priority register.

many thanks

Bry 

Hey @Valandroy6,

Are they going to request an IHD replacement for you? 

We have a tutorial series you may find helpful:

Like the others I strongly advise your parents go onto pay monthly, if the Power Of Attorney has been added to the account you should be able to action this for them. 

Many thanks yes they said on the phone that a new IHD unit would be sent out then I’m guessing I link the 2 together? But I don’t understand why they was never supplied with one to begin with and no instruction manual for a very confusing meter 

The IHD will come with pairing instructions. You’ll need to do it while in close proximity to the meter and contact OVO to complete setup.