Guaranteed Standards of Performance (GSOP) compensation - a guide

Guaranteed Standards of Performance

Guaranteed Standards of Performance (GSOP) are a set of service guidelines set out by our regulator, Ofgem, that all UK energy suppliers must adhere to. They ensure that we give you the best possible service.

If we fail to meet any of these standards we’re required to issue a £40 GSOP payment as compensation. Below you can find out more about the GSOP standards, and when we’d pay the £40 compensation.

We’re required to pay the £40 within 10 working days of any GSOP failure. If we don’t make the payment within 10 working days, we’ll pay you a further £40.

Meter appointments

Our engineers carry out appointments to install smart meters, or to fix or replace faulty meters. If we ever book a meter appointment for you, we’ll agree to a date and four-hour time slot with you.

If we need to cancel or re-arrange the appointment, then we need to give you at least 24 hours’ notice. We’re also required to send an engineer with the correct skills and tools for the job.

If you request an initial smart meter installation, we have to offer an appointment date within 30 days, and then complete the installation within six weeks. Please note, this is only the case for your first attempted smart meter installation.

If we fail any of these requirements, we’ll credit your account (or send a cheque if you’re a PAYG customer) with a £40 GSOP payment.

Faulty meters

If you tell us that you think your meter isn’t working as it should be then there are standards we must meet, depending on what type of meter you have:

Traditional or smart credit (pay monthly) meters

If you tell us that your credit meter may be faulty we have five working days to:

• Check whether the meter is faulty
• Let you know the next steps following this assessment
• Confirm the results of the assessment and the next steps in writing

If we don’t meet these requirements then a £40 GSOP payment will be made for each failure.

Traditional or smart prepayment (Pay As You Go / PAYG) meters
 

If you think your PAYG meter is broken and you’re off supply we’ll either fix the issue remotely, or send an engineer to your home:

• Within three hours if you’ve contacted us during the week (Monday - Friday) between 8am - 8pm
• Within four hours if you’ve contacted us on a weekend or bank holiday

If you think your PAYG meter is broken, but you’re on supply, we’ll agree the next course of action with you:

• Within three hours if you’ve contacted us during the week (Monday - Friday) between 8am - 8pm
• Within four hours if you’ve contacted us on a weekend or bank holiday

If you contact us outside of working hours we’ll contact you as soon as possible the next day.

If we don’t meet any of these requirements then we’ll send the £40 GSOP payment as a cheque.

Smart meters and In Home Displays (IHDs)

If you think your smart meter isn’t working as it should be, then the same timelines, regulations and compensation amounts listed above apply based upon your meter type.

Within five working days OVO need to complete an assessment, agree the next steps, and confirm this all in writing if you believe:

• We’re not receiving automatic meter readings from your smart meter(s)
• You receive an inaccurate bill due to the smart meter(s) not sending automatic readings
• Your IHD isn’t displaying real-time information such as usage, costs and rates
• You’re unable to top up your meter remotely (if you’re a PAYG customer)

Failure to meet any of these standards will mean we’ll add a £40 GSOP payment to your account (or send a cheque if you’re a PAYG customer).

Reconnecting your supply

If we’ve disconnected your electricity and/or gas supply due to unpaid debt, then we’ll reconnect the supply once you’ve made the necessary payment.

If the payment is made within OVO working hours, we’re regulated to reconnect your supply within 24 hours. If the payment is made outside of our working hours, then we must reconnect the supply by the next working day.

Failure to meet these requirements will mean we’ll pay the £40 GSOP compensation.

Switching suppliers and moving house

When you switch suppliers, or close your account due to moving house, there are standards we must meet regarding billing and refunds:

Final billing

• We must issue a final bill within six weeks of the switching date or change of tenancy
• We must issue a final refund within 10 working days of sending a final bill

Five working day switches

When you switch to OVO, our aim is to get you up and running as quickly as possible.

With ‘faster switching’, changing energy suppliers typically takes around 5 working days, unless we’ve agreed a different date with you. There are times when your switch might take a little longer. For more details, please see the “When switching might take longer” section of our Faster Switching Policy.

If we don’t complete your switch within 5 days, we’ll credit £40 into your account unless:

• We don’t have all the information needed to complete your switch
• We think there’s evidence of a fraudulent switch
• The delay is for any other reason beyond our control

Erroneous Transfers

Sometimes electricity and/or gas supplies can be switched to another energy company by mistake. This can happen due to a supplier taking over a neighbouring house’s supply, a mistake in an address, or human error. In the Industry this is known as an Erroneous Transfer (ET). If your energy supply is switched away from us in error, we must adhere to these standards:

• We’ll contact the other supplier and let you know within 20 working days whether the switch happened under a valid contract
• If you’ve already spoken to the other supplier, we’ll work with them to resolve the ET within 20 working days
• If we confirm the switch was an ET then we’ll need to take back your supply within 21 working days of the ET being confirmed
• If we take over your supply erroneously, we must return it to the other supplier

If we don’t meet the above timescales, or we accidentally take over your energy supply, we’ll pay you the £40 GSOP compensation.

Electricity Distribution Networks and Gas Transporters

Electricity Distribution Networks and Gas Transporters are separate organisations in charge of the energy cables, pipework and infrastructure running up into your property.

If these organisations cause an issue with your supply, they may be required to pay you compensation. Sometimes, they’ll pay us the money, which we then must credit to your account (or send as a cheque if you’re PAYG).

If we fail to pay this compensation to you within ten working days of receiving it, we’ll need to add on the £40 GSOP compensation.

When you might not be eligible for £40 GSOP

In some situations, we may not offer a £40 compensation payment. These include:

• If an engineer can’t make your appointment due to circumstances beyond our control, like severe weather
• If you tell us that you don't want us to take action on the problem you reported
• If you haven’t followed the troubleshooting steps we’ve provided as part of your meter investigation
• If your meter's been tampered with
• If we can’t get access to your meter or home
• If nobody over the age of 18 is at home when we visit for an appointment
• If you turn down our offer to fix a faulty prepayment meter

Please note that all of the information on this page is subject to change if Ofgem publishes new guidance.