I have just received a letter from a collections agency regarding my old SSE account.
when i joined OVO it seems my account was migrated to them with an enormous debt.
this is all new to me, i had a PAYG meter and have for years,i was always led to beleive that any debt incurred would be included in my weekly top ups!!
In trying to contact collections at OVO they are useless.
they pass your problem around and then put the phone down,i want to talk to someone who can really help!!!!
I do feel like Jeffus has given some really solid advice above, and I’d definitely get in touch with the Support Team. They can freeze the debt while you have a complaint ongoing, hopefully they come to a solution for you soon, but if the meter is still PAYG, then they should be able to apply it to the meter so that it does get chipped away like you said in your original post, or they can set up a payment plan.
It may also be worth checking the meter readings on the bill are correct and accurate, and that they’re not estimated, as you also don’t want to be paying anything you don’t actually owe.
Jeffus also mentioned the Priority Services Register, which I’d really recommend getting added to if you haven’t already signed up.
I can appreciate how alarming this must be for you! I would recommend as you haven’t already, to contact our Support Team. You can find how to contact them here. They’ll be able to look into this further for you and keep you updated.
Small update for everyone. OVO have said that the debt is from the date I moved in up until January last year when it was switched to utilita. However I have always been with utilita. can there be debt when I use a top up key? If I ever used my emergency credit I paid it off at the shop before my supply was put back on. awaiting evidence from the management company of the property
Small update for everyone. OVO have said that the debt is from the date I moved in up until January last year when it was switched to utilita. However I have always been with utilita. can there be debt when I use a top up key? If I ever used my emergency credit I paid it off at the shop before my supply was put back on. awaiting evidence from the management company of the property
Obviously I don't know all the details
But there is a law around backbilling
So it would be worth asking about that. OVO can't backbill for anything over 12 months. It normally comes up with Direct Debit customers.
@ChristopherS_OVO without going into specifics, what are the backbilling rules for top up key meters for previous customers? This bill is over 12 months old by the look of things? I assume the backbilling law applies to all meters?
It would be worth asking for something in writing from utilita about when they think you joined them @Chxrlxttie
I can give you more insight into key meters. You can have two types of debt on a Traditional meter; the first is the debt on the meter itself. This is used for emergency credit to stop you from going immediately off supply. The second is any debt added to the account, such as when we let you borrow credit when you feel you are struggling and need help. The first debt can be paid off by simply topping up the meter, and the second is typically paid back at a daily rate. We have a complete guide on thishere. Did the team ask you to submit evidence, including the date you got the keys? This usually helps us establish liability for the property and its associated debts. I recommend calling the team at 0330 175 9669 once you have the documents from your property manager, and they can investigate this further.
@Jeffus This would apply if we had made a mistake in the billing and had to correct it after 12 months or if we hadn’t billed the customer. In these scenarios, we would look at writing off the debt. In this particular scenario, I would be guessing without seeing the account and the specifics. It would all come down to whether the account was correctly billed.
Please keep us updated, and if you don’t make any progress calling in, let us know, and we can try to dig into this a bit deeper for you.
We use 3 different kinds of cookies. You can choose which cookies you want to accept. We need basic cookies to make this site work, therefore these are the minimum you can select. Learn more about our cookies.
