Why did OVO financial support team contact me despite my recent payment?

This company seems to be a shambles, I made a payment of £140 on 13th August which would have cleared my balance, the payment was done by bank transfer.

Guess what...OVO have lost the payment. Ive sent them proof of bank transaction on 19th August, phoned them 3 times to ask what the hell is going on, nobody knows.

Then today, 31st August I received an email from collections basically threatening me that if I didnt pay my over due bill it would affect my credit reference.

Absolute shambles and a shocking way to treat someone.

Hi @Whyt,

I’m really sorry for the issues you’ve had. When our support team receives details of a missing payment it is raised to our payments team who usually locate the payment within 3 working days. It may be that they are missing some information they need to locate the payment such:

1. Date and amount of payment

2. Method of payment  (direct debit, BACS, card payment) and any possible reference. With BACS (bank transfer) they ask for sort code and last four digits of bank account) and any reference that was used for the payment.

3. Proof of payment - screenshot of the bank statement

It might be worth contacting support again but through a feedback form with those details. They should be able to put a collections hold on your account until this is sorted. 

It will take some weeks for the complaint process to complete. Paying this way will cost an average customer over £200 more than Direct Debit once October’s price hike applies. If mum doesn’t trust fixed Direct Debit, perhaps paying actual bills by DD would be acceptable instead? The distrust of DD is going to be quite expensive.

Thank you, it’s such a worry it’s making my mum ill, feeling so let down by Ovo customer services and the promises they made. 
 

it’s my mums choice not to pay by DD. She is distrusting of them and now Ovo and it seems with good reason as they have failed to do what that promised. 
 

im beginning to wonder whether they took any action at all 

I don’t understand why I have a collections email for £39 and yet I made a payment recently of £155 and then when I look on my OVO account I now owe even more…. how are they even making up these figures?

You can’t respond to the email - helpful.  I was on hold on the phone today when it said over 10 mins I think they meant over an hour as I gave up at about 48 mins… I have more important things to do than sit on hold.

The collections mention they have sent me prior email/letter and I have nothing apart from the last bill for £155… honestly it’s a real joke.

also don’t tell me to do monthly DD or get a smart meter.  I want to manage my money not line the pockets of energy companies who appear to make up their own rules and I had a smart meter removed from a previous property due to causing headaches and I am already a cancer patient…. where is the option for someone to call me back rather than just hold???

Hey @mitiebob,

I’m sorry for the issues you’ve had since switching to OVO from Boost. If you’ve had your meter exchanged to a smart meter recently there are a few possibilities that could result in a large estimated bill, as advised in these similar threads: 

As we aren’t getting readings from your meter you can submit one on your online account to make sure your bills aren’t estimated and complete a smart meter health check (SMHC).

Once you have completed your SMHC please send it to our support team. You can contact them through web messenger. They can put a collections hold on your account until the issues with your meter are resolved. 

I hope this helps.

Hi @Flicky and thank you for flagging this to us on the forum. 

I’d like to offer some help and advice from the outside in, just in case it’s helpful. 

If your mother is not on a fixed contract plan, a Direct Debit isn’t necessary. She’s able to pay on receipt of the bill, by cheque or via the online account. 

The tricky situation is that whenever a bill is generated and the cheque is sent, there’s a large delay between the balance dropping below £0 and the cheque reaching the team who process it that day and add the credit balance to the account. This can prompt automated letters about the debt. It is these automated letters she’s had, and by the sounds of it, we’ve paused ‘collections’ activity because of it. Eventually that pause will end. 

I would advise her to disregard any letter about a debt that she knows she’s paid by cheque. It’s just a delay with what she knows compared to what the account balance is showing as. I would however also advise that she makes the payment online if possible. It’s so much quicker and easier. A direct debit is of course the easiest but by the sounds of it, she’s dead set against it. These pages are also worth a look:

Price rises: we're here to support you

Here’s the latest information on rising energy prices, and how we can help 

Energy Bills Support Scheme

This page has all the information that we and our call centre team have on the Energy Bills Support Scheme right now. 

Ways to get financial support

If you’re struggling financially or you’re worried about your energy bills, we’re here to support you. Find out about the different ways we can help here.

Hi @helendo hi @louise74 and thanks for flagging these experiences. 

It does sound like we’re sending out that collections message around the time you’re paying. If in doubt, check that account balance and if it’s at or above £0, happy days! This delay between payments and debt letters is when customers choose to pay on receipt of the bill. There can be a period where a debt exists which prompts a letter, but actually the payment is on its way. If you don’t already, I’d recommend paying via the online account which is quickest. 

For GDPR reasons we can only discuss account specifics with someone named on the account. See how to get this sorted here:

To get your mother added to our Priority Services Register, complete the form here.