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How to stop Collection calls when account is in high credit?

  • August 18, 2025
  • 5 replies
  • 99 views
S
New Member*

My father has recently passed away. For ease we always had account in my name and the dd came from my account. So we rang OVO to say house is now empty, can we please reduce DD to a more acceptable amount until house is sold. Apparently this is not possible! So it was suggested that as account had a very large credit balance that the DD was cancelled and future bills would come off the balance. All seemed ok.

Since then I have had daily phone calls from collection agents, telling me the DD has been cancelled. This is now verging on harassment. How can I stop this?

Best answer by Nukecad

Is this OVO that is calling you, or is it a Debt Collection company?

As you cancelled the DD then has the account already been switched to pay-on-demand, and has the credit run-out?
(If it’s been switched from a Fixed rate tariff to standard variable then an ‘exit fee’ may have been taken for ending the fix early).

I suspect that it’s probably OVO calling you, because a Debt Collector would not usually know about the cancelled DD.
All a Debt Collertor knows is that they have been instructed to collect a debt, they don’t know or care how that debt was accrued.

 

if it is a Debt Collector phoning you then I have an advice post about how to stop them. It’s more about getting letters, but the advice in the first post there is relevant to phone calls from Debt Collectors too:
 

IF IT IS A DEBT COLLECTOR phoning you and not OVO then to start with:
Tell them that you require that all further communication must be by email or by letter and that you refuse to discuss anything on the phone, it they do ring you then inform them again and politely hang up.
(Having everything in writing avoids “you said/no I didn’t” type arguments that can arise with phone calls).
 

5 replies

C
Carbon Catcher*
  • costeek
  • Carbon Catcher*
  • August 18, 2025

It’s a bit strange. I always thought that collectors are dealing with debts, but you said that your account has a large credit balance. Before passing the information to collectors, usually, supplier sends you some debt letters. My only suggestion to speak to the Support, as doesn’t sound right.

Nukecad
Plan Zero Hero
  • NukecadPlan Zero Hero
  • Plan Zero Hero
  • Answer
  • August 18, 2025

Is this OVO that is calling you, or is it a Debt Collection company?

As you cancelled the DD then has the account already been switched to pay-on-demand, and has the credit run-out?
(If it’s been switched from a Fixed rate tariff to standard variable then an ‘exit fee’ may have been taken for ending the fix early).

I suspect that it’s probably OVO calling you, because a Debt Collector would not usually know about the cancelled DD.
All a Debt Collertor knows is that they have been instructed to collect a debt, they don’t know or care how that debt was accrued.

 

if it is a Debt Collector phoning you then I have an advice post about how to stop them. It’s more about getting letters, but the advice in the first post there is relevant to phone calls from Debt Collectors too:
 

IF IT IS A DEBT COLLECTOR phoning you and not OVO then to start with:
Tell them that you require that all further communication must be by email or by letter and that you refuse to discuss anything on the phone, it they do ring you then inform them again and politely hang up.
(Having everything in writing avoids “you said/no I didn’t” type arguments that can arise with phone calls).
 

I said, Hey - Watts going on.
Abby_OVO
BPLightlog
Plan Zero Hero
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  • BPLightlogPlan Zero Hero
  • Plan Zero Hero
  • August 18, 2025

This does sound odd if the account is in credit. Did you see the info on bereavement which OVO has? It might help if you haven’t seen the details

 

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP}
C
Carbon Catcher*
  • costeek
  • Carbon Catcher*
  • August 18, 2025

IF IT IS A DEBT COLLECTOR phoning you and not OVO then to start with:
Tell them that you require that all further communication must be by email or by letter and that you refuse to discuss anything on the phone, it they do ring you then inform them again and politely hang up.
(Having everything in writing avoids “you said/no I didn’t” type arguments that can arise with phone calls).

This is a very good point. 

Abby_OVO
Community Manager
  • Abby_OVO
  • Community Manager
  • August 19, 2025

Hey ​@Sally388 

 

I’m sorry to hear about this, I’m glad though that some of our community members have already stopped by with some really helpful advice.

 

I’d definitely suggest getting in touch with the Support Team, regardless of who’s contacting about this, even if it’s a third party debt collection, as they’ll be able to see where this has come from too. If there has been an error, they should be able to start helping correct things.

 

If it’s our collections team reaching out, they’ll also be able to see the record of this, and why. They’ll be able to discuss the possibilities with you. Nukecad’s advice was extremely helpful, if you’ve not read through that yet, I’d definitely recommend doing that too:

 

Is this OVO that is calling you, or is it a Debt Collection company?

As you cancelled the DD then has the account already been switched to pay-on-demand, and has the credit run-out?
(If it’s been switched from a Fixed rate tariff to standard variable then an ‘exit fee’ may have been taken for ending the fix early).

I suspect that it’s probably OVO calling you, because a Debt Collector would not usually know about the cancelled DD.
All a Debt Collertor knows is that they have been instructed to collect a debt, they don’t know or care how that debt was accrued.

 

if it is a Debt Collector phoning you then I have an advice post about how to stop them. It’s more about getting letters, but the advice in the first post there is relevant to phone calls from Debt Collectors too:
 

IF IT IS A DEBT COLLECTOR phoning you and not OVO then to start with:
Tell them that you require that all further communication must be by email or by letter and that you refuse to discuss anything on the phone, it they do ring you then inform them again and politely hang up.
(Having everything in writing avoids “you said/no I didn’t” type arguments that can arise with phone calls).
 

 

Keep us updated with how you get on.

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