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Hello everyone,

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

I feel compelled to share a cautionary tale and issue a strong warning to all potential customers considering OVO Energy as their energy provider. My recent experience with this company has been nothing short of a nightmare, marked by relentless harassment and bullying tactics that have left me feeling victimized and helpless. I hope that by sharing my story, I can help others avoid the distressing ordeal I have endured.

As a long-standing customer I had always believed that OVO Energy was a reputable and customer-focused company. However, my perception changed drastically when I moved from a rental property to a new home in May 2022. Despite promptly notifying OVO Energy of my change of address, they made a grave error by opening a collections account in my name for the period after I had vacated the rental property.

Since then, I have faced an ongoing battle with OVO Energy, enduring constant harassment and a complete disregard for my rights as a consumer. Despite my numerous attempts to resolve the issue, including seeking assistance from the Ombudsman Services , the situation remains unresolved, causing immense stress in my life.

To make matters worse, I recently received a new bill from OVO Energy that not only contradicts the Ombudsman Services' decision in my favour but also violates Ofgem's Standard Licence Condition (SLC) 21 BA, that explicitly prohibits charging customers for energy usage beyond 12 months if accurate billing or a statement of account was not provided within that timeframe. This blatant disregard for regulatory guidelines is deeply concerning and highlights the bullying tactics employed by OVO Energy.

In an effort to bring about a resolution and hold OVO Energy accountable for their actions, I have been forced to write a letter threatening legal action. It is disheartening that it has come to this point, as I believe that customer satisfaction and fair treatment should be the cornerstone of any reputable company's values.

I write this warning to potential customers, urging you to think twice before entrusting your energy needs to OVO Energy. My experience serves as a stark reminder of the potential consequences of dealing with a company that exhibits such a callous disregard for customer well-being and regulatory compliance.

If you are currently considering OVO Energy as your energy provider, I implore you to carefully weigh the risks involved. Conduct thorough research, read customer reviews, and consider alternative options that prioritise customer satisfaction and uphold ethical business practices.

I sincerely hope that no one else will have to endure the distress and hardship that I have faced due to OVO Energy's bullying tactics. By raising awareness, we can collectively demand better treatment from companies and hold them accountable for their actions.

Thank you for taking the time to read my warning. Let us stand together against such unethical practices and support each other in seeking justice and fair treatment.

Warm regards … Jaber

Hi @jaber , whilst sympathetic to your story, I don’t quite understand the thread. When you move property, you end your ‘current’ supply agreement and start another with the incumbent supplier to the new property. Perhaps this wasn’t understood at the time?

I have a different experience with OVO - although I have moved supplier every few years, apart from the first few months where I needed to intervene on the level of direct debit, I have not had any problem. I realise this isn’t the same for everyone but it has been for me. 
The forum and other feeds tend to highlight negatives as no one generally posts positives hence my reply. 

Probably also worth noting that the without prejudice clause doesn’t really work here either. Just so you’re aware. That clause only works during legitimate attempts to settle a matter out of court. It has little to no effect anywhere else. 

It's also not recommended to be posting publicly about legal matters that you are involved with and/or anything that’s related to said matters. It can come back to bite you later e.g. the other side could use it against you.

My experience of OVO has also been extremely positive overall. And I say this both in my capacity as one of the forum volunteers, and also as an OVO customer since 2020. Has it been 100% plain sailing? No, but that’s inevitable due to the unique circumstances surrounding my account and OVO has always done a pretty decent job of fixing things up for me when it breaks. Fortunately, after some initial teething issues, things have worked well overall for me.

In full transparency… Yes, being a forum volunteer is an advantage. However, that’s mostly just because I understand things a bit better as a result of the absolute ton of research I do and I get the same service and treatment that everyone else does. The only real difference is that the notes on my account mention my forum profile which has helped the support team gather additional context about my account a few times (mostly bug report stuff). But other than that, I get the same experience everyone else does.

Hello everyone,

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

I feel compelled to share a cautionary tale and issue a strong warning to all potential customers considering OVO Energy as their energy provider. My recent experience with this company has been nothing short of a nightmare, marked by relentless harassment and bullying tactics that have left me feeling victimized and helpless. I hope that by sharing my story, I can help others avoid the distressing ordeal I have endured.

As a long-standing customer I had always believed that OVO Energy was a reputable and customer-focused company. However, my perception changed drastically when I moved from a rental property to a new home in May 2022. Despite promptly notifying OVO Energy of my change of address, they made a grave error by opening a collections account in my name for the period after I had vacated the rental property.

Since then, I have faced an ongoing battle with OVO Energy, enduring constant harassment and a complete disregard for my rights as a consumer. Despite my numerous attempts to resolve the issue, including seeking assistance from the Ombudsman Services , the situation remains unresolved, causing immense stress in my life.

To make matters worse, I recently received a new bill from OVO Energy that not only contradicts the Ombudsman Services' decision in my favour but also violates Ofgem's Standard Licence Condition (SLC) 21 BA, that explicitly prohibits charging customers for energy usage beyond 12 months if accurate billing or a statement of account was not provided within that timeframe. This blatant disregard for regulatory guidelines is deeply concerning and highlights the bullying tactics employed by OVO Energy.

In an effort to bring about a resolution and hold OVO Energy accountable for their actions, I have been forced to write a letter threatening legal action. It is disheartening that it has come to this point, as I believe that customer satisfaction and fair treatment should be the cornerstone of any reputable company's values.

I write this warning to potential customers, urging you to think twice before entrusting your energy needs to OVO Energy. My experience serves as a stark reminder of the potential consequences of dealing with a company that exhibits such a callous disregard for customer well-being and regulatory compliance.

If you are currently considering OVO Energy as your energy provider, I implore you to carefully weigh the risks involved. Conduct thorough research, read customer reviews, and consider alternative options that prioritise customer satisfaction and uphold ethical business practices.

I sincerely hope that no one else will have to endure the distress and hardship that I have faced due to OVO Energy's bullying tactics. By raising awareness, we can collectively demand better treatment from companies and hold them accountable for their actions.

Thank you for taking the time to read my warning. Let us stand together against such unethical practices and support each other in seeking justice and fair treatment.

Warm regards … Jaber

Sorry to hear about your issues. Always difficult to comment as my experience with OVO has been good and OVO perform reasonably well compared to other energy suppliers on both the latest trustpilot and which reviews. Certainly not one of the poorer reviewed suppliers if you do some research. 

Unfortunately long running cases in the Energy Industry do happen which is frustrating. There have been other cases posted like yours where it has been difficult to get closure when moving out of a property so i definitely think there are process improvements for OVO to make in that area. Something isn't working smoothly as it is not a unique incident. 

Obviously depends on what you want from a supplier in terms of tariff etc , the Which report is worth a look at, although not perfect 

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/energy-companies/article/best-and-worst-energy-companies/which-energy-survey-results-ajqM43e6ycY8

OVO are 5th overall in the overall Which Review

1. Octopus

2. Utilita (PAYG Supplier) 

3. Utility Warehouse 

4..Co op Energy 

5. OVO Energy 

 

Trustpilot is another useful proxy, the big suppliers left for example are

OVO 4.2

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.ovoenergy.com

EDF 4.2

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.edfenergy.com

Octopus 4.7

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/octopus.energy

Eon Next 4.2

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/eonnext.com

British Gas 3.6

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.britishgas.co.uk

Scottish Power 3.2

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.scottishpower.co.uk

Shell 4.2

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/shellenergy.co.uk

Utility Warehouse 4.2

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/uw.co.uk

 

You may already know this but the initial Ombudsman ruling creates a civil liability on OVO that can be pursued through the courts. Not something done lightly due to the costs and time involved but something to consider if you haven't already. I have done it with another Ombudsman (FOS) with the help of others. 

You might find it useful to write to the OVO  Energy CEO, some people have reported success from this

https://company.ovo.com/ovo-appoints-new-ceo-of-retail-business/

 

Others have posted about contacting this journalist  helen.crane@thisismoney.co.uk. 

Depends if you want that sort of publicity.

 

Hey @jaber,

 

I’m really sorry to hear of the issues you’ve had, it sounds like a stressful situation to be in.

 

If you’re being charged for your old property after the date you’ve moved out, you can send our Support Team a tenancy agreement for the new property or the previous tenancy agreement showing when your tenancy at the old property came to an end. This will then be processed and the account opened incorrectly in your name will be closed, and charges reversed. 

 

If I've misunderstood your query I apologize, please explain a bit more about which property you are being charged for and why this is incorrect. 

 

I hope this helps. 

I know this is an old thread, but did you find a resolve? I noticed OVO said a tenancy agreement is proof of address, not in my case.

Despite providing OVO with a mountain of evidence that I wasn't at the address they claimed and was at an entirely different address, OVO still went to court and applied a CCJ against me without my knowledge of court action, luckily I was able to set this aside immediately, I firmly believe OVO are either completely stupid or they knew I wasn't liable but assumed I was an easy target, in my opinion OVO are a despicable company, just look at the various reviews. 

Hey ​@Steve107 

I’m really sorry to hear this, it sounds like a very stressful situation. Did you manage to get it resolved? 

There is the option to raise a complaint if you haven’t done so. 

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