Ovo Energy fitted smart meters to our flat for both gas and electricity last September. I requested that the meters report my usage to Ovo on a monthly basis, but in November, after some issues with the readings, I asked for the gas meter to report daily so that I could keep an eye on it. Three days later I got home to discover I had no electricity.
As my account was more than £300 in credit I assumed something was wrong in our flat so changed the fuses, checked cabling and, in the end, called Ovo. Its call centre is not 24 hours, so I was put through to UK Power Networks, which sent two friendly engineers at 2am to have a look. Power was going to the meter so, from their end, things looked fine. After a bitterly cold night without heating or light, I discovered that, in the process of making the changes to my gas meter, Ovo’s agent had switched my electricity meter to pay-as-you-go. Since it had no money stored on it, and couldn’t access the £300 in my online account, it quickly ran through the emergency “credit” and I was disconnected.
My concern is the ease with which Ovo cut me off. One person flicked the wrong button and I was without power.
SC, London
Your worries are justified, the more so because you were disconnected without warning which suggests customers who struggle to top up prepayment meters might also find themselves without power. This is in breach of the rules laid down by regulator Ofgem which state suppliers can only disconnect you if you fail to engage over a debt and 28 days pass.
Even then, they must notify you about the possibility of disconnection which is a rare and last resort. Ovo says you did not receive any warning because your meter had been switched in error and disconnected automatically. Customers who fail to pay are sent multiple notifications. It promises it’s building a new system for second-generation smart meters with new safety features. It says: “We’re very sorry the meters were incorrectly changed to PAYG, and the customer did not experience the high level of customer service we usually pride ourselves on. We offered a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience which was accepted.” You have now received £150 in contrition.
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