I have been charged £74.92 as a ‘Balance Adjustment’. What is a Balance Adjustment.
Thank you
Best answer by Jess_OVO
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Why have I seen a 'Balance Adjustment' on my bill since my account was moved from SSE to OVO?
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Userlevel 7
Hi
Great question this one - understandable that you’d query this unexpected charge on your latest statement. Without having full access to your account I’d suggest that there might have been an update to the previous charges, this could be down to a corrected meter reading for example.
Have you managed to login to your online account or OVO App (download for Android or iOS) to check you full ‘Billing History’ yet?
Thank you.
I have managed to login to my account.
Since my last meter reading I have used 248kWh and at 18.43p per kWh is £45.71. plus my £7.19 for my 27 day standing charge and £2.65 VAT I make my bill £55.55 and not £135.47 with this unexplained ‘balance adjustment’ of £79.92 added on.
I have not been informed of any ‘update to the previous charges,’ and I have not ‘corrected a meter reading for example.’
Can you please look into why I have been charged a ‘Balance Adjustment’ of £79.92 or put me in contact with someone who can answer the question?
SSE was so simple to understand.
Kind regards
I had this a couple of weeks ago.
Check if your SSE account has an amended final bill. Mine was adjusted a couple of days after I made my first actual meter reading, the SSE account was amended and this balance adjustment posted to my ovo account.
It then took three days or so for the estimated ovo opening readings and bills to be adjusted, and it to become clear what was going on.
The day after I then got an email from SSE to say the amended bill was in my old account.
(Payments were all made to ovo and applied correctly).
(the really frustrating part was I had given SSE readings a 10 and 5 days before switchover and they were completely ignored at point of switchover)
Userlevel 7
Updated on 08/08/22 by Tim_OVO
Sorry for any confusion that’s been caused by this balance adjustment.
I’ve checked in with our migration team who’ve confirmed,
If you've noticed a 'balance adjustment' appearing on your OVO bill after recently joining us from SSE this could be due to an industry correction to the meter reading we used when migrating your account, which means your final SSE bill may also be reissued.
I’ve copied the additional info from this topic on the same query:
“It sounds like you might’ve been affected by an issue with the meter readings we’ve used to open your new OVO account.
If there is a potential issue with this reading our Support Team should be able to help get things sorted. They may request another set of meter readings to help recalculate what the reading should’ve been around the date your account moved over.
Depending the difference between the readings, we may need to get this verified by the energy industry by following a process known as a ‘Read Dispute’ - you can read more about this here.
During this process your regular monthly billing will be paused whilst we look to correct the opening meter reading. It may also mean that the final SSE bill you’d previously received may need to be amended.”
Hi all,
After logging into my account yesterday I was surprised to find that a near on £400 balance adjustment had been added to my Dec – Jan bill with absolutely no rationale as to why. Going from around £200 in credit to now being £190 in debit. This amount must’ve been included over the course of the weekend as I check my account weekly.
To give some background context, myself and my partner moved into our first home in July 21, we signed a 2yr fixed plan with SSE before they merged with OVO and were automatically transferred across. Just to note that I already had a balance adjustment earlier in the year that was my final bill from SSE, even though this didn’t add up, I didn’t dispute it as it was a minimal amount.
Has anyone experienced the same thing and what was the outcome as I’m completely flummoxed?
All meter readings/plan details below;
Electric
Unit rate - 18.82p per kwh
Standing charge - 24.11p a day
Gas
Unit rate - 3.43p
Standing charge - 26.59p a day
Meter readings
Joined SSE 28th July 21 - 23106kwh (E) - 5481m3 (G)
OVO transfer Dec 21 - 23553kwh (E) - 5613m3(G)
Today's reading - 24188kwh (E) - 5879m3 (G)
Electricity - £203.63 (1082KWh)
Gas - £152.90 (4457KWh)
Standing charge - £145.49
Total cost since July 21 - £502.02 (apologies if my calculations are off)
Direct debit - £78 per month (10mnths paid since joining SSE - £780)
Userlevel 7
+1
- Plan Zero Hero
- 6514 replies
-
10 May 2022
Hi
I’m Blastoise186, one of the OVO Forum volunteers.
Sorry to hear of the problem there, to me this sounds related to a migration issue that affected a few SSE customers who were migrated to OVO around the time period that your bill adjustment relates to.
Unfortunately, as a forum volunteer I’m unable to access your account myself so I can’t say for sure exactly what happened. The best thing I can recommend would be for you to give the Support Team a call on 0330 303 5063. They can take a look at your account and advise you as to what the bill adjustment relates to. My understanding is that it almost always relates to correcting account balances affected by technical issues and is never done without a valid reason. You should have received an email at the time to explain everything.
However, you can ask for this to be reviewed again if you think it’s incorrect. The Support Team will be best placed to assist with this. I’m afraid no-one on the forum can help you to solve it as we’re not allowed to access your account.
Thanks for understanding.
Hi
Thank you for the advice, just to note I did not receive any notice as to why these balance adjustments were added to my account.
I have since contacted OVO customer service and was told that these balance adjustments are added by SSE as part of my account migrating over. So this would be my second lot of balance adjustments with absolutely no reason behind it when you look at my energy usage since being with SSE/OVO. I was then told that OVO cannot do anything their end and to contact SSE.
After a frustrating call with SSE, I was informed that my account was fully migrated over in early January. They cannot see the additional £400 balance adjustment that was applied over the weekend nor can they do anything about it and to raise a complaint with OVO.
Whilst I take comfort in being told that I’m not the only one to experience this issue with OVO/SSE it saddens me to know that there are others who are being robbed of their hard earned money.
With neither company accepting responsibility/ownership where does that leave the customer?
Userlevel 7
+1
- Plan Zero Hero
- 6514 replies
-
10 May 2022
It’s a massive migration project affecting several million SSE customers, inevitably there will always be some who get a few glitches along the way. As far as I can tell, most of it seems to be more down to pre-existing bad data on SSE’s billing system than anything OVO has done. This isn’t something I can say for definite though, as I’ve never had access to any internal systems.
In some cases, the migration may have revealed a long standing account issue that might never have otherwise been discovered. If you’ve already migrated, OVO will take responsibility of getting things patched up. However, for anyone who hasn’t migrated yet, that task remains with SSE at this time. I have been told a rough estimate of how many customers are migrated each month, but I’m not able to reveal the figures. All I can say is that it’s a pretty big number. What I can say though is that I think SSE had around five million customers before they sold the retail division to OVO.
As soon as your account begins to migrate to OVO though, that’s when responsibility for it begins to shift over. I’m not sure at exactly what stage the customer service stuff is moved, but certainly once the move is done, SSE can no longer get involved.
If a complaint has been raised, a dedicated complaint handler will take on the case and they’ll be in charge of getting it resolved. Hang in there for a bit and they’ll be in touch.
Userlevel 7
I’m so sorry to hear of the issues you’ve been having with your account balance since you joined us from SSE,
As mentioned in this related topic, a balance adjustment showing on your new OVO account could indicate that the meter reading we’ve used to close your SSE account and open your OVO account has been amended.
It’s really disappointing to hear that you were directed to SSE to raise your concerns that this balance adjustment was incorrect. The OVO Support Team should be able to check the status of any migration meter reading change, without you needing to contact SSE.
If you haven’t already we’d recommend getting back in touch with our Support Team to make sure that you account balance is checked. The quickest way to reach the team is via our webchat which you can access here.
Do pop back if you need any more help getting this sorted.
Thank you both
I’ve since raised a complaint and hope to hear back from the support team soon.
Hi there about balance adjustment on ovo bills my husband who helps people with energy bills helped me with this one there was a period when ovo took over that smart meters couldn't send any signals so you would get an estimated bill this is the adjustment for the estimate those who don't have smart meters he suggests sending a meter reading as soon as possible hope this helps
Userlevel 7
This is always sound advice,
Submitting meter readings (if you’re able to) or opting for a smart meter usually means that your account will be up-to date with no need for adjustments.
Have you recently joined us from SSE too?
Hey,
I don't know whether or not this has been completely resolved yet and you've been refunded but I have the exact same problem.
My partner and I bought a small mid terrace house in January 2022 and we were using SSE until we were switched automatically to Ovo as everybody else was.
I have since the switch had very strange bills and billing periods...
24th May to 23rd June I received a balance adjustment of £578.09
Before that from the 27th April to the 23rd May a Gas charge of £619.17 with a standard charge of £582.70 making up the bulk of that. That standard charge says that we've used 8230.22 kWH when I'm pretty sure since we've moved in we haven't even used that amount of Gas.
As a new homeowner, I really wasn't sure what the bills meant to be honest and thought that they were estimating my yearly usage and then would slowly take my debit payments off that total. I can see now that I was mistaken and I've been charged £1200 for seemingly no reason. I am going to phone Ovo tomorrow to see if I can get to the bottom of this.
So I've just checked my meter reading too and Since we've moved in we have used just 198 kWH of gas. I know it's low but I never have the heating on and most stuff we do is electrically. Have no idea where they are dragging the figures they are getting from.
Userlevel 7
Hi
I’m sorry to hear that the billing in your new OVO account doesn’t seem right. Just to clarify how things should work when your account joins us from SSE, you’ll receive a final SSE bill deducting any charges accrued up till the date your account moves across. The final balance shown on this bill will then be transferred in to your new OVO account where it will be shown as ‘migrated balance’.
Have you logged in to your OVO online account yet? By heading to the ‘billing history’ menu option you should be able to access this final SSE bill to double-check everything lines up. I’d recommend double-checking the readings shown on these bills against any readings you might have taken from the meters around this time. It’s worth bearing in mind that the gas meter readings are converted to kWh on your bills which might explain the discrepancy. Read more about this here.
If things don’t seem to be right or you’re missing this final SSE bill we’d recommend reaching out to our Support Team to report these issues directly.
I hope this helps get things back on track.
Hi
I’m sorry to hear that the billing in your new OVO account doesn’t seem right. Just to clarify how things should work when your account joins us from SSE, you’ll receive a final SSE bill deducting any charges accrued up till the date your account moves across. The final balance shown on this bill will then be transferred in to your new OVO account where it will be shown as ‘migrated balance’.
Have you logged in to your OVO online account yet? By heading to the ‘billing history’ menu option you should be able to access this final SSE bill to double-check everything lines up. I’d recommend double-checking the readings shown on these bills against any readings you might have taken from the meters around this time. It’s worth bearing in mind that the gas meter readings are converted to kWh on your bills which might explain the discrepancy. Read more about this here.
If things don’t seem to be right or you’re missing this final SSE bill we’d recommend reaching out to our Support Team to report these issues directly.
I hope this helps get things back on track.
Hey,
Yes thank you I think everything is sorted now. It seems SSE sent across an awful estimate for my gas in their final bill. I will have to wait a few days to see if my OVO account sorts itself.
I have experienced an endless number of issues regarding my electricity account since being transferred from SSE. Initially my account was charged up to £27 per day for electricity usage when I was using less than £2.50. Eventually, after much anxiety and persistence, that was corrected. I now see on my bills that I’m being charged a series of ‘balance adjustments’. I have had received no communication relating to what they are. Transferring to OVO has been a desperate experience I’m an 80-year old widow, who lives alone in a small flat and I’ve received no support at all can anyone help p,ease?
Rita it’s the same for everyone
maybe the best way is to follow their complaints procedure to the letter then they will better encouraged to help rather than pay the ofgem fee they will get hit with. They have 8 weeks to sort it out sadly
Userlevel 7
+1
- Plan Zero Hero
- 6514 replies
-
5 August 2022
The SSE complaints process won’t work for this one I’m afraid. But you can use the OVO one at https://ovoenergy.com/feedback if you’ve already been migrated.
Yeah probably won’t work SSE as it’s ovo
if you phone the ovo number it gives you the option of entering your telephone number so they can contact you via what’s app
Userlevel 7
Hi
Firstly I’m so sorry to hear about the confusion that’s been caused since you account was moved from SSE to OVO. As mentioned in this similar thread:
If you've noticed a 'balance adjustment' appearing on your OVO bill after recently joining us from SSE this could be due to an industry correction to the meter reading we used when migrating your account, which means your final SSE bill may also be reissued.
To confirm this please reach out to our Migration Support team on 0345 0260 712.
Have you spoken with our Support Team yet?
Hi all,
There was a balance adjustment in my bill, when SSE is transferred to OVO from March to April. It shows that I need to pay an additional 74.98 pounds.
I wonder about this bill. At that time, I tried to call OVO. They told me that I needed to ask SSE because they provided the bill. I called SSE and they told me that I should ask OVO. All the information had been transferred.
I didn't find the email contact of OVO. The online customer service told me that they didn't cannot answer my bill. I sent an email to SSE, and they also told me to ask OVO.
So far, my confuse hasn’t been solved, and I don't know who and how to consult. My debit record was 38 pounds per month in SSE. However, due to the balance adjustment, each month has changed to 80 pounds, which cannot be adjusted to less than 80 pounds immediately. To be honest, this is a great burden for international students.
Besides, it is also strange that I received two bills at that time. They also show my electricity consumption and price from February 16 to March 28. However, the difference is that the meter reading of one bill shows that I was from 1196 to 1338, but the other shows 1196 to 1532. These make me feel very confused.
I hope to know how I can consult OVO. Or someone can interpret the bill for me. Maybe I don’t know how to read the bills.
Userlevel 7
Hi
My advice would be to check your SSE online account, and the OVO online account. Have a look at your last SSE bill, and your first OVO bill. The readings used to close / open these should be the same, but it might’ve changed since you first got the bill. If that’s correct, a larger debt with OVO would mean more credit refunded from SSE. See that topic above for more info.
Your Direct Debit recommendations from OVO would be unrelated to this and about how much energy we think you’ll use. See our guide here for more info:
Lastly, the OVO Support team are best place to answer your questions. They may not have access to everything from SSE’s side but they’ll do their best and any new opening meter readings used will be noted there on your OVO account. If the reading needs changing, they’re best placed to help.
Thank u for ur reply.
I checked my last bill of SSE and first of OVO. They are same prices. However, as what I mentioned. The SSE gave me two last bills which show different prices and meter reading in same period.
I think is the problem. So should I get in touch with OVO support team. And discuss with them?
Hi Rita, in a round about way I have had the exact same problem - although my issues existed way before my migration to OVO and the move merely compounded them!
I have to say, I have had a good experience so far of OVO’s advanced resolution team and there is light at the end of what has been a 9 month nightmare with SSE.
I emailed OVO with the evidence of what had been going on and asked that it be logged as a complaint.
Admittedly, this is somewhat unfair on OVO - as they inherited a mess from SSE in the context of my account, but, I was desperate and at the end of my tether.
As mentioned, I am glad I did because the person who has been handling the problems has been very responsive and seems to have made huge progress - whereas with SSE I was just going around in circles and being charged silly amounts of money.
Userlevel 7
Thanks for getting back to me,
Our OVO Support team will be the ones to contact. They’ll be able to confirm the reading used to close/open your account and therefore which SSE bill not to ignore. Just bear in mind they can’t see all the details for your old SSE account, so if you wanted to disuses this in detail, it will be SSE to contact.
Hope this all gets cleared up quickly for you.
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