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Hi,

I noticed from my online account that I am currently in credit by about £700. I messaged OVO via their chat facility to ask if I could be paid back that money. The person who then reviewed my account told me that my gas meter was not sending usage data, as it had not been activated!

        I had this problem when I was with SSE - I contacted them twice about it, both times I was told it had been fixed. Also that I would not be charged for any previous usage. The meter was fitted in early 2020 when I moved in to my current property, as I inherited a top-up meter from the previous tenant. I was not informed of this by my landlord, which was quite annoying, and got both gas and electricity meters changed as quickly as I could. From March 2020 to November 2021 I was physically not present in the flat, as I was in Wales looking after elderly relatives.

        The person I spoke to today via OVO chat said that SSE had not provided them with a meter reading for my account prior to the handover to OVO. They also said that they could only transfer the credit on my account if I send a picture of my gas meter with the yellow certificate. And I would be charged for any usage. They agreed this issue was not my fault, but seemed not interested in listening to my concerns. SSE had assured me this issue had already been resolved. It was their fault. not mine. I should not have to pay a single penny.

        Has anyone experienced anything similar? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I fear OVO will want to charge me for the entire period the meter has been fitted (3 years).

 

Thanks!

 

Hi @Cortez , that sounds like quite a rigmarole. I wondered if you had anything from SSE regarding this? That might help. But also there are back billing rules which limit the time. Currently that’s 12 months
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-bill/you-havent-received-a-gas-or-electricity-bill-in-a-while/

 

@BPLightlog Thanks for the link. Rigmarole it is, indeed. I was in touch with SSE by phone twice in the last year, the most recent time in March, I believe. I don’t have anything in writing. The person I spoke to each time told me the meter had now been activated.

Hi @Cortez, sorry about the rigmarole (I’ve just Googled it to make sure I know the meaning).

 

Am I right in saying the opening meter reading for OVO has been over-estimated? You should be able to get a new estimate created via a process called a ‘reading dispute’. More info here:

 

 

The first thing I’d do is take a photo of the gas meter showing the meter reading. Send this via a web chat, with the confirmation that you’d like a reading dispute raised and you’ll be back in two weeks to provide another meter reading. These two readings will be used to calculate a new change-over reading for your switching date with OVO. This in turn will correct any bad estimated readings. 

 

How come the smart meter doesn’t send over your readings remotely? You can do a check for any signal issues here:

 

 

Updated on 28/06/24 by Shads_OVO

@Tim_OVOThanks for all that Tim. I think I’ve started to make progress with this now, as I jumped on the chat at lunchtime and explained the situation to someone who was very helpful. I’d taken some pics of the meter over the weekend and uploaded those. So I have a case number now (hopefully that actually means something), and the person I spoke to said they’d be following up on progress. Apparently the meter team will be contacting me.

 

It seems the problem was that the gas meter was still registered as a top-up meter on the national database. I believe the previous tenant was obliged to have top-ups due to not having paid their bills. I had both electricity and gas meters changed not long after I moved in. It seems the electricity meter is fine. Neither are smart meters, though.

 

If I don’t make any further progress on this in the next few weeks I’ll be following up via the chat (and I’ll link to this thread). I initially tried the phone help line, that was a nightmare though. The chat seems genuinely useful (as does the forum!).

 

It also looks like the credit on my account (c. £700) will cover any back charges.

 

Many thanks,

Chris

Hey @Cortez 

 

Sorry to read about the troubles you’ve been having with all of this, glad to hear it sounds like you’re getting somewhere with it now.

 

The case sounds like it’ll be in place to have the meter details updated to the correct ones and get the bills up to date, so that’ll definitely mean something! Hopefully they get this all resolved for you soon, please do update us on how you get on with this situation, it may also be helpful for other community members to hear about this if they’re facing similar problems. 

@Abby_OVO Thanks Abby, indeed I’ll post on further progress with this when I get it.

 

I have to say this forum is a pleasant surprise!

 

C

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