Historic bills keep changing and random huge Balance Adjustment has appeared with no explanation

Exactly the same problem here.  I had a substantial credit built up with SSE, then a weird bill produced on 31st August quoted drastically inflated readings way above what my meters are currently showing.  This wiped out my credit and put me into debt according to them.  I currently have a dispute running but no progress so far.

Hey @reannasmith  

I’m sorry to hear about this.

BPLightlog has given some great advice on this already, especially the link to the Meter Reading Disputes topic which I think will be very helpful in this case.

I’d recommend getting back in touch with the Support Team to discuss this matter further and they can raise the Meter Reading Dispute if this is needed.

On my recent bill I received two changes of £1314.65 each marked ‘balance adjustment’.  No further information given.

After a lot of phone calling, I was bounced between the OVO helpdesk and the old supplier helpdesk repeatedly.  No-one has been able to confirm what these charges are for - one operator suggested it represents an adjustment for the gas meter reading going up by 6.5% over the course of the last year, but even if applied retrospectively over every month for the last year represents a monthly billing increase of 160%!

I have raised a complaint but this in turn seems to have disappeared.  My confidence in OVO or SSE directly resolving this is pretty low.

My questions:

Is there any scenario where a small increase in a meter reading could result in a charge this large? 

Am I now at the point where I can put in a complaint with the ombudsman?  I seem to have exhausted all contact possibilities with OVO directly, and even after numerous calls no-one has been able to even explain this charge, let alone rescind it.  All my old supplier and OVO have done is blame the other, while confirming that the erroneous charge still stands.

Any help appreciated.

Hi @danshoebridge 

I’m really sorry to hear about this.

We don’t have access to accounts here at the Forum so we won’t be able to access things like your complaint.

You can take your complaint to the Ombudsman after 8 weeks of OVO trying to resolve the issue but haven’t been able to reach an agreed solution by the 8 week deadline.

I’ve linked to a helpful topic on complaints here:

With regards to the Balance Adjustments, it may be that the wrong reading was sent over by the previous supplier and a correction had to be made, among a number of other reasons. I’ve linked to a really helpful topic on Balance Adjustments that you may also find useful: 

You’ll need to get back in touch with the Support Team to resolve this as we don’t have access to your account. I’d ensure that your complaint has been escalated and take note of the complaint number if you need to go to the Ombudsman. 

Being migrated to OVO has been a truly bad experience and despite having a “point of contact” for my complaint, nothing is happening.

1. I received a final balance notification for migration from SSE on 6th Jan 22 which was £178.55 in credit - My opening balance at OVO on 6th Jan 22 was £178.55 in debt.
2. There are other opening balances that do not match the previous closing balances.
3. Loads of bills are missing from the portal.
4. There are bills on the portal that differ to the bills emailed?
5. 2 card payments I made which appeared as credits on following bills were deleted months later leaving me in debt but no explanation.
6. Bills generated in July have been regenerated months later with different figures? Is that legal because I’ve already used them in VAT returns.
7. I get a letter telling me I am £60.05 in debt - so log on to pay… it clearly says pay £60.05 to clear the balance but looking at the current billing period, OVO has me at £300 debt again.

OVO is a mess and clearly has technical issues and struggle to manage finances appropriately.

Has anyone else had a similar experience or am I just “special”.

Cheers

Sorry, but this forum can’t handle account-specific issues.

Please call 0330 303 5063 or use Live Chat at https://ovoenergy.com/help 

Join the club.  After years of being perfectly happy with SSE, I find Ovo to be a shambles.  There’s a whole group over on Facebook with nearly 8,000 members and rising discussing their complaints.  

I keep hoping it’s teething problems following migration but I won’t hold my breath waiting on my current dispute being sorted and things improving in the future.

Our Support team will be keen to get this sorted for you, @sta4d. All contact channels are listed here. 

It’s true that some customers who recently joined OVO have had account issues following the migration from their old supplier, but as a percentage of the millions migrated this is still very much in the minority. Nonetheless even 1 is too many and we should do all we can to put this right. Our intention is to do just that. 

Keep us updated,

Tim

My account migrated from SSE to OVO  and there was an adjustment to my final statement from SSE where my account was incredit.  I have phoned OVO , and they said I would have to contact SSE final accounts department as they need to make the adjustment,  how can I do this if there is no contact for them. So my OVO account is showing in debit. I'm at breaking point trying to get this sorted I have only moved into property at the beginning of September prior to this there was no one living in property as there was a lot of renovation work being undertaken 

If you haven’t already, you need to raise a Read Dispute as that sounds like the best fix to me.

Try https://ovoenergy.com/feedback for that.

Hey @NewHome,

Sorry to hear of the issues you’re having,

Are you able to send across the final statement via webchat to the support team? We should be able to raise this to our billing team to investigate. Although we will need your previous supplier to send across the balance adjustment for us to add this to your current OVO account.

Hope this helps. 

Yes but I can not get a hold of previous supplier  (SSE) I can not find a contact number for them anywhere,  when I do phone it just tells me that it has been overtaken by OVO , I need to get this sorted but if I can not get intouch with (SSE) to do the adjustments I have the final statement . Help would be much appreciated 

I am in a similar position. I was in Credit with SSE to the tune of £251.26. After numerous phone calls (all documented) with OVO saying we can’t access SSE’s billing system, you’ll have to speak to them.

Eventually SSE claimed to have issued a cheque in May and that it was cashed in June.

Not by me. The number you want is 0345 070 7373 For some strange reason I was told I may need to prefix the number with 141 on my mobile which got me through. Good luck with this one I am also at m,y wits end with OVO claiming I owe them £200+

Grrrr

It’s all very convenient wiping out customers credit on transfer and blaming each other.  Exactly the same here.  My very healthy credit was wiped out by a bill produced on 31st August with incorrect readings.  Still struggling to get it resolved.  Technically I was migrated by then yet OVO are claiming it’s SSE that’s at fault.  Pass the parcel!  

Hi tried this number and it just puts me through to call a diffrent number OVO, tried putting 141 but just cuts of , thanks for trying to help .

I'm at my wits end to,  SSE final statement in credit & OVO saying I owe them £400+ which l don't understand as we have only be living in the house since 1st September prior to that the house had no one living in it as it was having a complet renovations  right down to all electrical cables . 

GRRR doesn't come close

.I had given all my meter readings and my bills were all normal until one day my account suddenly went front £400 credit to £1800 credit. It seems my online bill history had changed to a negative figure.

I have reported this numerous times just to be told "there is no time frame for the account to be put right, but can I offer you a new meter" 

I said to the man on the phone "if I request a refund will you investigate and fix it?" I was then told that my account has a Billing hold on it.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Any tips on speeding up the process?

Any help will be very much appreciated.

Hey,

Really sorry to hear of your experiences,

If you have your final statements please send these to OVO via webchat.

We’ll need to either raise a read dispute if the final and open reads are wrong, or a balance adjustment from your previous supplier if the amounts shown on the final and first bill differ. 

• Meter Reading Disputes - What are they? F.A.Q.

Our support team can chase this up for you. 

Hey @Racheal,

Sorry for the issues you’re having,

We don’t have access to your account here on the Forum, so we can only make assumptions from the information you’ve provided, it sounds like this might be an issue with your meter readings. 

Have you had any meter exchanges? Do you have a smart meter? Have you submitted a meter reading?

Can you please upload a screenshot of the meter readings page on your Online Account? We can then look into this further for you. 

Just had yet another email telling me it will probably take 6 weeks to sort the incorrect bill then another 6 weeks to update my account!  So 3 months to rectify an obvious error.  Meantime my  credit I had built up has disappeared.  I had hoped to be able to reduce my direct debit a bit, but I guess that won’t be happening until this is finally resolved.

Totally agree.  I transferred with a healthy credit balance which was totally wiped out and placed in debt by a concocted bill with meter readings that are way higher than they are at the moment!  Another email yesterday to say it could take 6 weeks to amend the bill then another 6 weeks to adjust my account.  So a 3 month wait to get my money back!  
 

If I didn’t have a THTC two meter set up, I would be off to another supplier but looks like I’m stuck with OVO.

Hey @Maureen D,

The timeframe is frustrating, but I’m glad  to hear this is being resolved for you. 

The industry timeframe for a read dispute is 12-18 weeks. This is because it has to be agreed by your previous supplier and a third party in the industry.

It’s a necessary process to ensure your final bill and opening statement are correct. 

Put a formal complaint in now - they then have 50’ish days to resolve it. (they won’t) Then report it to The energy Ombudsman as Bad Experience and Incompetence.  You’ll likely get a bad experience compensation decision and they will be put on notice to resolve. Also advise OVO that you are applying a daily interest rate on the monies they owe you. Do not accept any goodwill payment before they have fully resolved the issue as they would regard that as matter over and close the complaint. Good luck

Hey @sta4d,

I’m sorry to hear of your bad experience,

You’ve done the right thing in raising a complaint and I hope this gets resolved for you as soon as possible. 

OVO messed my bill now I am minus 800 pounds. Now my bill just goes up every month just want to get away. However I can't as they offered me a deal for 12 months at a great price then this happens.