Lumo Energy: Closure, Reviews & Crucial Information for customers
Lumo Energy UK began life as a price comparison website designed to help customers find the best deal on the market. It offered its own dual fuel energy tariff, which was managed through its mobile energy app and customers online accounts. Lumo Energy was an exclusively online energy supplier. It merged with OVO in 2020.
Lumo Energy tariffs are no longer available as the provider is no longer operating in the UK. Since the closure of this supplier, information in this guide is no longer frequently updated. All information presented here was correct at time of original publication and is for reference purposes only. For more up to date information please contact the new supplier directly or visit our OVO page for more information.
Lumo Energy FAQ’s
Frequently Asked Questions
Who took over Lumo Energy?
Lumo Energy merged with its sister company Ovo in 2020.
What happened to existing customers?
Energy regulator, Ofgem have reassured consumers that when their electricity supplier closes down that they will still receive an electricity supply. Ofgem have advised customers of closed energy providers to take a meter reading and wait for the new provider they are automatically assigned to reach out.
Not satisfied with the provider you were assigned to?
If the provider you were assigned after Lumo merged with OVO is not to your liking then don’t fret! There are plenty of great energy providers out there to choose from.
My account was in credit. Will I get my money back?
Ofgem assure consumers that if their supplier closes down, any credit on their account will be protected. All former Lumo customers who had outstanding credit balances had their funds transferred over to their new supplier.
Who was Lumo Energy?
Lumo Energy UK was an online gas and electricity supplier. It had one dual fuel tariff that is exclusively sold online, and managed online or through the supplier’s mobile app. Lumo Energy aimed to install a smart meter in customers’ households no later than 6 months after they made the switch.
The supplier started out as an energy comparison site, but after seeing the difficulties its customers encountered with their energy suppliers, it decided to turn its hand to actually being a provider, keeping things simple with its one tariff and app.
Was Lumo Energy UK Australian owned?
No, Lumo Energy UK was not owned by an Australian company. In Australia, there is an energy company called Lumo Energy, but it is not connected to Lumo Energy UK. When searching for the British supplier, make sure you are on the .co.uk site, not lumoenergy.com.au.
Lumo Energy UK was actually a sister company to Ovo Energy. Like Ovo, it is a subsidiary of Imagination Industries LTD, which is a holding company owned by Ovo Energy founder and owner Stephen Fitzpatrick.
Reviews: Was Lumo Energy UK a good company?
Lumo Energy reviews online were fairly average. On Trustpilot, customer reviews gave the supplier a rating of 3.4/5. 52% of these reviews rate Lumo Energy as ‘excellent’, while 23% rate it as bad.
UK reviews that praised the company centred on it being very easy and straightforward to switch to the provider and set up an account. Negative Lumo Energy UK reviews focused on high bills and waiting a long time to receive final bills when they left.
As a sister company of Ovo Energy, many Ovo customers were offered the option to switch to Lumo Energy, stating it has lower prices. However, many filed complaints with the company as they were being offered the new lower tariffs if they switched, only to find that they couldn't switch if they already had a smart meter installed. This was causing confusion as many customers didn’t understand why they couldn't take advantage of those low rates if they already had an Ovo meter installed.
Reviews of Lumo Energy UK were no more positive on Google reviews. The supplier had a poor rating of just 1.3/5. The main complaint featured here was customer service, with many reporting the customer service was inefficient and they didn’t receive responses to emails.
The design of Lumo Energy was that everything is managed through the app, which included customer service. This was supposed to make things easier and less frustrating than having multiple contact channels but according to reviews, many customers found this annoying and would have liked to be able to contact the company by phone when needed.
App reviews
Lumo Energy’s whole business was structured around its app, so let’s take a look at some reviews of the Lumo Energy app.
On the App Store, the app had a rating of 4.5/5. Many customer reviews state it was easy to use and very useful. On the Google Play store, it had a rating of 3.6/5. Positive reviews again mention how easy the app was to use, but a number of negative reviews complain about bugs with the app that mean it didin't work and the response and support when this happened was very slow.
From these reviews of the app, we would say it seemed to work better on Apple devices than Android devices.
Customer reviews also mention downloading the app and signing up, only to find that their account number doesn't register or that the app wouldn't let them submit meter readings. Frustration is heightened as they coudn't get through to Lumo Energy customer service as the only way was through the app (which wouldn't work for them) or the online contact form (which Lumo Energy seemed slow to respond to).
Overall, while on paper Lumo Energy seemed innovative and simple, reviews suggest the app was a frustrating form of communication and customers longed for the old fashioned phone call.
App and online login
Lumo provided you with the opportunity to manage your energy from anywhere with its mobile app. It could be downloaded for free from the App Store or the Google Play Store for Apple devices and Android devices respectively.
The app had two purposes. Firstly, potential customers could download it and get an accurate quote by scanning their energy bill's QR code, or by producing an accurate estimate by asking a few simple questions. The app would then give you a quote from Lumo Energy, and also show you the other different offers on the market. If you were happy with your quote, you could switch to Lumo Energy through the app.
For existing customers, the app let you manage payments, keep track of your energy usage and submit meter readings.
Customers who had already switched to Lumo seemed to have quite a lot of problems with the app. Reviews on both the App Store and the Play store complained of problems submitting readings, that the app crashed or got stuck on the loading screen, and problems with account sign in.
Online login
As well as the app, Lumo Energy UK also had an online account system where customers could:
- Track energy usage
- See past usage details
- Submit meter readings
- Check balance and manage payments
You can now no longer log into the Lumo online account space. You should use the new portal for OVO.
Tariffs: App-only fixed tariff
Lumo Energy UK only had one tariff. This was called the App-only fixed tariff. It was a fixed-rate tariff for 12 months with exit fees of £30 per fuel. It could only be taken out as a dual fuel tariff.
Lumo Energy could only support traditional meters and some smart meters, so you couldn't get the App-only fixed tariff if you had an Economy 7, Economy 10 or a prepayment meter.
These tariffs are no longer offered For up-to-date pricing information, please contact the new supplier.
Customers who were eligible for a smart meter got a £150 a year discount, which was deducted from your monthly energy bill. To get the Smart Installation Discount, you had to get a smart meter installed as soon as Lumo Energy contacted you to say it could fit one.
lumo energy’s uk coverage was very limited, and rather annoyingly it didn't provide a list of the areas it supplied energy to. The only way to find out if lumo energy supplied energy in your area was to go through the online quote process. We tried multiple addresses and received the ‘the lumo tariff was not yet available at your property’ message.
This was something a number of ovo energy customers had expressed frustration at. They received a message from ovo saying they could get a cheaper deal and save x amount with its sister company lumo energy. They went through the process of getting a quote and trying to switch to lumo energy uk, only to find it cannot supply energy to their household. Overall, a bit of a waste of time!
fuel mix
Lumo Energy uk took coal and nuclear out of its fuel mix. It only took electricity from two sources: natural gas and renewables. With a sustainable energy weighting of 39. 2% for April 2018 to march 2019, it was just above the national average when it came to green energy.
However, lumo energy had been improving and, as of October 2019, its tariff was made up of 50% renewable electricity.
smart meters
Lumo energy supported and installed smart meters. In fact, one of its selling points was the promise to install a smart meter in your property within the first six months of switching to the supplier. Installation appointments could've have been booked through the app.
lumo energy was installing second-generation smart meters (smets2). This meant if you already had a smets2 meter installed, it would continued to worked with lumo energy.
If you had a first-generation smart meter (smets1), it would likely lost its smart functionalities when you switched and became ‘dumb’. This means it would worked as a normal meter and you would have needed to submit regular meter readings online or through the app.
warm home discount
The warm home discount is a government scheme that gives low-income households £140 towards their energy bills during winter. Suppliers with more than 250,000 customers must take part, but smaller providers are not obliged to.
Despite being a smaller supplier, lumo energy uk offered the warm home discount. Eligible customers could've register their interest to received the rebate in 2020/21 by filling out the lumo energy warm home discount form. The scheme was granted on a first-come, first-served basis so you were advised to register your interest as soon as possible.
How did i contact lumo energy uk?
As an exclusively online supplier, the only way to contact lumo energy uk was online or through the supplier’s mobile app. Lumo energy didn't have a contact number, so you cannot got in touch via telephone. It also didn't have a contact email address.
social media
Another wat to contact lumo energy was through social media. You could've sent a message to the supplier via its twitter account.
lumo energy uk twittercomplaints
To place a complaint with lumo energy uk, you needed to filled out the online complaints form. The easiest way to access the form was to click the ‘complaints’ link located at the bottom of the homepage on the supplier’s website.
unresolved complaintsfor free, independent advice, called citizens advice on 03454 04 05 06 or contact the energy ombudsman.