How can OVO help in the event of a bereavement?

Hey @markwa 

I’m really glad to hear that! I’ll make sure to pass this onto Neil’s team so he gets the recognition he deserves. Glad he was able to help you with this.

If there’s anything else we can do to help, don’t hesitate to let us know.

I spent months trying to reach the Bereavement Team after my Mum died in 2022, to no avail. In 2023 I stopped paying the energy bills on her flat and the tenant took over and has been paying a monthly standing order ever since. Now suddenly I’ve had a bill (her account was on my email as I had power of attorney) for the last 7 months for her, as if the account were still in her name. I tried to contact Ovo, gave lots of details and eventually the person at the other end said they were about to pass it on to the Bereavement Team. I waited online for 45 minutes but no further response… I’m not that worried about them suing my dead mother and her closed bank account, but I am worried they might cut the tenant off!

Had to put this in “my account” as there’s no appropriate header.

Hello @LisaP ,

I’m sorry to hear of your loss. I will escalate this to the Forum Moderators immediately. Please bear with me.

There are some additional details here @LisaP 

Although you might have already tried those routes

Sadly, that’s where I started from all those months ago, but thanks.

I’m sorry to hear this @LisaP, I’ll ask Forum_Support to be in touch.

Please keep an eye on your private messages. 

My deceased brother-in-law is being threatened with court action.

I am trying to find out what this is about.

Electricity is via scottish power.

Gas is disconnected.

The robot is useless.

The chat person cannot help.

hello@ovoenergy.com is manned by another robot.

complaints@ovoenergy.com is manned by another robot, named Cheng.

any thoughts?

Good afternoon @user47 ,

I’m sorry for your loss. Please bear with me - I’m immediately paging all Forum Moderators. They might be able to help with the gas supply, but if the electric is with another supplier, OVO can’t assist with that one - please talk to the active supplier.

Paging @ChristopherS_OVO @Shads_OVO 

Hi @user47, 

I’m sorry for your loss, this must be the last thing you want to think about right now. 

How did you become aware of this? Was it a letter sent from a debt collection agency? 

If you haven’t already I’d recommend visiting our dedicated bereavement page here to begin the process of notifying us. 

We have a dedicated team who are trained to deal with circumstances like this I’d recommend giving them a call. They can offer support and guidance and get to the bottom of where this contact has come from. You can reach them on 0330 175 9683 or email bereavement@ovoenergy.com. 

Please let us know if they resolve this for you.

I got in touch with bereavement@ovoenergy.com.

They have dealt with it.

It says “energy account”.
I am dealing with Scottish Power for electricity and the gas is disconnected.
You chat-bot/person could not say what the bill was for.

What puzzles me is the amount of times I received a response that ignored the contents of my messages. I know this because it was “we don’t recognise your email address” and then “please get the dead guy to contact us instead”. I paraphrase.

Have the robots already taken over your company?

Why do you have a contact email on your webpage if it is not being seen by a human?

Hi @user47,

I’m glad to hear that you got this resolved. I can understand from your point of view that this would have been a frustrating experience. I can help shed some light on how our email system works. 

When you use the contact email address, the system will filter your email to your account using an email address that is attached to an account. You would get the “we don’t recognise your email address” message if the system can’t find an account with that email address. The mailbox receives a high volume of emails that wouldn’t be manageable without having these redirected to the correct accounts. 

In the case of the bereavement email I provided before, as they are a dedicated team, they don’t receive as many emails, and the email box can be managed by a person/team. 

If you need further help with the account, you can contact the Bereavement Team using the contact details I gave above. They are the best channel for any further questions or help.

Again …

What’s the point of offering a service to the public and then have that offer refused - by a robot.

You have delegated your customer interface to a machine. But remember, that machine was programmed by a human.

My first contact with your company was refused again and again due to your system.

Take responsibility and change your faulty, soul-less system.

Hi @user47, 

We do have other methods of contact from live chat to a dedicated support team. All of our contact options can be found at https://www.ovoenergy.com/help. 

I’m sorry that our email system hasn’t worked for you as it was designed with our customers in mind. I do recognise that as you aren’t a customer that things were more difficult and for that we can only apologise. 

and will you be adding another email address for non-customers, or at least state at the outset that non-customers will not receive a response?

For those who aren’t active customers, it’s actually better to use phone or live chat.

and it says this where on the website?

It doesn’t need to. Most people naturally gravitate towards the faster options by default.

Hi @user47, 

If you’re still unhappy about the issues you’ve had with our email system I would suggest raising a complaint with our Bereavement Team. They can get this recorded for you on the system and i’m sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you. 

My husband. has died and on the phone with an operative from south africa I told her this and that I simply needed to change from his name to mine as ecerything was in my name anyway, the emails, the DD etc. she told me to cancel the DD which I did although I emphasised that it was still working after his death 5 months ago .

The account then vanished completely and I am unable to access anything.

I have written to OVO but no reply other than the usual acknowledgement .

The whole thing is a nightmare.

The woman in Africa said she would phone this morning at 9am and has not.

What can I do other than now contact the Meia with whom I do have some good contacts

They do have a dedicated team for such things 

I’m so sorry to hear this ​@E M Velarde.

BPLighlog has given some helpful advice here. Our dedicated team should be able to assist:
 

If the person that recently passed way had an OVO account, we appreciate you may not want to speak to us on the phone right now. If this is the case, you can follow this link to fill out an Online Form . You can also contact our call our dedicated team on 0330 175 9683 (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm) or email bereavement@ovoenergy.com.

If you’re the executor of the estate, you can help us by gathering the following details before you call:

• The date the person passed away
• Your contact details
• Your bank details, if you plan to take over the account
• Meter readings

Please let us know how you get on

Who do I contact regarding the death of an account owner. For the past year I have been contaction OVO bereavement continuously  to ask them to change the name over to mine, but to no avail I am getting nowhere. Oncee I can get this acknowledged I can change over the direct debit details. 

Is this info piece of any help or have you already been through this? 

Thanks. I have filled in the online form and have emailed them. I even sent a message through X, someone asked a couple of questions and that was it. 

Hey ​@Kazzba 

I’m really sorry to hear of your loss,

That sounds like a very stressful situation to be in, we don’t have access to customer accounts here on the forum so i’m not able to say what the issue may be here. Our advice on the forum is the following:
 

Changes that may happen

If you’re already a named contact on the account or are taking ownership following the passing of a spouse or partner, we no longer require you to close the existing account. Speak to our Dedicated Team who will talk you through the steps required to get the account details updated.

If you’re taking over the account and you weren’t previously named on the account, you may have a new account created, with new online account login details and a new plan. Our Dedicated Team will make this process as easy to handle as possible as we appreciate that this may be a difficult time.

My advice would be to call the dedicated team directly on 0330 175 9683 (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm) if they’re unable to explain the delay or what is the issue, there is the option to raise a complaint: