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youngeru2
Rank 2
August 5, 2022
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I find the smart meter live billing confusing. Can I go back to normal billing?

  • August 5, 2022
  • 13 replies
  • 708 views

 

Hello All, 

 

Firstly, sorry, if this in the wrong place. 

 

I’m now 4 weeks into a new electric smart meter but I find the live status and changes in the online account portal, very stressful. I keep topping up with extra payments but I don’t think I should as the credit amount covers the upcoming month’s bills. 

 

From 8 weeks, the portal should show recommendations for my Direct Debit and/or credit amounts. 

 

I’d appreciate any advice. 

 

Many Thanks, 

youngeru2

 

 

Best answer by Blastoise186

Updated on 19/12/24 by Abby_OVO

Hi @youngeru2 ,

 

I’m afraid there’s no going back once you’ve had the smart meter upgrade as downgrades are almost never allowed. The final chance to cancel (from memory) is either when the engineer phones up the day before to check you’re still OK to go ahead, or when they arrive for the appointment and haven't done any work yet.

 

Once the upgrade is done, the old meters are taken away and either destroyed or put into spare inventory. You can’t get them back after that.

 

My advice would be to try not to panic quite so much about your bills. You’ll still get monthly bills anyway and I’d probably recommend relying more on those than the live balance in your case.

 

So how does live-billing help?


We started developing this up-to-date billing solution as OVO customers told us that the traditional model of issuing a monthly or quarterly statement can make it difficult for them to feel in control of their energy costs. Particularly at times of increased usage, having to wait until the next statement was issued can cause increased anxiety and may result in customers restricting energy usage or worrying about the next payment due. With up-to-date billing you now get a clearer idea of how much your energy use has cost every day and keep track of your balance throughout the month.

 

This means that the balance shown on your online account is always an accurate reflection taking into account

  • The cost of your energy usage, as calculated and billed with each time your smart meter sends us a reading or you submit a reading manually.
  • Daily standing charges.
  • Payments and refunds.

For more on how live-billing works, check out the following topic:

 

13 replies

Show previous replies
Jeffus
Rank 20
Jeffus
Rank 20
December 15, 2023

@Maureen D @Lmj 

 

L
Newcomer
Lmj
Newcomer
December 15, 2023

I'm just glad I had paper bills as well both paid in full no debt it's an absolute joke 

    Abby_OVO
    Community Manager
    Abby_OVO
    Community Manager
    December 18, 2023

    Hi @Lmj 

     

    Sorry to hear about this.

     

    We don’t have access to accounts here at the Forum so it’ll be best to get in touch with the Support Team about this as we can’t see what’s going on. They’ll be able to clear things up as to what’s happened here.

     

    Let us know what they say about the matter.

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