Can I switch to OVO and go from Economy 7 to a single rate meter and tariff?

I am on an Economy 7 plan which I want to change to a single rate one. I already have a smart meter (electricity, no gas supplied). Already paying by Direct Debit so I hoped a relatively simple ask, and have read on this site that it would be a simple case of just summing up night/day units and applying the same rate to both.

After spending an age to be told on Live Chat that I had to call up and then being passed from pillar to post, was told the following:

• needed to pay £385 for a new smart meter
• £0.49/kWh rate would be applied (more than the price cap allows…?)

This rate is considerably more than even the day tariff I’m currently on and I know I don’t need a new meter.

I want this to be as straightforward as possible and don’t want to be battling endlessly on the phone - how can I get this sorted quickly without it being a big headache?

Thanks

Hi @jsmith12 could you post a photo of your current meter? 

Hey @jsmith12,

Sorry for the issues you’ve had,

Unfortunately, we don't currently have the functionality to change Smart Meters from Single Rate to Economy 7, or vice versa. This is something we are looking to make possible in the future and we’ll keep you posted with any further updates here on the Forum!
 

Economy 7 to Single Rate 

Although we're unable to physically change the functionality of meters right now. We can offer an Economy 7 to Single Rate plan! This means you’ll be paying the same rate for each register.

If this is something you’re interested in, please get in touch with our Support Team. They’ll be able to calculate your consumption figures and work out if you’d be financially better off switching from Economy 7 to Single Rate.

Hope this helps.  

The poster already asked that

"so I hoped a relatively simple ask, and have read on this site that it would be a simple case of just summing up night/day units and applying the same rate to both." 

@Emmanuelle_OVO @Tim_OVO do you think some of the customer support team could do with some more training on this?

It wasn't just one customer support person who wasn't aware this was an option which is quite worrying to be honest if people are being told a new meter will cost £385. 

Could you find out who they were so they can get some extra training?

Also the unit rate doesn't look like the correct advice is being given? This is way above the price cap so perhaps again some training is needed

Of course @jsmith12 can phone up again but the root cause of potential issues with the advice being given still remains. 

@jsmith12 vote on this if you don't think OVO has enough capacity in the Support Team

• Improve capacity of OVO Support Team front end Completed
• 11 Votes

Vote for this to be able to check rates without having to phone up

• Self service ability to see all current OVO tariffs without having to phone up Completed
• 50 Votes

I have replaced night storage heaters with non-storage electric heaters and now use little electricity at night. As a result I wish to remove the Economy 7 element from my plan and simply use the basic Simpler Energy tariff. A Smart meter was fitted 2 weeks ago. How can I change my Plan? I don’t want to go through the laborious Chatbot route which promises much but delivers nothing.

Hey @Tiresias !

You can indeed do this, but it requires a hack. Please call Support on 0330 303 5063 as they can set the tariff rates to be the same for both registers to simulate a flat rate.

A change like this requires verbal consent.

Thanks. I’ve just done as you suggest and it seems to have gone through very quickly and easily.

I’m at my wits end with this - have called customer services dozens of times but no resolution.  Any help / advice would be very much appreciated.

I completed on a flat on 31 Jan (took possession on 3 Feb 23) - on 31 Jan I called SSE / OVO who were the incumbent supplier and asked for the electric to be put in my name (there is no gas to the property).  When I spoke the agent suggested I get a smart meter installed which I agreed to - this was done on 17 Feb.

The flat had storage heaters and hence an economy 7 Tariff.  It became clear early on that these weren’t needed - I’ve removed them and called SSE / OVO on 9 Feb to ask to be put on a standard tariff rather than Economy 7.  I kept getting conflicting advice from agents.  Initially I was told this was fine but that I would need to complete a form for the “SPC” team who would call me back.  Nothing happened - I chased and was told I would be put on a normal tarif after my smart meter was installed.  Again nothing happened - I chased and was told SSE / OVO can’t see that the smart meter has been installed - my account doesn’t recognise it!  I have reported its details to agents several times.  I have spoken to agents several times since and raised a formal complaint but nothing seems to resolve this.  BTW when I raised the formal complaint I was told I would be texted a complaint reference number but this hasn’t happened.

My request is simple - to have my current smart meter recognised and to be charged a standard (rather than Economy 7) tariff from 9 Feb 2023.  Why is this so hard to achieve!

Hey @Moobathon,

Congratulations on completing on your flat, I’m sorry to hear the issues with your energy account haven’t been as smooth sailing. 

If you’ve migrated to OVO, we can indeed put you on a standard single rate tariff, so each of your registers will be charged at the standard rate. If you’re interested in this, please contact Support on 0330 303 5063 they will raise it to our billing team. We have a similar topic that might be helpful to you:

*Taken from this topic*
 

Economy 7 to Single Rate 

Although we're unable to physically change the functionality of meters right now. We can offer an Economy 7 to Single Rate plan! This means you’ll be paying the same rate for each register.

Once a smart meter is installed it should update on your account within 6 weeks, if it doesn’t it may be the engineer hasn’t passed your new meter information across. I’d advise sending in via web chat a photo of the yellow/white sticker on your new meter(s) which will show the removal read of the old meter, as well as the install read of your new meter(s). In addition, we’ll need your new meter serial number, which will be displayed next to the barcode. We’ll then be able to manually update your meter information. 

This topic has some information about new smart meter installs:

Hope this helps. 

Hi

A few of years ago I bought my property and renovated it. At the time it had old storage heaters and was on Economy 7 and I was with EDF.  As part of the renovation I installed a gas combi boiler for hot water and radiator central heating system. The old E7 fuse box was disconnected and wiring removed, back to the external meter box.

I also had the gas connected and meter installed. I informed EDF of the changes and requested smart meters to be installed, which was done. However for some reason they didn’t record the installation of the gas correctly, so installed a dual reading E7 smart electric meter and after a lot of chasing a smart gas meter last year.

Despite this, they have insisted on charging me at the economy 7 rate, which is costing me more than the standard rate. They are unwilling to resolve this and I wish to switch supplier.

Can you help?

Mark Goodall

Hi @Mark G and thanks for sharing this story. 

If EDF installed the smart electricity meter as a two rate E7 and billed you to this, I can understand them not wanting to rebill you for that historic usage. Did you not notice that it was E7 at that time? All that said, moving forwards a smart meter should be able to be remotely changed to a single rate. Or they could even just charge you the same single rate across both peak and off peak registers. I’m not sure why they wouldn’t. 

Is the meter able to send them your readings OK without any communication issues? 

Hi Tim

EDF have now agreed to replace the E7 Smart meter with a standard smart meter. Once that is done, I will challenge them on historic charges, as they did not do as I had originally requested. Once that is resolved I think I will change supplier to one I can trust.

Having read information from you website, I did go back and request they just charged me the single rate for both on and off peak, but that was not an option.

Thanks for you comments

Hello OVO!

I am considering switching to your 12 month fixed tariff for single rate electricity.
I currently have an economy 7 non-smart meter - is it possible to switch to you on the single rate tariff? Also would it be possible to install an economy 7 smart meter - in case I want to revert back to economy 7 in the future?
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Bryan

Howdy @bry2001 !

This may be possible - certainly upgrading to an E7 Smart Meter definitely is - but I’d recommend you call OVO on 0330 303 5063 to get a quote and discuss this one, as the online tool might not handle this quite so well.

If you get stuck, let me know and I’ll see what I can advise.

What normally happens with that kind of scenario @bry2001 is that you get both time slots set to the same rate. OVO have had issues with their billing system when switching to/from E7 but I do know some who have used the ‘same rate’ set up successfully. 
As above, you need to confirm with customer support. 

Thanks @Blastoise186  and @BPLightlog !

I just called Customer Services - unfortunately they didn’t seem to understand the point about having a E7 meter but wanting to transfer to the single rate.

Maybe the best thing to do is to sign up for the Fixed 1 Year 03 Oct 2024  tariff on E7 and then ask to transfer to the single rate within the same Fixed 1 Year 03 Oct 2024  tariff - I’d like to think that would not be considered ending the contract early?

It would be considered as staying on the active contract IIRC.

Just to add what is still as far as I’m aware the official line: a smart meter set up for Economy 7 can currently be switched to single-rate by the simple expedient of setting both tariff rates to the same figure but the reverse isn’t possible. I’ve never known why this should be. That text was posted in July 2023, BTW.

Thanks so much @Blastoise186  and @BPLightlog 

Yes - I’d seen it can be a one-way switch on that thread. But for 12 months and under the current uncertain circs  I think it’s probably worth doing. 

On another issue do you know if I can choose the date of transfer in the online application process? I need to give my current provider (no names!) time to put the finishing touches to a resolution to my 2 year fight to get the right reads/bills etc. I’m expecting this in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks again both - forums are so great when people like yourselves go out of your way to help people 😀

You can indeed - there’ll be an option to pick a switch date that you’re happy with. Just make sure to read the Big Scary Warnings first! :D

Oh, and you’re totally welcome too! We aim to please!!!

If you ever need a hand with anything else, definitely swing by anytime and we’ll see what we can do.

my sis has an old electric meter with 2 sets of numbers for peak and off peak. when she changed her tarriff from Econ7 to a single standard tarriff, her off peak/night reading stopped clocking. is that normal for it all to clock onto the peak/day counter?

Hey @Anna Dedman 

Sorry to hear about this. 

It’s hard to tell what’s going on here without access to accounts at the Forum. It might help us to see a screenshot of the meter readings if that would be possible?

I’d definitely recommend contacting the Support Team as they can access accounts and see what might be going on with your sister’s meter.