Smart meters are working but not communicating with OVO - why?

Thank you Emmanuelle.

Firstly, the meter serial numbers on the meters match those on my online account identically.

Secondly our smart meter installation is relatively recent and the meters are the latest models. They communicated readings to OVO  seamlessly from installation until comms dropped off before the end of August. Nothing has changed at this site, signals are strong; HAN and WAN lights are functioning correctly.

Please can your engineers test and (?) “reboot” the connection from your end where the problem appears to lie

Regards etc

Hi @barnsleybetz if you haven't already, you could try downloading one of the ofgem regulated third party apps to see if they can pick up readings. That way you know whether it is an ovo specific issue. This is one many of us use. 

https://www.glowmarkt.com/

Hey @barnsleybetz,

Thanks for your response. 

Once Support has your smart meter health check results they will forward them to a team of experts who’ll try to re-gain remote communications with your smart meters.

In the meantime you can submit meter readings manually via the Online Account. We have a live billing system so whenever your reads are submitted the account balance will update accordingly. We have a great guide about this topic here:

Hope this helps. 

I have a Pipit smart meter that shows the correct symbol in the top left corner to show it is communicating. It gives me accurate data on usage of gas and electricity. I get monthly bills which I have assumed are based on smart meter readings as there is no indication that they are estimated. However, I have just logged into my Ovo account and under meter readings I have the following message - “Your electricity smart meter hasn't sent us any readings lately. To keep your account up to date, you'll need to send us regular manual readings.” The reading history lists no readings since August 2020. Can Ovo really have been estimating my readings for the last two and a half years without telling me?

There’s clearly something very wrong here, so your meter needs looking at. I’ll leave it to @Emmanuelle_OVO to suggest the best way forward in that respect.

The Pipit device is an ‘In Home Display’, which simply displays the data that the meter itself transmits. The (electricity) meter is also supposed to store readings for 13 months, so data for the period since November 2021 should still be available so long as it’s not irreparably broken.

Are you able to take readings from the meters themselves? Just to be sure, this is the sort of thing you’re looking for; a typical gas meter on the left, a common electricity meter on the right:
  

How to take a reading varies with the type of meter. There are guides to most of them at this site, e.g. How do I take a manual reading from my OVO smart meter? | The OVO Forum 

Please have a look at your bills for previous months. Is there no indication on them that the readings they’re based on are estimated?

Hi @Gary Sams

We have seen similar things like this before so i personally would not worry. For example

In other similar cases we have seen OVO did have the readings and were not estimating. 

Give OVO a call in the morning. I am sure they will be able to sort it out and get the readings to show again on your account. 

You can always give OVO link to this thread if you think it might help so they can see it has happened before for others. 

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/smart-meters-136/smart-meter-13528

Let us know how you get on. 

Thanks for your replies. Firstly, I can confirm that there is no mention of estimated readings on any of my bills. I have cleared out the cupboard under the stairs so I can get a reading from the meter itself. However when I press the button 6 or 9 I get a sequence of messages and numbers appearing for a couple of seconds each, and I am not sure which is the actual reading. However, for gas one of the numbers is 08078. Given that my bill shows a reading of 7658 on 21 Nov and 7892 on 20 Dec, this looks like an accurate reading. For electricity one of the numbers that pops up is 19728.6. My bill shows 19069.1 on 21 Nov and 19432.4 on 20 Dec. Again, this looks very much in line with expectations. If I am looking at the right numbers, it looks like they are getting the readings and the message that they are not, is innaccurate. I will try ringing them, though my my recent experience with call centres does not leave me with confidence that I will get through. I will keep you informed

As expected, phoning is a waste of time. I did, however manage to contact OVO. They have confirmed they are receiving accurate readings and the message is an error. However, they can’t remove it for some reason. Problem resolved - thanks for your help

Getting a bit fed up having to send manual meter readings. Sent manual reading before last bill (18 January). Just looked at usuage and in red - send manual meter readings. Surely OVO can come up with a resolution to this as I see it has been discussed on forum many times.  If this is happening a lot then they need to have a manual check to see what’s happening. My meter is set up to send half hourly readings so there should be no need to send manual readings

Hey @IChap55 !

Please post photos of your meters. We might be able to figure out what’s wrong.