Refunds of credit from your OVO account

If you’re trying to pull out more than £500 at once via self-service, it will fail for sure because you can’t withdraw more than £500 at a time via self-service refunds.

Maybe try breaking it down into smaller chunks if you need to withdraw large refunds in the future?

Tried that. The web portal says I can’t do this because I have not provided readings. I have. Emails I have received from Ovo confirm this.

It’s pretty simple. There is a build up of £2.5k credit on this account (my account relating my deceased mothers property) due to a drop in use that wasn’t reflected in reduced direct debits. I have requested a refund. Ovo are not making the refund within the timescales they previously indicated. I have tried to speak to someone to sort this out but I get fobbed off. This is behaviour typical of a bullying organisation. I did not even ask to become an Ovo customer - this was an SSE account. If ovo are not capable of managing their business, why did they takeover another company and then claim that they are too busy to answer calls, pay refunds, etc?

I think you might be seeking the wrong solution in that case.

If you’re looking after your mothers estate, the easiest way to get the refund out would be to close the entire account down. By default, you don’t usually have permission to access an account that doesn’t belong to you, but with the right documents, you can have it closed down and any refund paid to her estate. Once that’s complete, you can set up a new account in your name and start afresh if needed.

OVO has to protect itself and show that it’s protecting its customers data and finances as well. Know Your Customer checks are important and if you can’t pass them, OVO can’t let you in.

No I want to continue with the utility supply to the property, not close that account. This is an account in my name set up for her property after she died, so that we can keep it habitable while we sort out the estate. Appreciate that you are trying to help but it really is as simple as:

There is a credit of £2.5k built up on the account due to a change of usage levels. 
I have requested a refund of that amount. 
Ovo said they will refund once I provide information. 
I have provided all the information that Ovo requested. 
They aren’t refunding within the timescale they set out and are unable to tell me when they will refund. 

Hi @sidpotato i don't work for OVO, i am just a customer like you. Sorry to hear about your issues, it can be really frustrating when things like this take a long time 

You may have already tried this. 

Try posting a 1 star review on the OVO Trustpilot site.

They always seem to reply in a couple of days and ask you to  Private Message some details. Seems to work when normal channels have been frustrating. The OVO staff who monitor Trustpilot have access to your account. 

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

I would simply be factual and ask for help. That seems to work. 

You can also post a link to this thread if you think it might help

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/my-account-140/why-are-ovo-avoiding-refunding-the-credit-that-has-built-up-on-my-account-10953

I assume you already tried entering the meter readings in the actual OVO website?

Let us know how you get on. 

Hi Jeffus. Thanks for your comments. I have already  posted a one star review on TrustPilot. I did receive a message requesting further info. I have responded and have not heard any more. 

Hi @sidpotato

You probably already know or have tried all this, so just FYI in case in might be useful for you or anyone else. 

1. You should be able to request a refund on this page

https://account.ovoenergy.com/payments/refunds

2. You can ask OVO to freeze your direct debits for 3 months at a lower rate, this might help if the balance is still increasing.

3. You can check what OVO think you will use over a year at any time. It is the Future Annual Consumption figure on this page on the website not the app

https://account.ovoenergy.com/plan

This figure automatically comes down over time if you start to consistently use less energy. However this can take some time and no automatic system is perfect given the wide variety of usage patterns we all have. 

If you have any more specific queries then feel free to ask in case any of us can suggest anything else that might help. 

Thanks for sharing this experience, @sidpotato - I’m sorry to hear about your loss and I’m keen to offer help where I can. 

We’ve created a guide here to outline the steps for someone in your situation: 

If that’s happened and you have an account in your name that’s in credit, you’re entitled to have this back. For refunds over £499 this needs to be supported with a photo of the meter and a recent bill. If that’s all happened already, I can’t comment on why a refund isn’t now possible. It sounds like that’s not the whole story. 

If you’re unable to make progress with our Support team, let me know and I’ll be able to ask our Forum_Support team to reach out. 

Thanks for your comments, Tim. It is the full story. I have provided meter reads, photos of meters and a copy of my bank statement (not entirely sure why this is necessary but I did as requested). These requests were made by Ovo at different times. The account is in my name not my deceased mother’s so your bereavement  guide is not appropriate at n these circumstances. 
On returning from being away, I expected that the refund would have been made in accordance with the timeline that Ovo had previously advised. When I tried to enquire about why the payment had not been received I have experienced very poor communication at Ovo. It is not possible to speak to anyone at Ovo who has any authority to deal with the matter. 
I have already requested help with this but have effectively been told to go away and wait until Ovo feel ready to respond to me. Even the generic email that I received one time told me not to email more than once! 

Ovo’s behaviour here is the same as I have experienced from people that owe my business money and can’t pay or won’t pay. In this case Ovo are also using their power to make it even more difficult. Realistically they know that there is nothing I can do to recover this money without incurring expense or wasting lots more time.  

At a time when people are struggling with soaring energy bills, and difficult personal circumstances Ovo are creating more stress and anxiety.

Another day has gone by and I am still waiting to hear if Ovo will pay the refund ….