Forced to pay for energy my solar created by the Ombudsman

[Dibbydoos]

Hi everyone.

I installed solar and a battery at my house in Nov 21.

In Aug 2022, I was forced to pay Shell for over 300kWh of electricity my solar PV created by the Ombudsman even though my solar data showed total energy of >500kWh, c300kWh from PV, the remainder imported from the grid. I shared this data with the Shell and then the Ombudsman when Shell put the complaint into deadlock.

The Ombudsman told me I have no further right of apappeal and I've been irritated by this since.

Today I speak to the metering specialist at the solar company because the installation messed up my eV charging point. I was told the eV charger had to be changed and I needed the solar company to sort it. Anyways he had a pic if my original and new meter and explained that my old meter could only read data one way ie it recorded the electricity my PV generated as use. This completely supports my case, so firstly I'm happy I knew I was right, secondly, does anyone know if I could go to small claims court over it? This was during the height of the energy crisis and its worth a few £00.

YANBU go to Ombudsman
YABU get over it

I'm not sure I follow exactly what you are saying but if shell owe you money and the appeal doesn't cost anything / risk anything then go for it

Sorry op. I dont follow either. But its sure someone with knowledge on the topic will be here shortly,!

The Ombudsman and Small Claims Court are two different things.

Which one do you want to go to?

I had a smart meter. I installed solar. When the solar systems makes electricity, it turns your meter 1 unit backward for every unit made. Say my meter was reading 1000 and I then produce 300 units through my solar system, my meter should read 700 units.

But my smart meter couldn't turn backwards, it could only go forwards, giving me a reading of 1300 units.
The Ombudsman, like you guys, didn't get it either but my metered data was simple.

The total energy recorded was just over 500kWh. My solar meter showed I'd produced 300kWh of that meaning I had used 200kWh. But the Ombudsman sided with Shell and I had to pay for using the energy my own solar system had produced.

I'm really not sure what to do. A small claims court costs money to put a case up but I have now found a metering specialist who could be an expert witness for me. The extra I paid was a few £00.

My question is can I go to a small claims court? Or should I just suck it up. I've paid the money, got new meters, so should move on?

Is it really worth the cost of small claims and hiring an expert meter witness over a claim for about £60 (assuming you've been billed on the standard/price cap rate)?

I disagree with Kerfuffler.
It might only be a few quid but that is not the point. People accept this kind of thing far too often and guess what - it happens all the time. OP seems to be comfortable and switched on (homeowner, can afford solar panels and EV, understood the meter problem, willing to go to ombudsman) and almost certainly has the capacity to see this through. Much more so than a little old lady might.

You owe it to your own dignity and society as a whole to go back to the ombudsman. If that fails I would also go to small claims court.

Isn't your issue with whoever installed the meter which was wrong or faulty?