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Updated on 20/06/24 by Shads_OVO

 

Your guide to setting up an account after a home move

 

Just moved home? Welcome to the new pad! :house_with_garden:

 

 

Finding out the current energy supplier

 

So it might not be the first thing on your to-do list when you're packing up and moving into a new place - but before you make a start on the unpacking it’s always best to find out who’s supplying the energy. You might have found out that’s us through the letting agency or previous homeowners. Or you might see a nice ‘Welcome’ letter from OVO waiting for you when you move in. But if you’re not quite sure and want to get a head start on finding out, use this online tool to find out your gas supplier.

 

To find out who supplies your electricity will depend on who is your Distribution Network Operator (DNO). You can locate who your DNO is using this map -

 

And then find out your supplier using the online tool provided by your local DNO below:

 

Western Power

SP Energy Networks

Electricity North West

Northern Power Grid

UK Power Networks

 

 

Taking opening meter readings

 

Before contacting the current energy supplier of your new home, you’ll need to find out the meter reading on the day you moved in. We’d advise making a check of the meters one of the first things on your moving in checklist, that’s right even before getting started on unpacking.

 

Your landlord or the previous homeowner should let you know where to find the meters. As the meter locations can vary wildly from home to home; a cobwebby cupboard under the stairs to a meter box attached to an exterior wall, it’s best to ask if you’re not sure to avoid a game of find-the-meter.

 

Even if you find there’s a smart meter installed it’s always worth taking the reading manually, just in case. Having an accurate reading from the date you took on responsibility avoids the chance you’ll be charged for energy used before you moved in. Even better if you’re able to take a photo of the meter. Need any help taking a reading from your smart meter? Check out this guide to reading an OVO installed smart meter, or this guide to reading an L+G meter (got another smart meter installed? Comment below and we’ll help you figure it out).

 

 

Researching the best plan

 

As you’re not tied to the supplier that supplies the property when you first moved in, it might be worth checking the current plans on offer by all suppliers to help you decide which is the best option for you. 

 

You can check the current plans available with OVO here. As you’ve just moved in you might not have accurate annual consumption figures so it’s worth bearing in mind we’d use the average consumption figures for your type of property when calculating the recommended Direct Debit amount. You can find out the exact annual consumption figures your quote is based on by clicking on each fuel under the ‘Tariff Information Label’. When checking the plans offered by other suppliers, we’d recommend using the same consumption figures to enable you to make a fair comparison of what’s on offer.

 

 

Setting up an OVO account

 

Decided to fix in to an OVO plan or switch to another supplier? Either way we’ll need to set you up an OVO account. 

 

Even if you’re planning a next day switch, setting up an account with OVO can help the switch progress smoothly and be sure you’ll receive an accurate statement covering the time between your move-in and your switch away.

 

If your new home is supplied by OVO, you can call our Support Team on 0330 303 5063, we’re open Monday- Friday 9am to 5pm. Or, if you’d prefer to do it all online you can sign up here. 

 

Once you put in your new address details the website will recognise we already supply your new home and give you a quote based on the usage figures we have for the property. 

 

 

Managing your account online

 

Once you’ve received that ‘Welcome’ pack, head on over here to log in to your sparkling new OVO online account. The same great online features are also available on the OVO app (download for Android or iOS).

 

First things first, you’ll need to request a password reset email, you can do this by clicking ‘first time logging in’. You should then receive an email to your registered email address (don’t forget to check that pesky junk folder). Click on the link in the email to get a password setup - be quick though the link will expire in 30 minutes.

 

Password set? You’re in.

 

You might want to head on over to the ‘Meter Reading’ menu option first,

 

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This will allow you to check the last reading we received from your smart meter (if you’ve got one) or register the opening meter reading if required.

 

There’s plenty of great actions you can now take yourself online, from checking your payments and usage to reviewing the details of your plan. 

 

Need more help finding your way around? - Check out our great online account tutorial collection.

 

 

Need any extra help?

 

We’re hoping we’ve pretty much covered the basics in terms of getting set-up. Got any more questions on getting to grips with your new account? You’ve come to the best place.

 

Check out this guide on how to use this community to get the help and support you might need, we’re always happy to help, Just sorry we can’t help unpack! :relaxed:

 

OVO member but not got a smart meter yet? - Book today!

 

Interested but not yet an OVO member? - Check out our plans!

 

Hi, just moving into new place. Landlord has no idea about the electric side of things. Apparently it's a smart meter and supplier is ovo.  I need to get electric turned on asap ! I need advice please !

 

Howdy @RosieKeen !

Can you show me photos of the meter please? I’ll see if I can figure out what’s going on so I can recommend the next steps.

Hi, oh that would be brilliant..I'm just clueless at things like this! I am packing last few boxes at old place,will be back at new place tomorrow.  Can I get the pictures then please ?? 

Sure thing, that’s cool with us!

We keep these threads open indefinitely anyway, so feel free to stop by again when you’re ready.

Hi @RosieKeen, see this guide on what to do if you move into a home supplied by OVO:

 

 

If your meter is prepayment, it’s likely that your supplier is actually Boost Power, part of the OVO family. See this guide for what to do if it’s Boost. 

I have recently moved to a new home where there is an existing OVO connection. I am trying to register to OVO but it is asking for an account number. Can someone help me guide on how to find the account number? 

Welcome @anujsharma ,

For this, you’ll actually need to set up a brand new supply account with OVO first, before you can use the online services. Please call 0330 303 5063 and the Support Team can get things going.

Hi, My family and I have moved into a new house and my partner called OVO today to set up an account (OVO are the current supplier).  The agent on the phone advised there seems to be a problem on the account and they cannot set up a new one for us and that someone would be in contact within 17 (yes, seventeen!!) working days. there was no mention of what tariff we would be on or any charges etc in the meantime.

our concern is, we will be using energy for about a month without having a clue how much we will be charged. with the current situation regarding energy prices, this is of course a worry. does anyone know what happens in this case? will we automatically be put on the cheapest tariff during this time? what we dont want of course is to receive a huge bill at some point because weve been paying way more than expected.

has anyone else experienced this?

Hi @JN1973 ,

I’m Blastoise186 and I’m a forum volunteer who helps out on the OVO Forum. Just as a heads up, I don’t work for OVO myself. Congrats on the new house by the way!

I suspect that there’s something wrong with the existing account from the previous member, which needs to be fixed and resolved before it can be closed down so you can take over. I can’t say more than that though, as I’ve got no way to check I’m afraid.

For the time being, you’ll be on the Simpler Energy tariff, which is currently using the price cap rates and is the cheapest option OVO can offer at the moment. Once someone gets in touch, they can advise you about how to pay the existing bill that builds up, but please take a meter reading today and keep it safe - they’ll need it later.

If I can think of anything else that might help, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Otherwise, if you have any other questions or need a hand with anything else, feel free to let us know! :)

Hi,

Thank you so much for your quick response! ok, so i guess we’ll just sit tight and wait to be contacted.

 

thanks again! :)

You’re welcome. :)

Yeah, that’s probably for the best. I can’t think of any obvious ways to speed up the process either, but as long as you gave OVO your contact details, they’ll be in touch.

I moved into a property in July and have been trying to get my account set up. Apparently they have to resolve a technical issue before they can set me up. It has been referred to the operations team (last Thursday) and still awaiting a resolution. Apparently they have me on their system as single rate whilst in actuality I have a multi rate meter. Any ideas on how long said operations team usually takes to resolve these issues? It seems to me to be a simple fix but this is dragging on a bit now 

Hey @rcneedenergy,

 

Sorry for the issues you’ve been having.

 

It’s a tricky one, this sounds like a very technical issue which has already been raised to our operations team. With issues like this, there is no exact timeframe. 

 

When the issue has been sorted you will be contacted with a welcome pack including your new account number and will then be able to manage your account online. 

 

Keep us posted with how you get on! 

Evening.

can i ask if anyone knows how to set up a new account either online or the app as i’ve done both but it keeps asking for id number at top of letter but as notveven got sn account i don’t have one.

i moved yesterday & i really need to give them meter readings.

thanks

Hi @Moopie ,

You can get past the account check on the phone by pressing the Hash # Key when asked for one. You’ll then want the option for having recently signed up and wanting to talk about a new account.

Please call 0330 303 5063 to get your account up and running. You’ll be able to use online services once your welcome pack arrives.

Thanks. I’ll try the hash key tomorrow.

i did ring that number but it just says if not vulnerable to go on website, which is where the problem begins due to no ID number.

thanks for the advice.

I see. You can still phone in anyway for anything that can’t be done via self-service and setting up a new account definitely qualifies.

It’s mostly just to ask people to try to use self-service for things like meter readings or making card payments. :)

Hello, how can I register in my account?

Hi @Olha ,

What kind of account are you trying to register?

If it’s an account for the OVO Forum, you’ve already got one now! :)

If you just moved into a new property, you’ll need to call 0330 303 5063. If you get asked for an account number, press the Hash # Key and then choose the option for having recently signed up.

If you’re looking to set up your online account for MyOVO, you can do that by clicking here.

Or was it some other kind of account?

I received my welcome letter but it has all wrong information for the following

account name , move in date , date of birth

the customer service is taking a lot of time to connect &. i am not able to create an online account &. also messaging chat bot takes hours to connect

Hi @sbhatt

You could try sending a private message to ovo via their Facebook or Twitter page.

They are both official ovo support channel and the staff their have access to accounts.

You could attach a photo of your welcome letter to the private message, explain the situation, and give them your correct name,address, date of birth.

They reply within 24 hours in my experience, usually much quicker, but you don't need to wait around using this method.

Might be worth a try. Hope that helps. 

Hi ,

I just moved in last month . I didn’t submit my meter readings when I moved in because I thought the landlord gave ovo the readings. I received my bill few days ago and it looked pretty higher than my consumption it was based on estimation. So I submitted my meter reading of today and last months bill came higher like 210 after it was 122 . I was supposed to pay my last months bill few days ago which I have due to this. How to solve this issue?

Hi @Frial ,

This sounds account specific so I’m afraid we can’t do much here. I’d probably suggest trying the Collections Team on 0800 069 9831 or the Support Team on 0330 303 5063. They’ll be able to help.

Hi @Frial,

 

Yep our Support team should be able to help if your account was opened to a bad estimate when you moved in. If you have a smart meter, this will be easy. Otherwise we may need to look at your usage over a 2 week period to calculate a suitable estimate for last month. 

I moved into a Ovo property but wasn’t to stay with British Gas

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