The Ofgem rules on back billing might be appropriate here 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-energy-back-billing-rules

Hi @NeddyMorai 

I would start by putting in an official complaint straight away, then if this drags on longer than 8 weeks you can ask the Energy Ombudsman for help

https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

https://www.energyombudsman.org/

As @BPLightlog highlighted the backbilling rules mean ovo/sse cannot back bill over 12 months. So they can't go back that far anyway. The regulator and Ombudsman won't be happy with that I suspect.

In fact the Ombudsman will sometimes pick up complaints before 8 weeks if you have already spent time trying to resolve it.

It would be worth asking OVO Collections to freeze the collection process while the complaint is ongoing. This should really happen automatically.

0800 069 9831. Monday to Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday 9am-2pm.

SSE Energy has been taken over by OVO, so there is no excuse as far as I can see for ovo collections and complaints not dealing with this.

Is it a large amount @NeddyMorai ?

Almost £300. The money isn’t really the issue though and I’m happy to pay if owe, its just that the first I heard was when I got a default notice. I would expect to get a bill and several reminders first. I was wondering whether it was something to do with the migration process. OVO say they have no record of my debt so I am confused about the relationship between SSE and OVO.

I meant to quote you in the answer above.

@NeddyMorai it could be debt built up on the meter, e.g. Emergency credit not paid off but as you say without more information it is impossible to know. 

SSE has been taken over by OVO so OVO have to handle it even if they find it difficult.

If you have no luck via ovo collections and difficultly with ovo raising a complaint then pop back and one of the regular posters will flag the ovo moderators on the forum.

I have never used emergency credit. I need to arm myself with the facts but thank you for replying.

Yep. The more specific you can be with any complaint, the easier it will be.

You can also include a link to this thread in any complaint if it helps

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/my-pay-as-you-go-account-159/sse-energy-services-limited-16869

I have got similar letter though i was on pay as you go meter so I have top up receipt and OVO has not got my account number active and cannot find any debt. So i am not sure what to do.

Escalating thread to Forum Moderators because the number of reports exceeds a threshold. Please wait for a response - this may take a day or two.

While folks are waiting, please can someone confirm if these letters definitely say:

SSE Energy Services Limited, Company Number SC3033682, which is now known as SSE Heat Networks Limited with the same Company Number per Companies House.

OR

SSE Energy Services Group Limited, Company Number 11046212, which is now known as OVO (S) Energy Services Limited per Companies House.

OR

Something else entirely?

A word of caution - only ONE of these three has been taken over by OVO. If it’s to do with SSE Energy Services Limited aka SSE Heat Networks Limited, that one remains with SSE Plc and OVO has never touched it. If it’s SSE Energy Services Group Limited aka OVO (S) Energy Services Limited, then that’s the one OVO scooped up in 2020 and is responsible for.

I’m beginning to suspect this isn’t anything to do with OVO somehow… But another part of SSE Group perhaps? If that is the case, then I don’t think OVO would arguably be responsible for something that’s owned by someone else entirely.

This is very interesting. OVO don’t know anything about my apparent debt. I think my debt is with the former. Its comical. LCS told me to speak  to OVO and OVO told me to speak to LCS. What I need is a contact with SSE  Energy Services Ltd.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That helps me way more than you could possibly imagine.

Please bear with me, I’ve escalated this to the Forum Moderators backstage and I’m asking for help from them. You OK to hang in there for a bit? I’ll do my best to get this noticed! This is looking like a pretty complicated matter and I’ve been digging into the details, with which I’ve found something interesting that blows this whole case wide open.

I’ll reveal more details when the time is right. I need permission to say more than this.

Get the popcorn ready though, this could be good.

Thats great. I appreciate your assistance. I’m still compiling info. The dates they gave me correlate exactly to the day I had a new meter put in after the old one died up until I was migrated to OVO. I’ve never even seen a bill. Just be good to know which way to direct my inquiry. Thanks again.

No worries, you’re most welcome.

If you uncover any more info that may help, feel free to let us know here - only if you want to of course. All we ask is please make sure to remove personal info first for your safety.

A quick Google revealed a lot of complaints about this company and its alleged sharp practice. Common advice to those affected seems to be to ignore any unfounded demand, as this one sounds to be. However, this may not be the best course of action. There’s a detailed guide for those being pursued by LCS here.

You might consider contacting Step Change, who may have ideas about how best to proceed. They’ve probably come across similar cases before.

Hi, I have some more update, my current meter is pay as you go but now EDF and it has always been positive top up. So I am not able to understand how LCS said my pay as you go meter that there is outstanding balance.

Thanks @iseb ,

I promise you guys that I’m doing everything I can to figure this one out, but as a forum volunteer I can’t access any internal stuff at all - that’s where the Forum Moderators would have to step in.

However, I THINK I’ve started to figure out the puzzle but I can’t reveal the solution just now. Keep an eye on this thread and either myself or someone else will keep you posted.

Ok, I think I’ve possibly cracked the entire case. I’m truly sorry this took as long as it did. The other Forum Volunteers and Forum Moderators will be able to see my full story backstage, but for now I’m going to keep this brief.

@iseb and @NeddyMorai try this one. https://www.sseandme.co.uk/heat-customers for SSE Energy Solutions which owns SSE Heat Networks Limited, formerly SSE Energy Services Limited. Their number is 0345 078 3215. Someone there should be able to help you out with any SSE Energy Services Limited related issues.

That company is not part of OVO and didn’t get included in the SSE to OVO migration - it was never sold off and remains part of SSE Plc.

This is one of the most intensive and complicated research tasks I’ve ever undertaken. I just hope I’m right!

Thank you. I will update you on how I get on.

@Blastoise186  I contacted the above number. As for me its absolutely not acceptable that someone is trying to rip me for something which I don't owe. They said OVO is responsible and all account was transferred to them. So i have now formally written complain to OVO after speaking to two adviser and one web chat agent. But what SSE Network said was that LCS should use OVO as client and not SSE as that is now legal entity of OVO.. But I am not going to give up, as LCS are trying to rip people and threaten that your record will show defaulter in credit which is not acceptable.

Blast… And I thought I had it cracked…

Myself and two other Forum Volunteers are continuing to dig into this one. We’ll keep you informed if we have any other updates.

Sorry for the flood of questions like this. Your two cases are among the most complicated ones we have ever handled on the OVO Forum, so this is new territory for us. We hope you can understand our reasons for this, but it helps us to figure out what’s going on.

Have either of you ever heard about a Heat Network or Heat Meter at all? And what kind of heating/hot water setups do you both have? @NeddyMorai if I could start with yours first, that would be great.

I am going to file a complaint as Jeffus suggested further up the thread. 

I have gas boiler. My gas in not PAYG and there are no issues with that. Its definitely related to my electricity account. 

Thx. That would put more weight behind one of my theories then.

We have escalated this thread to the Forum Moderators. They’ll most likely swing by in the morning.