Transfer of ownership rights and generated funds from solar panels following house purchase.

We have said before that this forum is not for complaint handling. If that’s what you’re after, please step this way.

Also, if you think OVO’s FiT/SEG License can just be revoked… It can’t. OVO is a mandatory FiT/SEG Licensee, so the only way that license can be revoked is by revoking OVO’s entire supply licenses.

Thank you Colin for your reply. It speaks volumes.

There are many who have had & are still having the same problem over what should be a very simple administrative process that is likely to take minutes to complete.

It seems whomever I contact there absolutely no capacity to take responsibility; deal with matters & certainly no procedure or protocol that is based in factual reality.

It is another couple of weeks before I can bring the Ombudsman into this ludicrous situation. I have given the team every opportunity to resolve this simple transfer of ownership, such a waste of everyones time & resources.

As you suggest, the many who will inevitably have to take the same route will highlight all of these failings

Thank you Blastoise186 - I have already submitted a complaint on 13th December to which an automated response suggested a a resolution within 2 working days. I have received nothing further not even a case number.

Dibbles,

thank you I just wanted to share with another in the same boat. You apparently can Elevate your concerns to “Chief Executive”, Ramans office, Tim@ OVOcan give you the details, I did this but got no response. so may not work! 

Apologies to Blastoise186, as when I first raised the issue on the Forum the responses I got were not Helpful, I had by that stage exhausted all avenues of complaint, as Dibbles has done, so turned to the Forum to see if others were having problems. There seems to be a fear on the Forum that it will sink into some sort of Morass if people air their complaints.  I always understood the title “Forum” meant a place to air ideas, interests and subjects of concern of it’s members, I believe this is the definition given. 

As for OVO’s Licences being revoked, I am not saying this is an aim, but I understand Offgem does have the power under the act to do this if a company does not meet it’s financial obligations.

Would Offgem have the Teeth? Who knows, but it is feasable.

The Statement about OVO not wanting to add an Export box so that customer could add their reading because “it did not fit with their backend system” was a response to one of your own Ideas so why are you not surprised there are disgruntled customers in your midst.

The Customer Forum is for customers to have their say and so it should be, Other customers can add their experiences  to strengthen and ammend the discussion. I am sorry if this upset you as it is should not be  any customers intent to upset anotherand it was not mine. It seems we may have to differ however on the intention of the Forum, It is after alll a tool of the company for guaging the customer base as well as a cosy fireside chat place. 

As For OVO being interested in Green energy, I am a High use customer in the winter, BUT a medium sized Solar supplier throughout the summer producing well over 30,000 Kwh of cheap to OVO power all for a small amount of administrtion on their part. Is it too much to be asked to be treated with respect?  

Can I ask whether it’s a transfer of ownership that’s in question here, or is it a question of who manages the FiT payments without any ownership question?
 

I'm guessing it’s the FiT management scheme that‘s falling short here, but just wanted to be sure?

The details of the individual customer grievances do not really matter to other customers.

Where OVO have failed and are still failing, is that they will not engage.

There are many of us who were “migrated” to OVO after their Takeover of SSE, We all originally were sent welcome packs that told us “nothing would change” Well everything has changed, we are now in a worse company for discussing our needs than we were with SSE and they were not particularly good either.

The Migration has been underway for over a year so when it eventually happened there was  an expectation that it would in that time had have the issues ironed out. 

Will it improve? at the current rate it will not and a good number of disgruntled customers will no doubt Move on. There are some who will say good riddance, but remember good folk when companies get this belligerent towards their customers they are at the top of a slippery slope to self destruction. Believe me in my working life I have seen it happen a few times and it aint pretty for all those involved!  

Yes, I can indeed feel how frustrating it is for individuals to feel they’re banging their heads against a brick wall when it comes to being heard. Or not heard! Any of us who have been riveted by the long-running Post Office/Horizon débâcle can well sympathise.
 

I was also one of the SSE consumers who were joined to OVO and fortunately I can only speak well of the process…it took a few months longer than I had originally been led to believe, but that was a minor consideration in view of how well it went.  But I was perhaps lucky as my FiT solar array was handled by a third party, and so not part of the SSE/OVO migration: I’ve changed suppliers a lot in the last ten years, and nPower had handled my FiT payments from the start as they were the company I was with ten years ago when the PV panels were originally commissioned; nPower’s payments were eventually taken over by E.ON…that was nothing to do with any choice on my part, that was worked out at a national level, I presume, by nPower and E.ON.  So I’ve never had any issues with the FiT scheme amidst all my energy supplier comings and goings and changes.

I do hope you get sorted, and quickly, I have found OVO customer services to be the best out of any of the energy suppliers I’ve had, courteous, quick and responsive.  Although as I say I’ve never had to raise any FiT-side queries with OVO.   It sounds as though they need to let you know of a specific team that you could talk to?  That would be a good start, at any rate. 
 

Perhaps ITN could do a programme on the failings of our national energy provision over the past decade or so…

Good luck…

So, I’ve called again today to chase up my change of ownership. On my last call in November, they told me to call again in 4 weeks, so I doubled it and gave them 2 months.  Suffice to say, nothing has changed - it’s still being processed and I’ll get an email ‘very soon’.

I asked whether the extremely polite young lady could quantify ‘very soon’ as I’ve heard that phrase for the last 7 months but she laughed, obviously not understanding the irony (or, maybe, she did . ..)

Anyhow, I suspect my next update on here will be in another 8 weeks when I inevitably have had to call again.

Hey @TonyB-Dorset,

Really sorry to hear of your experience, it sounds very stressful.

Have they advised of why there’s a delay? Was it misadvise the first time, or is there a backlog? Very frustrating nonetheless. 

There is the option to raise a complaint, you can find our complaints procedure on the website.

I hope this gets sorted for you as soon as possible. 

Hi @Emmanuelle_OVO 

The closest I’ve got to an explanation is ‘the back office team are really busy’ which, after months and months and lots of calls, doesn’t really cut it any more. The thing that really bugs me though is that there is zero accountability or ownership. The customer services team, whilst being very nice, are completely and utterly unable to help in any way and offer us 3 options  . .. . 1) call back in 4 weeks, 2) send an email to the FIT team or 3) raise a complaint.

Sending an email is utterly pointless. The only thing that you get is an automated response telling you how busy they are and to expect a reply in due course.  I’m still waiting for a reply from last summer.

I also raised a complaint once but the lady who called me didn’t even know the nature of my complaint when she called (I would’ve thought that might have been logged?). After explaining for the umpteenth time, she was also absolutely incapable of escalating or helping.  She even got to the point where she asked me whether I wanted to raise a complaint about the handling of my complaint!

So, yeah, it’s a bit stressful and I’ve lost trust in what I’m told - mainly because every course of recommended action leads nowhere. I don’t know of any other industry where such flagrant disregard is tolerated.

In the meantime, I continue to get my Direct Debit raised whilst simultaneously generating and sending power back to the grid. It’s utterly bizarre.

Hi, has anyone else had a nightmare with the OVO FIT change of ownership process?

My, now 80 year old, mum moved into a house 2 years ago with solar panels and an existing FIT arrangement. Took us ages to find someone at OVO who could tell us what to do but finally found the online change of ownership forms and completed them. We’ve had maybe 3 or 4 emails over the last 2 years from them asking for more information which we’ve provided (even though, quite frankly, they didn't seem particularly relevant given the FIT account was already up and running….). We’ve email chased many, many times but generally just get an automated “we’re too busy” response.

Anyway, after chasing them 2 months ago she finally got a response today asking her to submit the same change of ownership forms she submitted 2 years ago!!!!!!!!

I tried contacting on X today but just got a snotty response from a media “manager” that we had to call the FIT telephone number. Except we’ve tried that number close to 40 times over the 2 years - in the rare event they actually answer the phone the person on the other end literally does not have a clue and just tells her she’s better off starting off the process from scratch…

By my calculations they now owe her about £4K.

Has anyone actually successfully changed an account over and if so, how? As I said she’s 80 and has a shopping list of health conditions, including 4 heart related issues and they really don’t seem to care how stressed she’s getting.

Thanks

I’m really sorry to hear this @shelby2909, it sounds like a very stressful situation. I’m sure she’s already tried this, but if not, the FiT Team you can call on 0330 303 5063 and by selecting ‘4’ when the IVR instructs you to do so.

I think it might be beneficial for your mother to go down the complaints route if she’s not getting anywhere with customer support. You can find our more about the complaint procedure on our website. I’d also advise, if she’s not already on our priority services register to get her added, you can find out more here. 

Thanks @Emmanuelle_OVO .

Agree we have no choice but to go complaints route.

Mum has had another email asking her for a load of the information AGAIN, and now asking her for wiring diagrams of the system! Again why was this not asked for 2 years ago and how on earth do they expect an 80 year old retired housewife to produce wiring diagrams?! 

We did try calling. It took best part of 4 hours to get through only to be told we needed to respond to the email sent as the person on the phone couldn't find a record of it.

I’ve never known anything like it….

I’m so sorry to hear this, are you named on your mothers account as financially liable @shelby2909? 

If so, I can ask our Forum_Support team to reach out. 

Truly abhorrent behaviour from Ovo. Complaining goes nowhere & they answer to no one.

I'm prepping an email to Martin Lewis in an attempt to get some light shone on this in a much more public way. It may go nowhere but enough is enough.

I’m sorry to hear this @TonyB-Dorset, i’ll ask Forum_Support to reach out. Please keep an eye on your private messages.

What a total shambles this demonstrably is. The only way to get resolution was through the Ombudsman.

The large number of people whom have had to engage the Ombudsman to resolve what is a simple administrative process (in my case a fit change of ownership) is ridiculous & a waste of everyones time & money to say nothing of the stress that individuals are enduring engaging with this debacle. 

It is totally out of control & needs to be SORTED OUT NOW!

What an embarrassment…...

For the record, @Emmanuelle_OVO , I had a message to say my previously closed complaint was being re-opened and a complaints handler would be in contact … I don’t think it will surprise anyone that nobody has been in contact. I’ll now go back to my original plan and finalise my mail to Mr Lewis to try to get a torch shone on this absolute shambles.

Good for you Tony B

I’m sure there's a lot of people only too happy to speak up about their experience.

Let us know.

Thank you for your support by adding to this forum.

Hey @TonyB-Dorset,

I’m really sorry your issue is on-going, how frustrating. I’ll ask Forum_Support to reach out today, please keep an eye on your private messages. 

Still had no contact. Per the Ovo complaint process, I have now sent an email to the CEO. The Money Saving Expert folks are next. And then the Ombudsman. How very unnecessary.

Hi TonyB

The Ombudsman was a brilliant supportive service I would highly recommend.

There must be many who have had to take this route in order to get any kind of response from Ovo - let alone a resolution. Thanks goodness for them.

Will be happy to assist regarding highlighting this to MSE etc.

I’m glad I’ve found this post as I have inherited a solar package with my new house , I own the solar outright and have provided proof of this to OVO over six months ago who state everything has been approved for my fit but still nothing has materialised. Many emails and calls but still no response from OVO regarding my fit registration, I am speechless at the lack of customer support as I was promised completion of 6-8 weeks at the start of this nightmare . 
 Ironically the previous owner of this house highly recommended OVO so it was just a case of change of ownership of the fit but that according to OVO is very complicated 🤷‍♂️

I bought my house on 1st September 2023 and have been trying to get the solar panel installation put into my name. After many emails and phone calls it still isn’t resolved. I have sent them everything they have asked for multiple times. It has become a nightmare. Can anyone please help? I don’t know what to do about it anymore. They are the most incompetent company I have ever had to deal with. 

Hi @Lorna Chilton ,

Unfortunately, we cannot assist with that via the Forum. Please see https://ovoenergy.com/feedback .

Blasoise186 is not wrong Lorna, you should find that via the site that has been suggested you may be able to receive the help you need. Your conveyancer 

may also be able to help with background information at the time of purchase.