Failed smart meter installation, what next?

Hi ​@woodstok2000, I hope you’re well despite the mess that’s unfolded since the original installation.

I’m so sorry this has happened - it’s pretty crazy to read. I’ve worked at OVO for nine years nearly and have never seen such a palaver to get meters installed - the vast majority of appointments go ahead without a hitch. It sounds like you’ve just been very unlucky indeed. 

If you made a complaint you should have been given a complaints reference number. I’d say get in touch with our Support Team to check if it was ever raised, and to get it raised if not. Our complaints information can be found here.

I’m happy to hear that the smart meters are potentially both working now, and I hope this is true. This article should help you determine whether this is the case:

If you need an IHD then this isn’t something you need an engineer for. You can simply ask our Support Team to get you one sent in the post, free of charge. Once you received it you’ll need to contact Support again to ask them to help pair the IHD to the smart meters.

Thanks ​@Ben_OVO  - I already have an IHD, it’s just never worked - that may just be because the meters never really worked before though. If the current IHD was paired to the original (non-functional) meters do I need a new one to now pair with the new working meters, or can this one be paired to the new meters instead?

We saw a case recently where an IHD refused to pair with a newly-installed meter. It turned out that it had to have been reset before the re-pairing could take place. Once the preliminary step had been completed, pairing proceeded as expected. So it looks like you don’t need a new one, but I’m sure Ben will confirm one way or the other tomorrow. 

Yes that’s right, ​@woodstok2000 our Support Team should hopefully be able to get the IHD you’ve already got paired again. If not they’ll send a new one free of charge.

Great - I had a call from the complaints team this morning, they’re sending a new IHD out as ours is completely unresponsive. 

Great news! It should arrive within the next couple of weeks in theory, but Christmas might delay it I imagine.

When you receive the new IHD contact the Support Team and they’ll pair it up for you.

 2021 - meter failed, after months without problem being solved went to Ombudsman who found in my favour. Three parts to resolution, change meters, assess fair usage, apology. 

After SSE missed two appointments, OVO then took over and also missed two appointments. 

OVO 2025 - changed meter because the radio frequency issue. 

May 2026 - awaiting fair usage assessment 

Had a thousand apologies and now being threatened with debt collection as I refuse to pay for estimated bills, when meter has malfunctioned. 

So the question is have I got the longest running complaint with SSE / OVO.

​@DBClark good morning, and a warm welcome to the OVO Forum community.

It’s a real shame to hear you’ve had a complaint running for so long, spanning two companies. I can only imagine how frustrating this has been for you. As for whether you have the longest running complaint, I can’t be sure, but for sure it must be one of the longest.

I hope this can all be resolved for you very soon. Have you been given a date for this assessment? OVO should also be able to re-estimate your previous usage based upon the readings provided from your new meter as well. Just to warn you - I’d be careful about refusing to pay. If you’ve been advised not to by the Ombudsman then it’s different, but I can’t imagine this would have been the case. I’d recommend setting up a payment plan as soon as you can. This will avoid falling further into the Collections cycle.

Keep us updated as to how you get on. We’ll help where we can on the Forum, however we don’t have any access to your account, so we don't have full visibility of what’s going on behind the scenes.

Thanks for reply, but unfortunately the only way I could get SSE or OVO to take notice was by refusing to pay. OVO won't take me to court as I have an Ombudsman case that was in my favour and they have failed to complete the three parts of the resolution. I have considered sueing OVO for financial losses via the small claims court in Scotland as that is where the account address is. Has anyone on the forum ever went down this route?

Dave

Morning again ​@DBClark,

I’d recommend speaking to our Collections team if they’re trying to contact you, as they’ll be able to set up a payment plan which will stop the Collections communications coming through. You’ve mentioned that you have been refusing to pay estimated bills, however if you now have a smart meter in place then your bills should be accurate now to meter readings since the installation was completed.

When the meter was exchanged, the engineer would have had to (if possible) take a final reading from the old meter. I assume this may not have been possible if the meter had failed. However, the engineer may have been able to retrieve the final reading from the internal memory of the meter once it was removed, even if the reading wasn’t displayed on the screen. Have you checked the statement that covers the date the meter was removed, to see if the removal reading was an actual reading? If it was, then the bill will stand. I’d really recommend checking whether this is the case or not.

Regarding legal advice - we’d recommend that you seek proper legal counsel.

We can answer questions on the Forum as best we can, however, when it’s relating to a complaint like this that relies on someone actually checking your energy account and bills, then this needs to be directed through our Complaints team. I’d recommend getting back in touch with your Complaints handler for an update.

I hope this is all sorted for you ASAP.​​​​​