No progress in meter reading dispute, poor customer support

Well it’s currently with billing as a high priority  issue so I’ll gave to wait ( or hope) for them to get in touch. 

Hello,

I desperately need help and advice.

I moved into a rented property 2 years ago and this started just after we moved in.

Bit of a long and complicated story - 

The estate agents set up our SSE gas account this was October 2021, then our first bill came through in December 2021, it was estimated. I phoned SSE and they asked for a meter reading.

This is when we found out that the estate agents took their reading from a in home display that wasn't even connected to our gas account and wasn't even from SSE it was e-on.

This is when we also found out we had no access to our own gas and electricity meters. Our meters are in the basement flat below us and the tenant refused to let anyone in. 

I explained all this to SSE and after months, finally managed to set up an estimated payment plan, this was April 2022. This was after they had sent several people out to try and get to the meters for an actual reading with no luck. I'm registered blind, so I was out on the priority list to have my meters read every 3 months.

These monthly payments had been going fine until I was unable to access my online balance in June this year, and found out about the migration to OVO.

So now OVO have managed to get an actual meter reading because the basement flat has been renovated. And now say we owe well over £2,770!

But we have no idea when the meter was actually last read. I tried to contact SSE and they keep saying it's right, when it can't be. Well if it's from a previous tenant it can be. That's the only thing that makes sense.

Will all my notes and phones be passed on from SSE to OVO?

How do we ever work out what we owe and is it the landlord who owes the rest? Or for them to take up with the estate agents?

The landlord has meant to have complained but now doesn't want us contacting them about it. 

What do I do?

Hi @FrancesNM and thanks for sharing this experience with us. I’m sorry to hear about the unexpected charges. 

I notice you’ve called out being registered blind. If you haven’t already, please speak to OVO (you should be part of a pot of customers who get straight through to specialist OVO Support advisors with extra training) to make sure you’re part of the Priority Services Register, with any appropriate services arranged such as those 3 month meter reading visits. You will also be able to discuss the charges, and your options for getting a smart meter fitted to ensure actual meter readings are sent to us up to every half an hour. Call us from the number registered on your OVO account: 0330 303 5063.

It’s a really tricky situation for you and for us as your supplier. We can only charge you for your usage based on the best estimates we can calculate in the absence of actual readings, and we repeatedly tried to access your actual meter to read it, but were unable to due to its accessibility. If you add to that the doubt around whether your opening meter reading is accurate due to the estate agent submitting it from a In Home Display and not the actual meter: All I would say is that your landlord has a lot to answer for, in terms of the situation you’re in. Have you considered approaching them to ask for recompense? If there was an Eon In Home Display, that indicates a smart meter. Does it not connect remotely? Have a good chat with our Support team and make a plan to approach this, which may include a structured repayment plan. 

Well billing didn’t get in touch so I had another web chat and was informed it was fixed and that an interim bill would be produced and everything would be corrected. Interim bill produced today, dated 3-5th of October for some reason, and nothing has changed. Still overcharged and no nearer a solution and no idea where to go from here except ombudsman when 8 weeks is up.

Hello

Thank you for the reply.

We were told it's not a smart meter as nothing is connecting. So that's why we could do it remotely and clear things up. An engineer did come out once to attempt a smart meter replacement, he managed to get into the property where the meters are but he said a smart wasn't an option but he couldn't do anything else as the tenant told him to leave.

Yes we have asked the landlord for help, which they have meant to have complained but now they don't want to speak with us about it. 

Could they have been told they are lieable for some of the bill?

It's all a very odd situation. 

Cadent, had to break in  a couple of months ago because our carbon monoxide alarm went off and we had to call the gas. But they had to get to the meters for safety.

Thanks for coming back to update us, @awills61.

I can see you’ve already got a chat going with our Forum_Support team. Hopefully we can help. 

Thanks for the reply, @FrancesNM. You may consider calling Citizens Advice for support on how to tackle this with your landlord: 0808 223 1133.

Once you know how much of the charges you’ll be paying, our Support team are on hand to agree a payment plan with you: 0330 303 5063 ​​​​​​. 

By the way, I am a little concerned by some of the things you’ve mentioned, which trigger some of my other duties.

You might want to get your local fire service to do a Home Fire Safety Visit. You can head over to https://www.safelincs.co.uk/hfsc to do it online (the form will link to the one for your area) or call the Prevention Department of your local fire service and they’ll help you out.

It’s a completely free service that can help check things over and potentially make the house a bit safer.

My issue seems to have been fixed for now. It was fixed a few weeks ago but reverted back within a week of that fix.

So, when we migrated over from SSE to OVO, despite having a smart meter, an estimate was taken for April of £2715. No joke.

We barely used £95 throughout spring and summer but have been paying £231 since last winter, meaning we should be well in credit going into this winter.

instead, they are saying we are in debt and our direct debit needs to go up to £524!! 
I have called countless times and made a complaint and asked people to look into this error - it’s plain to see on my readings- and still nothing has happened. In fact, they closed my complaint without ever contacting me or doing anything at all.

At my wits end and would love to hear if someone has actually had their issues successfully resolved?