OVO 'enhanced' billing

[Infidelus]

Short story long, I'll start with:

Mum is old-school, doesn't do the internet and won't have a smart meter (and it's pointless trying to convince her otherwise in the same way it's pointless poking a bear and expecting not to get hurt). She is, however, very diligent about paying her bills. They come in via snail mail, she checks them, then walks over to to the local Post Office counter and pays in full - every time. She also likes to keep copies of old bills for a period.

I spoke to Mum today after she received her electricity bill from OVO along with 'copies' of her previous bills and annual figures. She was moved to them last year (previously SSE). OVO have been sending her estimated bills since they took over in June 2022, with the first visit to get a meter reading only happening about 10 days ago. The newest bill therefore has an accurate reading, but also says she now owes over £300 (her monthly bills have never been over £200, even at current prices).

I've now had a look at what came through the post, along with her previous bills and receipts and what I'm seeing very strongly suggests OVO have 'massaged' the new (old) bills with different figures. As an example:

Original bill - dated 14 July 2022 (first OVO bill)
Energy Charges for 10th June - 9th July 2022
Opening balance: £402.12 in debit (SSE were quarterly bills)
We've charged you: £128.31
You've paid: £402.12
Your closing balance: £128.31 in debit

Mum paid the bill on 21st July 2022 (and still has the receipt)

This is fine as the next bill confirms the payment has been made, however:

New bill for the same period (received today - the wording is slightly different on these letters)
Starting balance: £402.12 in debit (last SSE bill)
Payment receipt £402.12
Summary of charges: £128.87 + 5% VAT = £135.31.

If you look at the original bill, that's immediately a £7 increase on a bill that's already paid. The same thing is occurring on every 'new' bill for the rest of the year culminating in an additional ~£160 charge on top of the actual, meter-read, bill amount.

Now I'm not a legal expert (quite far from it) but this, to me, seems dubious at best and criminal at worst - and I'm leaning towards the latter.

Has anyone else seen this? Can OVO get away with this type of thing?

 

[wesimmo]

You'll probably need to check the actual units charged for. If they've been running on estimates, maybe they've added any additonal usage above the estimate on a pro rata basis?

 

[Infidelus]

Thanks. Surely though if that was the case they would just add it to the current bill instead of trying to rewrite history ...?

 

[wesimmo]

Not sure how they work TBH, but working in the industry I'm fairly certain if it's wrong it'll be due to incompetence rather than criminality...the state of data in the energy industry is largely a bit ****.

 

[Infidelus]

I've spoken to Mum again and she's confirmed they've changed the closing read on every one of the new bills even though they're historic and have all been paid in full (at the original, non-inflated asking price). It's almost as though they're trying to show that she's been in debt for an entire year and has owed them money the whole time even though she has the evidence to prove every single bill was paid in full. I just can't understand why they'd think this is acceptable behaviour. She's going to write to them and ask for an explanation before she pays the current bill. I'm not going to get involved by trying to call them because it probably (almost definitely) won't end well .

 

[Deleted User 298457]

I think a table will help us understand your problem better. Did she provide regular meter readings?

 

[danlightbulb]

Sounds like all the readings were estimated until recently when they did an actual read.

Because of all the tariff changes over the past year they have probably spread any difference in the meter reading actual Vs estimated across all the previous estimates.

This will probably be a benefit to you because prices have been going up, it's just not very transparent.

 

[Infidelus]

I think a table will help us understand your problem better. Did she provide regular meter readings?

She provided readings when asked to, which was twice. The first time they apparently ignored her reading and still gave her an estimated bill. This month's bill does have the correct reading.

Sounds like all the readings were estimated until recently when they did an actual read.

Because of all the tariff changes over the past year they have probably spread any difference in the meter reading actual Vs estimated across all the previous estimates.

This will probably be a benefit to you because prices have been going up, it's just not very transparent.

You might well be right, and it is something that did cross Mum's mind when I spoke to her last night, but the way they've done it still seems to be trying to make it look like she didn't pay her bills in full and that's completely untrue and provable and she's understandably quite upset about it. They should not be retrospectively amending bills to make it look like she's been accruing an ever increasing debt over the past year irrespective of whether she was undercharged due to estimated bills. They should have used the current bill to show the actual charge for this month and then added a breakdown of the extra amount. It all just smells of deceit and extremely underhand tactics to me.

 

[Deleted User 298457]

You might well be right, and it is something that did cross Mum's mind when I spoke to her last night, but the way they've done it still seems to be trying to make it look like she didn't pay her bills in full and that's completely untrue and provable and she's understandably quite upset about it. They should not be retrospectively amending bills to make it look like she's been accruing an ever increasing debt over the past year irrespective of whether she was undercharged due to estimated bills. They should have used the current bill to show the actual charge for this month and then added a breakdown of the extra amount. It all just smells of deceit and extremely underhand tactics to me.

You're not going to get any sympathy whatsoever - without accurate meeting readings she wasn't 'paying her bill' she was just servicing her account to the anticipated bill. This isn't new news in how gas and elec work. Playing the victim that they ignored the estimate isn't a valid reason.

It's understandable, you're cross you've received a bill. But if she wasn't managing the actual billing activity versus just the invoice requests then she's focused on the wrong area.

 

[alexakasloth]

Ovo and Good Energy forced to refund overcharged customers

The average repayment to affected Ovo customers will be £181, while Good Energy will refund £109.

www.bbc.co.uk

May be relevant.

 

[wesimmo]

She provided readings when asked to, which was twice. The first time they apparently ignored her reading and still gave her an estimated bill. This month's bill does have the correct reading.



You might well be right, and it is something that did cross Mum's mind when I spoke to her last night, but the way they've done it still seems to be trying to make it look like she didn't pay her bills in full and that's completely untrue and provable and she's understandably quite upset about it. They should not be retrospectively amending bills to make it look like she's been accruing an ever increasing debt over the past year irrespective of whether she was undercharged due to estimated bills. They should have used the current bill to show the actual charge for this month and then added a breakdown of the extra amount. It all just smells of deceit and extremely underhand tactics to me.

You're taking a very negative personal view of this when they're just trying to make things accurate, does it matter if it shows she didn't pay her bill on time? As long as the total units used are right and she's been charged correctly, literally nobody in the world cares that it might look like she didn't pay her bill.

 

[Infidelus]

You're not going to get any sympathy whatsoever - without accurate meeting readings she wasn't 'paying her bill' she was just servicing her account to the anticipated bill. This isn't new news in how gas and elec work. Playing the victim that they ignored the estimate isn't a valid reason.

It's understandable, you're cross you've received a bill. But if she wasn't managing the actual billing activity versus just the invoice requests then she's focused on the wrong area.

It's not her fault the readings weren't accurate. OVO never visited until last week after being her supplier for a year. When they asked her for a reading over the phone she gave it, and they totally ignored it. Again, not her fault. She has paid every bill sent to her, usually on the same day, and damn right I'm cross; not because the bill is higher but because OVO have retrospectively adjusted every single bill for the last year retrospectively with higher amounts and suggested she's only paid part of every bill. Neither of us are complaining that she may have underpaid over the last year because the bills were estimated, it's the way they've gone about it that's the problem.

You're taking a very negative personal view of this when they're just trying to make things accurate, does it matter if it shows she didn't pay her bill on time? As long as the total units used are right and she's been charged correctly, literally nobody in the world cares that it might look like she didn't pay her bill.

See above. She did pay her bill on time, every time.

Ovo and Good Energy forced to refund overcharged customers

The average repayment to affected Ovo customers will be £181, while Good Energy will refund £109.

www.bbc.co.uk

May be relevant.

Thanks, Mum had seen that.

 

[Deleted User 298457]

It's not her fault the readings weren't accurate. OVO never visited until last week after being her supplier for a year. When they asked her for a reading over the phone she gave it, and they totally ignored it. Again, not her fault. She has paid every bill sent to her, usually on the same day, and damn right I'm cross; not because the bill is higher but because OVO have retrospectively adjusted every single bill for the last year retrospectively with higher amounts and suggested she's only paid part of every bill. Neither of us are complaining that she may have underpaid over the last year because the bills were estimated, it's the way they've gone about it that's the problem.

See above. She did pay her bill on time, every time.


Thanks, Mum had seen that.

You're confused like your mum on how utilities billing works.

 

[Infidelus]

Not at all. A bill comes in, it gets paid. I don't expect to get a copy of the same bill a year later with different figures on.

 

[SilverTongue]

right remove your emotion from the situation here and look logically.

She will have been billed to estimates for the past year (contrary to popular belief, it is the customer's responsibility to provide readings not for the supplier to collect readings)

They have likely seen that there is a significant under estimation for the bills i.e she has used more than they thought she had therefore they have re-billed her.

If they re-billed her from the last estimated reading up to the actual reading (which is what they would need to do to show it on "1 bill" as you so desperately seem to want), then all of those additional units will be charged at the unit rate of the day that bill is produced.

By going back and re-adjusting the previous estimates they are actually doing her a favour by using lower unit rates for some of the extra units that weren't billed.

She may have paid her bill on time, every time, however those bills were not based on the correct usage. "It's not her fault the readings weren't accurate." It actually is her fault because she has not provided those readings, an estimated bill will state that this is an estimated bill and will also advise that by providing accurate readings then the customer can get an accurate bill, technically they have asked for accurate readings on every bill they have sent her.

You are cross I get that, however that anger has blinkered you to logic.

The bills will not be "paid late" as the date to pay it by will go by the date the bill is generated not for the period it relates to.

Also some VERY basic maths and reading comprehension will show that the ~£7 "added" will be the £6.41 which incidently is 5% of £128.31 i.e. VAT which it clearly states in your OP

 

[darael]

You need to start recording meter readings regularly and submit them to your suppler. For example, take readings on the 1st of each month or a couple days before the bill is usually generated - when I was with OVO a long time ago, I think I used to submit readings on the 11th of each month as my bill was generated on the 13th.

 

[Deleted User 298457]

Not at all. A bill comes in, it gets paid. I don't expect to get a copy of the same bill a year later with different figures on.

Trust me, you are confused... they are doing you a favour. You didn't pay for what you used; you've effectively had your gas provided on interest free tick.

 

[Itchytrigg]

Consider yourself lucky. I’ve had a “balance adjustment” added to my latest bill for £226. Called them to find out what it is and they say it’s due to an estimated reading on opening the account (December when it was transferred from sse). However none of my bills have an estimated reading and I’m on a smart meter.

I need to call back as they said they’d kick off a bill recalculation but nothings changed. So I’ve no idea what this charge is for!

 

[Semple]

I agree there's something odd about going back and amending the estimated readings on statements that have already been settled.

However it's a bit of a moot point regardless. However many units you've used between date A and date B need to be paid for, it doesn't make any difference to the overall picture if they've gone back and adjusted their estimations on the previous bills - you still owe the same amount.

The only thing it may screw up is if you track your usage based on the estimates provided, as that'll now skew your results.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

If your paying estimates your in effect making payments on account.
This is part of the reason you get a smart meter and get with the times.

The only other way round it is that each time a bill arrives you ring up with the actual reading and get them to reissue a new bill at that time.