Trying to set up an account but dont have an account number

You should never use a previous tenants account, they should close it when they move out and you open a new one when you move in.

That way you avoid any potential problems with possible debit on the previous tenants account.

As you say that there is debt on the account then I’m assuming that this is a pay monthly account and not PAYG.

See this guide:

If it is PAYG then that’s a different guide.

whenever i try to set up an account it asks for an account number

Exactly how are you trying to set up a new account?
 

If you are meaning this then it’s the wrong place:

That is for accessing the account portal once you already have an account set up. (I agree that it could possibly be worded better there).

Read the guide above first then to set up a new account from scratch you would normally start on the “Get a quote” page:

https://products.ovoenergy.com/energy/customer-property

Enter you postcode and select the address from the list that comes up.
Answer the questions, select a tariff, enter your details, etc, follow the process through to set up a new account.

Once you have your new account set up then the debt on the old account is no longer your problem.
It may get a bit complicated later on, because you didn’t set up a new account when you first moved in and have been using the previous tenants account, so the previous tenant could try to say that you have built up the debt since moving in, But TBH that’s their own fault for not closing their account when moving out.
(I do realise that them not telling OVO that they were moving and closing their account might have been a deliberate move if there was already debt on the account at that time)

Good morning ​@Edscholey and welcome to the OVO Forum 😁.

Let us know how you get on with ​@Nukecad’s advice. If you’re unable to set the account up online, you can speak to our Support Team who’ll get things sorted for you.  

As ​@Nukecad says, the correct link to set the account up online is this one. Just pop your postcode into the box and fill out the subsequent information.

The only issue i have is, when i try to set up an account it asks me when i want to switch to ovo. I don’t want to switch, i just want to pay the amount i owe

Technically it is a switch, you are moving from whoever your supplier was in the past to a new OVO account at the property.

You could put today’s date, or the earliest date that it will let you put in.
However I strongly suggest that you contact support about this situation, due to the fact that you have been using energy on the previous tenants account. See below.* 

The electricity that you have been using has been recorded against the old account that belongs to the previous tenant. (Because they hadn’t closed that account when they moved out they will now be liable to pay for what you have used up until you open a new account).

You cannot normally make a payment to someone else’s account, and would need their account details to do so. (Again see below for a possible solution).

This is just one of the reasons why you should always set up your own account when moving into a property, and always close your own account when moving out of a property.

Do you know what the meter reading(s)was(were) when you moved in?

*You should contact OVO customer support and explain what has happened.
I’m not sure but they may be able to retrospectively apply the initial reading from when you moved in to your new account, so that you pay for what you have used since you moved in, but any usage/debt from before you moved in stays on the previous tenants account.

Just on more thing which might alter the above slightly - you said in your first post

The account number on the bills is clearly linked to the previous tenants. Ovo are also trying to charge me for energy used before i moved it + the debit buildup by the previous tenants

 Are you saying that you have had a bill from OVO since you moved in?

If so then was it addressed to the previous tenant by name, or was it addressed to “The Occupier”?

Things are now getting confusing here.

Are you saying that you have already set up a new energy account for the property with a different supplier?

Otherwise if you are in a property that is supplied by OVO then how can there be a different “current supplier” for that property?

In other words you do not want a new account with OVO, what you are actually trying to do is just to pay for the energy that you used on the previous tenants account.

OK it’s a bit of a mess, but it does happen with rented flats, and should be solvable.

To start with: As you already have an energy account with a different supplier then do not try to open another with OVO.

A couple of questions to help get things back on track.

The OVO billing should have been in the previous tenants name, is that correct or not?
In other words who was the OVO final bill addressed to?

(If it was addressed to you by name than that raises a whole set of other questions).

It should have been addressed to the holder of the switched-from account, that would be the previous tenant.

It it was then seal it back up (sellotape if necessary).
Write on the front-

RTS - No longer at this address.

And drop it in any postbox for return.
(RTS = Return to Sender, every postman knows that and will act accordingly).

If you get any more then don’t open them, just send them back in the same way.

What to do about paying for the energy you used before opening an account with the other provider?

This is my personal view (based on experience) and not an official answer from OVO

If it was me personally then I would forget about trying to pay for it - at least for now.

Whilst that probably isn’t morally correct, it is legally correct.

In the eyes of the law because the previous tenant had not closed their account then they are liable for all charges made to that account until it was closed.

They will almost certainly be tracked down and made to pay what they owe,
At that time they can object that they had left and so don’t owe all of the amount outstanding.
If they have evidence of that and their evidence is accepted then you may find that at some time in future, probably months or even years, OVO will chase you for the outstanding months worth of energy.

Being honest here I think that trying to take this any further with trying to pay OVO would just be opening a can of worms that isn’t really worth it.
Its great that you are honest enough to want to pay for what you used, however because things were not done properly, neither by the previous tenant nor by yourself, the system isn’t really set up to cope with what happened here.

So as I say I would leave it for now,but keep those meter readings in case it comes back up when the previous tenants are found and billed.

PS. You might want to have a read of this, just in case debt collection agency letters start to turn up for the previous tenants debt:

Morning ​@Edscholey, 

Thanks for clarifying everything. Don’t try setting this up online - it may not work properly now as you’ve actually switched the energy.

Please don’t worry about the fact you didn’t set up an account, and have switched away. This happens often, as many people don’t think to set up an interim account with the supplier of their new property.

Please get in touch with our Support Team. Tell them the date you moved in and they’ll set up the account for the period before you switched away. You’ll then be able to make a payment for the outstanding amount.

It may even be the case that there are smart meters, and all the readings and dates line up on the occupier account. In this case, you might just be able to pay the amount outstanding on the occupier account. 

Either way, this should be a simple one for our customer services team to resolve. Please get in touch with them when you can, and let us know if you have any issues at all.

Best of luck with the new supplier.