Ovo Energy Warrant of Entry out of the blue!

[bekahblee]

Hi all,

 

Hoping someone could give me some advice. I'm with OVO Energy, have been since August 2016. My tariff was £45 a month dual fuel, 2 bed semi detached house. I live with 1 other person.

 

I cancelled my direct debit in October and made a manual payment. I couldn't set my direct debit back up on the website so I left it and made a couple of small payments here and there, intending to set it back up again. I had two statements from them, one in Nov for £32.24 and one in Dec for £31.43.

 

A man came to read the meters a week or so ago. On my online account it says that I gave them a reading on the 9th Jan and then they estimated a reading on the 14th?? It also says that my gas usage is up over 2000% (how??).

 

I got home yesterday to a threatening letter threatening a warrant of entry and saying I owe them £296.25!!! I rang them this morning and they told me that they didn't use the meter reading that was taken on the 9th Jan because it was 'too different', and made me read the meters over the phone, which I did. She put me on hold and came back saying that I owe over £400!

 

Apparently they have emailed and written to me, which they have, but the last two statements were for the reasonable amounts above, no requests to contact them - this is totally out of the blue and I'm pretty sure they have just pulled that figure out of thin air.

 

How should I handle this? They've also told me that they have to take half of the amount at once before setting up a payment plan (seems to be a standard tactic they use). I'm pretty clued up with debt collectors and their ways and I'm not threatened by their letter - however I want to keep this from escalating as I don't want another default. I'd like to stop them in their tracks if poss.

 

Thanks in advance!

[dx100uk]

I would suggest that £45PCM dual fuel is very low and if you check with whom you were with before OVO it was a lot more.

 

 

owing £400 now plus what you've already paid say £120 = £520/5mts= £105PCM dual fuel which is more realistic to what you should have paid.

[unclebulgaria67]

£45 a month for dual fuel based on low usage in a modern 2 bed house would not be that unrealistic.

 

I suspect that the Ovo deal is for those paying by Direct Debit. Because the DD was cancelled, the tariff has moved to their standard rate ?

 

You really need to look through your paperwork to see what the meter readings were at the time you changed to Ovo in August 2016. Then check the meter readings now and work out how many units you have used since August 2016.

 

When you have worked out the units you have used since last August, come back to this thread with the details. You can work out how much energy you have used and try to work out the cost of this. Also please advise us of the tariffs shown on your bills.

[bekahblee]

Hi again

 

 

Thanks for your responses. This might sound stupid but how do I work out how many units I've used? I've got all my meter readings and it shows how many kWhs I've used but I can't seem to see anything about units.

 

 

EDIT - I've found the info, will post back with it shortly.

 

 

Cheers.

Edited January 24, 2017 by bekahblee

[bekahblee]

Ok, here are the units that my statements are showing I've used:

 

 

Statement Date:

 

 

31 Aug - 14 Oct

GAS 37 Units

ELEC 126 kWhs

 

 

14 Oct - 14 Nov

GAS 26 Units

ELEC 89 kWhs

 

 

14 Nov - 14 Dec

GAS 26 Units

ELEC 85 kWhs

 

 

14 Dec - 14 Jan

GAS 741 Units

ELEC 949 kWhs

 

 

As you can see the usage for Dec - Jan has skyrocketed, I mentioned before that in the stats on my online account it says the consumption has gone up over 2000% which I do not understand! Even if they adjusted my tariff this can't be right, surely?

 

 

Meter readings

First reading, Aug 31: ELEC 18254 GAS 06065

Latest reading, Jan 21: ELEC 19503 GAS 06895

 

 

Tariff: Better Energy

 

 

Thanks in advance

[unclebulgaria67]

Did you switch on your Gas boiler in December for your heating and is it running for many hours a day ?

 

Is this your gas boiler or the responsibility of your landlord ?

 

What changed in December for the usage to increase by so much ?

 

Can you advise for each bill whether they are actual or estimated ? If they are estimated, they usually say so or have an E marked next to reading.

 

On the back of the bills it should explain how bills are calculated. Can you post up the calculation that is explained on the back of the bill.

 

Also do the bills show what actual rate you are being charged ? If so, please post the rates shown.

[bekahblee]

Hi.

 

The gas boiler has been on since Nov,

however the heating is timed to come on before I get up in the morning (5.30 am) then goes off about 10. Then comes on again in the evenings.

 

 

We have the heating on for longer periods when we are in the house, like weekends.

The boiler is the responsibility of the landlord.

I really don't know what could have changed for the usage to go up so much, I am honestly baffled.

 

 

If I owe the money, I will pay it of course, I just feel this is an extortionate amount over a very short period.

 

The statements have all been estimated, I gave them a reading on Aug 30 and then they have taken one from me on Saturday morning (21 Jan).

 

This is the calculation shown on the first gas statement, 30 Aug - 14 Oct:

 

Meter Units 37

 

Volume Conversion Factor 1.00

 

Metric Units 37

 

Volume Correction x 1.02264

 

Calorific Value x 39.5

 

Convert to kWh / 3.6

 

kWh Used 415

 

Gas price per kWh £0.0291

Elec price per kWh £0.1148

 

Thanks so much for your help.

[unclebulgaria67]

I will have a look later, but it looks like your boiler is massively inefficient. It is eating gas ! With a modern boiler with a thermostatic control, it just heats up to a certain temperature and switches off. It then comes back on when needed to get back to the temperature set. If it is a modern boiler, then it has a fault somewhere and needs checking by a gas safe registered engineer.

 

I can see you seem to have reduced usage since 14th of January.

 

What size house is this ?

 

How old/energy efficient ?

[bekahblee]

Thank you - your help is much appreciated!

 

It's an old house, 2 bed semi detached.

I've always lived in older properties so I'm aware that they cost more to heat than a newer property would.

 

 

The boiler was checked (I believe) just before we moved in at the end of August.

 

 

It's a newish combi-boiler. I will contact the landlord and ask for an engineer to come and check it.

[unclebulgaria67]

Your bill at this rate would be about average for a 4 bed average sized house.

 

The boiler should heat the house enough within 2 hours max. I suspect the boiler is staying on full power for the whole timed period 5 hours in the morning with the pump constantly running, as well as all the other hours it is running. That would be very expensive.

 

The landlord should have provided gas safety certificate as it is a let property.

 

I will try to work out calculation later, but no wonder Ovo wanted to act.

[bekahblee]

Oh dear. Well yes I can understand them wanting payment of course.

 

 

I have a gas safety certificate, yes.

 

 

Thanks again for your help.

[unclebulgaria67]

Missing information !

 

What are the standing charges for gas and electric ?

 

To work out the bills you need these as well.

[bekahblee]

Standing Charge for Gas: £0.2740

Elec: £0.1148

 

 

Thanks

[bekahblee]

Also, I've just spoken with my housemate who tells me that the thermostat doesn't turn the heating on until it's at 23 degrees or higher. This is definitely a contributing factor, I will take this up with the landlord too!

[unclebulgaria67]

Standing Charge for Gas: £0.2740

Elec: £0.1148

 

 

Thanks

 

Standing charge on electric, same as electric rate ?

[bekahblee]

Oops, my mistake, on both statements (gas and elec) it's actually £0.2740

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Ok based on your usage from 31/8/16 to 21/1/17 i have calculate the following

 

Gas 143 days usage. Standing charge £41.14 inc VAT + 9,313 KWH usage £284.56 inc VAT, total bill £325.70

 

Electric 143 days usage. Standing charge £41.14 inc VAT + 1,249 KWH usage £150.55, total bill £191.69

 

Total bill for both £517.39 inc VAT

 

Since you have put on your gas boiler heating, due to a faulty thermostat ( based on what you have said), the boiler has been running for the whole timed periods, which will eat gas and electric. In an old property the temperature will probably drop to say 10c overnight and to try to sustain a temperature of over 23c would be very difficult, therefore heating is constantly running.

 

Suggest that until the boiler and/or thermostat is fixed that you just have it timed to come on for a max of say 90 minutes morning and evening. That should be enough and if you want more switch it on manually.

 

Come to arrangement with Ovo ASAP, to avoid prepayment meter. If you are given a court date to attend re enforced meter change, you must attend. If you fail to attend, they may force entry even if you are not in. They can't change the meter without safety checks on boiler etc.

[bekahblee]

Thanks for your help with this. I'll pay Ovo some money tomorrow and set up a payment plan.

[ericsbrother]

the thermostat turns the boiler OFF when it reaches 23 deg

Turn it down to 21deg and you will save money.

 

The other problem we can see is the readings for consumption,

are they estimates with a real reading for the last month?

 

then it is most likely that they have been massively underestimated for ages and now corrected.

next month the bill will be lowwr but you need to take readings on the due date so you can compare.

You can come back here with them.

 

What you have given us is the amount used from the bill and not the meter readings. .

 

Read the meter and tell us what they are,

read them again next week at the same time and tell us what they are.

 

We can the give an average cost of fuel used in a week.

[bekahblee]

Yes I think they must have been underestimating our usage. I'm away from home at the moment but I will post the meter readings when I return. I've spoken with Ovo and arranged a payment plan too.

 

 

Thanks again.

[unclebulgaria67]

If you have the thermostat set at below 23c, but the boiler flame is staying on heating until above 23c, then something is wrong. What sometimes is the case, is that the gas flame is switched off when the thermostat hits the set temperature, but the pump keeps running for awhile.

 

With my combi boiler, it has a digital radio controlled thermostat. It switches off at 0.5c below the set temperatute on the basis that the residual heat in radiators will enable the set temperature to be reached. My thermostat is in the coldest part of the house, by the front door and i set it at about 3c below the temperature required in living room. The recommended heat level advised by NHS for a domestic property is 21c.