Incident: Energy Supplier Ovo's Data Errors Lead to Shocking Billing Failures

Published Date: 2022-11-23

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident involving Ovo and the overinflated energy bills happened in November 2022. [135128, 135779]
System 1. Meter reading errors system - Ovo's system experienced meter reading errors that affected some customers, leading to vastly overinflated energy projections and billing issues [135128, 135779]. 2. Billing system - Ovo's billing system failed to accurately calculate and generate bills for customers, resulting in shockingly high and inaccurate bills being sent out [135128, 135779]. 3. Migration control system - Ovo's system for handling customer migrations from SSE after the acquisition in 2020 failed to properly transfer and reconcile meter readings, leading to errors in billing projections [135128, 135779].
Responsible Organization 1. Ovo - The software failure incident was caused by meter reading errors that affected customers who were transferred from SSE to Ovo after Ovo acquired SSE's retail division in 2020. Ovo admitted to the errors and took responsibility for the issues faced by customers [135128, 135779].
Impacted Organization 1. Customers of the energy supplier Ovo were impacted by the software failure incident reported in the news articles [135128, 135779].
Software Causes 1. Meter reading errors due to a mismatch between opening and closing meter readings when customer accounts were transferred from SSE to Ovo after the acquisition [135128, 135779] 2. Data errors leading to vastly overinflated energy projections for certain households [135128, 135779]
Non-software Causes 1. Meter reading errors due to a mismatch between opening and closing meter readings when customer accounts were transferred from SSE to Ovo after Ovo acquired SSE's retail division in 2020 [135128, 135779]. 2. Problems with accounts transferred during the takeover of SSE by Ovo for £500 million, leading to drastically overinflated energy projections for certain households [135779]. 3. Balance adjustments from SSE causing extreme high bills for customers, such as in the case of Christopher Barnes receiving a bill of £4,190.77 after a balance adjustment [135779].
Impacts 1. Customers of the energy supplier Ovo received vastly overinflated energy projections, leading to shock and dismay, with bills reaching as high as £80,000, causing financial distress and confusion [135128, 135779]. 2. Meter reading errors affected some customers who were transferred from SSE to Ovo after the acquisition, resulting in billing discrepancies and inflated charges [135128, 135779]. 3. Some customers had their monthly direct debits significantly increased, with one individual seeing their payment rise from £418 to £1,989, based on erroneous energy consumption calculations [135128, 135779]. 4. The software failure incident led to customers spending significant time and effort trying to resolve billing issues, impacting their daily lives and causing frustration [135128, 135779]. 5. Ovo had to cancel bills, offer compensation, and refund incorrect payments to affected customers, highlighting the financial and operational impact of the software failure incident [135128, 135779].
Preventions 1. Implementing thorough data validation checks during the migration process to ensure accurate meter readings are transferred correctly [135128, 135779]. 2. Conducting comprehensive testing and validation of the billing system after customer data migration to identify and rectify any discrepancies or errors [135128, 135779]. 3. Enhancing customer communication and support mechanisms to promptly address and resolve billing errors reported by customers [135128, 135779]. 4. Regularly monitoring and auditing the billing system to detect anomalies or unusually high projections before bills are sent to customers [135128, 135779]. 5. Ensuring proper oversight and quality control measures during the integration of acquired customer data to prevent errors in billing calculations [135779].
Fixes 1. Implement a more robust data validation process to ensure accurate meter readings are transferred between accounts during migrations, reducing the likelihood of errors [135128, 135779]. 2. Enhance quality control measures to detect and prevent large billing discrepancies before they are sent to customers, such as setting up additional checks for unusually high projections [135128, 135779]. 3. Improve customer communication and support mechanisms to promptly address billing errors, provide accurate information, and offer timely resolutions to affected customers [135128, 135779]. 4. Conduct a thorough review of the software systems and processes involved in meter reading transfers and billing calculations to identify and rectify any underlying issues contributing to the inaccuracies [135128, 135779].
References 1. Customers of the energy supplier Ovo who experienced the billing issues, such as Julie Lines, Jane Barclay, Alistair Strain, Andy Liggins, Victoria DeLuis, Christopher Barnes, and others [135128, 135779] 2. Ovo company spokesperson [135128, 135779] 3. Energy regulator Ofgem [135128, 135779] 4. Social media platforms like Twitter where customers shared their billing experiences [135779] 5. The Guardian newspaper, which contacted Ovo and reported on the billing errors and customer experiences [135128, 135779] 6. MailOnline, which reported on Alistair Strain's experience with Ovo [135779]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization, multiple_organization (a) The software failure incident has happened again at Ovo. Customers of the energy supplier Ovo experienced data errors that led to vastly overinflated energy projections, resulting in shockingly high bills. The company admitted that meter reading errors affected some customers who were transferred from SSE, with problems arising from a mismatch between opening and closing meter readings during the transfer process [135128, 135779]. (b) The software failure incident has also occurred at multiple organizations. The articles mention that similar issues with overinflated energy projections and billing errors have affected customers of other energy suppliers as well, such as SSE. These incidents highlight a broader problem within the energy industry related to data errors and meter reading inaccuracies impacting customers [135128, 135779].
Phase (Design/Operation) design, operation (a) The software failure incident related to the design phase can be seen in the articles through the errors in meter readings and billing calculations that occurred when customer accounts were transferred from SSE to Ovo after Ovo acquired SSE's retail division in 2020. This transfer process led to a mismatch between the opening and closing meter readings, resulting in vastly overinflated energy projections for some households [135128, 135779]. (b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase is evident in the issues faced by customers who continued to receive implausible bills despite providing updated meter readings and Ovo admitting to errors. Customers reported being chased for exorbitant amounts, such as one person being told they were paying £79,580.45 per hour for gas on their smart meter. This indicates operational failures in accurately processing and verifying customer data to generate correct bills [135128, 135779].
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system, outside_system (a) within_system: The software failure incident reported in the articles is primarily attributed to meter reading errors that affected some customers of the energy supplier Ovo. These errors occurred due to problems with some accounts that were transferred to Ovo after it acquired SSE's retail division in 2020. The mismatch between the opening and closing meter readings during the transfer process led to vastly overinflated energy projections for certain households, resulting in shockingly high bills for customers [135128, 135779]. (b) outside_system: The software failure incident also involved external factors such as the acquisition of SSE and its customers by Ovo for £500 million in 2020. The transfer process and integration of the acquired accounts into Ovo's systems contributed to the meter reading errors and billing discrepancies experienced by customers. Additionally, regulatory oversight by Ofgem, the energy regulator, played a role as Ovo was previously instructed to pay £8.9 million in redress for wrongly charging customers over five years, indicating external scrutiny and consequences for the company's actions [135128, 135779].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions, human_actions (a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions: - The software failure incident at Ovo was primarily attributed to data errors that led to vastly overinflated energy projections for customers' bills [135128, 135779]. - Ovo admitted that meter reading errors, which impacted certain customers, were a result of problems with accounts transferred to Ovo after it acquired SSE's retail division in 2020 [135128, 135779]. - Customers received shockingly high bills, such as one man being told he was paying £79,580.45 per hour for gas on his smart meter, indicating a significant data error [135779]. (b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions: - The mismatch between opening and closing meter readings taken during the transfer of accounts from SSE to Ovo was identified as a human error that contributed to the billing issues [135128]. - Despite receiving updated meter readings and admitting errors, Ovo continued to send implausible bills to customers, suggesting a failure in human intervention to rectify the situation promptly [135128]. - Ovo increased customers' monthly direct debits significantly based on incorrect calculations of energy usage, indicating human involvement in the erroneous billing process [135128, 135779].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) software (a) The software failure incident occurring due to hardware: - The articles do not mention any specific hardware-related issues contributing to the software failure incident. Therefore, it is unknown if the incident occurred due to hardware factors. (b) The software failure incident occurring due to software: - The software failure incident reported in the articles is primarily attributed to software-related issues such as meter reading errors, data errors, and problems with accounts transferred between energy suppliers (Ovo and SSE) after an acquisition [135128, 135779]. These issues led to vastly overinflated energy projections, resulting in customers receiving shockingly high bills. The software system's failure to accurately process meter readings and account transfers played a significant role in causing the billing discrepancies and customer distress.
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The articles do not indicate any malicious intent behind the software failure incident reported. There is no mention of any deliberate actions taken to harm the system or manipulate the data for malicious purposes [135128, 135779]. (b) The software failure incident appears to be non-malicious, stemming from data errors and meter reading discrepancies that led to vastly overinflated energy projections for customers. The issues were attributed to problems with accounts transferred to Ovo after the acquisition of SSE, resulting in billing errors and incorrect projections. Ovo acknowledged the errors, admitted to meter reading mistakes, and took steps to address the situation by offering compensation and refunds to affected customers [135128, 135779].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) poor_decisions The software failure incident reported in the articles seems to be related to poor decisions made during the transfer of accounts from SSE to Ovo after Ovo acquired SSE's retail division in 2020. This led to meter reading errors and vastly overinflated energy projections for certain households, resulting in shockingly high bills for customers [135128, 135779]. The mismatch between opening and closing meter readings during the transfer process was identified as a key issue contributing to the billing errors. Additionally, the failure to accurately handle the account migrations and projections despite receiving updated meter readings and admitting errors indicates a failure caused by poor decisions rather than accidental mistakes.
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) development_incompetence (a) The software failure incident occurring due to development_incompetence: - The software failure incident in the articles was primarily attributed to meter reading errors that affected customers who were transferred from SSE to Ovo after Ovo acquired SSE's retail division in 2020 [135128, 135779]. - Ovo admitted that the errors were a result of a mismatch between the opening and closing meter readings taken during the transfer process, leading to vastly overinflated energy projections for certain households [135128, 135779]. - Customers reported receiving shockingly high bills, such as one man being told he was paying £79,580.45 per hour for gas on his smart meter, indicating a significant error in the billing calculations [135779]. (b) The software failure incident occurring due to accidental factors: - The articles do not explicitly mention the software failure incident being caused by accidental factors. The primary cause identified was meter reading errors resulting from the transfer of accounts between SSE and Ovo [135128, 135779]. - The errors were acknowledged by Ovo as issues that affected certain customers due to problems with the transfer process, indicating a lack of proper handling during the migration of accounts [135128, 135779].
Duration temporary (a) The software failure incident in the articles appears to be temporary. The failure was attributed to data errors that led to vastly overinflated energy projections for certain households after Ovo acquired SSE and its customers in 2020 [135128, 135779]. The issues were related to meter reading errors that affected some customers who were transferred from SSE to Ovo, leading to customers receiving shockingly high bills. Ovo acknowledged the errors and took steps to address the issue by setting up controls to identify and fix large bills before they were sent to customers. Additionally, Ovo offered compensation to affected customers and refunded incorrect payments [135128, 135779].
Behaviour value, other (a) crash: The software failure incident in the articles does not involve a crash where the system loses state and does not perform any of its intended functions. The failure is related to billing errors and inflated energy projections, indicating a different type of issue ([135128], [135779]). (b) omission: The software failure incident does not involve the system omitting to perform its intended functions at an instance(s). Instead, the issue revolves around incorrect billing calculations and inflated energy projections for customers ([135128], [135779]). (c) timing: The failure is not related to the system performing its intended functions correctly but too late or too early. The issue is primarily about incorrect billing amounts and inflated energy projections, causing financial distress to customers ([135128], [135779]). (d) value: The software failure incident aligns more closely with a failure due to the system performing its intended functions incorrectly. Customers received vastly overinflated energy projections and bills, leading to significant financial burdens and distress ([135128], [135779]). (e) byzantine: The failure does not exhibit characteristics of a byzantine failure where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. The issue primarily revolves around incorrect billing calculations and inflated energy projections for customers ([135128], [135779]). (f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident can be described as a failure due to incorrect data processing leading to vastly inaccurate billing amounts and energy projections for customers. This issue resulted in customers receiving shockingly high bills, causing financial strain and frustration ([135128], [135779]).

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence property (d) property: People's material goods, money, or data was impacted due to the software failure - Customers of the energy supplier Ovo received vastly overinflated energy bills, with some being charged amounts as high as £49,000, £34,015, £29,000, and even £80,000 due to data errors that led to drastically overinflated energy projections [135128, 135779]. - The software failure resulted in customers facing shockingly high bills, causing distress and financial burden. For example, one customer saw his bill increase from £59.82 to £4,190.77 without any explanation, leading to feelings of shock and disbelief [135779]. - Ovo admitted that meter reading errors impacted certain customers who were transferred from SSE, with the company attributing the problems to a mismatch between opening and closing meter readings during the transfer process [135128, 135779]. - The software failure also led to customers being chased for payment, having their direct debits increased significantly, and facing difficulties in resolving the billing errors despite providing updated meter readings and receiving assurances from customer service representatives [135128, 135779].
Domain utilities, finance, government (a) The failed system was related to the utilities industry, specifically the energy supplier Ovo. The software failure incident led to vastly overinflated energy projections for some households, resulting in customers receiving shockingly high bills due to data errors and meter reading mistakes [135128, 135779]. (h) The software failure incident also falls under the finance industry category as it involved billing errors and incorrect charges being applied to customers' accounts by the energy supplier Ovo. Customers were faced with exorbitant bills, such as one individual being told they owed £79,580.45 per hour for gas on their smart meter [135779]. (l) Additionally, the government sector is indirectly impacted by this software failure incident as the energy regulator, Ofgem, had to intervene in the past with Ovo, ordering the company to pay redress after wrongly charging customers over five years. Ofgem was alerted to the shocking bills in this latest incident and stated that suppliers have a duty to ensure customers receive accurate billing information [135128, 135779].

Sources

Back to List