I today noticed a big difference between an email that said I had a £1,169.70 credit and my App account now saying I owed £513.27. i don’t get the estimate issue as have a smart meter, that is what they are for, no?
But here’s the kicker, I now have an email today (11/6) saying why. The email says they are not allowed to go back more than a year and they calculate they charged me £2,746.40 instead of £4,059.32 (£1312.92 undercharged). it seems because I was overpaying (and took a credit of £1,000 on 26th June 2024) my balance was £3,982.55 in said period so they would credit me the £76.77 shortfall only.
Surely penalising someone for having too much credit is against the spirit of Ofgem’s rules.
I have budgeted a certain amount of money and suddenly i am being charged an extra £1,236.15 (45%) for a period that expired over a year ago.
If I had merely paid the minimum amounts or taken that £1,000 16 day earlier then I would be £1,000 better off. That’s got to be wrong
Best answer by Emmanuelle_OVO
Updated on 29/08/25 by Emmanuelle_OVO:
Hey @SteveBerning,
I’m sorry for the issues you’re having,
OVO Energy, like other energy suppliers, may send back bills (also known as "catch-up" bills) to customers when they haven't been charged correctly for energy use. This can happen due to various reasons, such as inaccurate billing, errors in meter readings, or issues with how the supplier accesses meter information. However, back billing rules, set by Ofgem, protect consumers from being charged for energy used more than 12 months ago if certain conditions are met. My advice would be to check your previous meter readings to see if there was a period with no meter readings. You shouldn’t have been issued a refund for such a large amount without being required to submit at up to date meter reading, so it seems that an error may have been made on our side.
Understanding Back Billing:
What it is:
Back billing is when an energy supplier sends a bill for energy used in the past, often due to past errors or undercharging.
Why it happens:
Common reasons include estimated meter readings being too low, incorrect meter readings or addressing errors, or delayed billing due to technical issues.
Back Billing Rules:
Ofgem rules protect customers from being charged for energy used more than 12 months ago if:
They haven't received an accurate bill for that period.
They haven't been informed about charges via a statement of account.
Their direct debit was previously set too low to cover the charges.
These rules don't apply if the supplier sent a bill within the 12-month period and the customer didn't pay it.
What to do if you receive a back bill:
1. Check the bill carefully:
Ensure it's accurate and that the charges are for energy you actually used.
2. Verify the 12-month rule:
See if the charges are for energy used more than 12 months ago and if the above conditions apply.
3. Contact OVO:
If you have any concerns or questions about the back bill, contact OVO Energy's customer service to discuss the situation.
4. Consider escalating the complaint:
If you are unable to resolve the issue with OVO, you can escalate your complaint to the Energy Ombudsman.
Doesn’t make sense to me. How can you be in such alot of credit surely you should have been contacted for a meter reading rather than estimates that they claim are incorrect. Giving you the view you had money on a/c Confusing to say the least.
I today noticed a big difference between an email that said I had a £1,169.70 credit and my App account now saying I owed £513.27. i don’t get the estimate issue as have a smart meter, that is what they are for, no?
But here’s the kicker, I now have an email today (11/6) saying why. The email says they are not allowed to go back more than a year and they calculate they charged me £2,746.40 instead of £4,059.32 (£1312.92 undercharged). it seems because I was overpaying (and took a credit of £1,000 on 26th June 2024) my balance was £3,982.55 in said period so they would credit me the £76.77 shortfall only.
Surely penalising someone for having too much credit is against the spirit of Ofgem’s rules.
I have budgeted a certain amount of money and suddenly i am being charged an extra £1,236.15 (45%) for a period that expired over a year ago.
If I had merely paid the minimum amounts or taken that £1,000 16 day earlier then I would be £1,000 better off. That’s got to be wrong
Hi Steve,
Sorry to hear that this situation has arisen, as Chris mentioned above I am also surprised that you were so much in credit, OVO estimates my future usage and advised me to lower my direct Debits from £115 per month to £95, I am also in credit by £538 at the moment.
What I'm also find strange is that OVO are not honoring the credit you built up and will only back date by 12 months, this is completely wrong in my opinion, using the ovo app I can see my previous bills dating back to 2022 and OVO know every unit i have used and have always tried to lower my Direct Debits.
I would complain to OVO retention's and ask to speak to some one that actually knows your grievance and grill them to get it sorted, other wise put the pressure using Ofgem,
OVO have always looked after me and I'm very happy,
For a healthy account, we typically advise customers to maintain one to two months' worth of credit. As for the issues with your specific account, it's best to contact our Support Team (Support Team) as they can provide detailed information on the reasons behind any emails you might have received. There are numerous potential factors involved.
We’ve had similar threads to yours previously that might shed some light on your situation:
I built up credit for a number of reasons, one being you can’t simply withdraw it on the App. Also there has been so much uncertainty on energy prices, it wasn’t doing any harm. I also remember OVO making a big thing on the interest earned when in credit.
i am reading the terms of the gas and electric licenses that ban back billing.
It refers to only being allowed to seek to recover charges in the 12 months before. So what they have done is taken credit from my account to recover charges beyond 12 months. That is in direct breach of the license. What is on my account is surely irrelevant
It’s not as simple as that - the Back Billing rules are pretty complicated but the TL;DR is that they ONLY trigger if OVO never attempted to bill you in the first place. If any attempts were made i.e. a bill was issued, then chasing for it is fair game.
It just says unbilled energy. The consultation paper ‘…..more than 12 months prior to the error being detected and a CORRECTED bill being issued. so an incorrect bill can have been issued.
furthemore OVO themselves acknowledged the rules do apply by saying they can’t take a small amount in excess of my payments.
Yes says complied with 21. BA 1 which roughly says
must only do so in respect of units which could reasonably be considered to have been consumed in the 12 months preceding the date the recovery action was taken. So if they take action now, can only go back 12 months.
That suggests it is making sure they behave reasonably for money owed in the 12 month window
EDIT - I thought the above hadn’t posted so here is a fuller version, which explains better why the 12 months doesn’t apply in cases where a Direct Debit was in payment.
As said the conditions on the ‘Prohibition’ of backbilling are pretty complicated, and there are ‘Exceptions’ to the commonly stated 12 months.
In particular as you were paying by Direct Debit at the time that the debt was incurred then the prohibition should not apply.
(PS. I have looked into this very thoroughly in the recent past when I had my own backbilling dispute with a supplier).
Backbilling is covered in Condition 21BA of the “Standard conditions of electricity supply licence”.
Note the exemption Condition 21BA.2, in particular 21BA.2(b) which states:
Exceptions to prohibition
21BA.2 Paragraph 21BA.1 does not apply in the following circumstances:
(a) ...
(b) the licensee or any Representative, has taken a charge recovery action following the date this condition took effect in a manner which complied with paragraph 21BA.1 and, due to non-payment are continuing to take steps to obtain payment for the same units of electricity and, where applicable, the same amounts in respect of a Standing Charge or other type of supply charge;
… continues
A Direct Debit being in payment at the time that the back billing relates to constitutes such compliant ‘charge recovery action’ ie. They did take charge recovery action at the time, recovery in the form of the DD, but didn’t recover enough. That being the case then, where a DD was in payment at the time, the company is entitled/allowed to back bill for more than 12 months.
Thanks, sounds like you’ve been through it and at the risk of sounding like an idiot I am not sure I have got the energy to fight this. It definitely feels at odds with Ofgems letter on the consultation because it’s meant to prevent consumers getting shocks for reasons that are not their fault.
OVO Energy, like other energy suppliers, may send back bills (also known as "catch-up" bills) to customers when they haven't been charged correctly for energy use. This can happen due to various reasons, such as inaccurate billing, errors in meter readings, or issues with how the supplier accesses meter information. However, back billing rules, set by Ofgem, protect consumers from being charged for energy used more than 12 months ago if certain conditions are met. My advice would be to check your previous meter readings to see if there was a period with no meter readings. You shouldn’t have been issued a refund for such a large amount without being required to submit at up to date meter reading, so it seems that an error may have been made on our side.
Understanding Back Billing:
What it is:
Back billing is when an energy supplier sends a bill for energy used in the past, often due to past errors or undercharging.
Why it happens:
Common reasons include estimated meter readings being too low, incorrect meter readings or addressing errors, or delayed billing due to technical issues.
Back Billing Rules:
Ofgem rules protect customers from being charged for energy used more than 12 months ago if:
They haven't received an accurate bill for that period.
They haven't been informed about charges via a statement of account.
Their direct debit was previously set too low to cover the charges.
These rules don't apply if the supplier sent a bill within the 12-month period and the customer didn't pay it.
What to do if you receive a back bill:
1. Check the bill carefully:
Ensure it's accurate and that the charges are for energy you actually used.
2. Verify the 12-month rule:
See if the charges are for energy used more than 12 months ago and if the above conditions apply.
3. Contact OVO:
If you have any concerns or questions about the back bill, contact OVO Energy's customer service to discuss the situation.
4. Consider escalating the complaint:
If you are unable to resolve the issue with OVO, you can escalate your complaint to the Energy Ombudsman.
I have now had an opportunity to do a bit more research.
It seems that for a period from around June 23 there was no usage charges at all on my electric bill, just the standing charge so only around £15 per month was charged. So not even any estimated usage. It’s hard to know what usage costs would be (£80 monthly?) but given the majority of my bill was gas and there was so much volatility around prices I didn’t pay much attention as was paying c. £400 per month on direct debit at one stage.
However having built up a substantial credit, I did try to take a refund in June 24 but was prevented because it said I must submit meter readings.
Of the criteria mentioned above, the fact I was in credit suggests my direct debit was not previously set too low to cover the charges so struggling to see how backbilling rules dom’t apply.
I wrote to Ovo in June 24, so well within the back-billing tolerance level and said I am trying to take a refund but it won’t let me until I submit meter readings but I can’t because I am on a smart meter.
The member of the Ovo team did speak to me at that time and refunded £1,000 when it should have been obvious to them there was a problem.
I come back to the back billing principles that place responsibility on the energy companies to spot problems much earlier rather than it emerge 2 years later - a week or so before I am about to move house.
I have raised a complaint so will see how it progresses.
So it’s saying if you set your DD at an originally realistic/high level and you end up with a big credit due to an error, the supplier can go back and take what was paid to the account.
It does seem very arbitrary, can be under by a few pounds and rules apply but over and don’t. Also still seems wrong that what you are able to afford can dictate it. Fact is OVO should have spotted the problem when I asked for the credit.
the Ofgem open letter in 2017 was targeting the situation I am in, a £1400 swing on my account for usage over a year ago.
I have just received one of these messages too. I am most concerned that it refers back to 2023 when for most of the year we were undergoing major renovations and had to move out so we used hardly any energy. I telephoned and after holding for around 15 minutes managed to confirm that the message was automatically generated by the system and nothing checked before it was sent. I am now awaiting a comprehensive explanation!
