Any further update on this @iseb?

If not, I think the complaint route might be the best next step. 

@NeddyMorai have you heard anything from LCSDR please.

No I haven’t, yet. If/when I do I will post it here ASAP.

So I did as you suggested. The equifax report was what revealed the soft search I mentioned elsewhere but I was more interested in the experian report. The above is from my experian report . What’s interesting is that its with OVO and the balance is 0. ( My gas account is also on there but there are no issues there) Its also shown as ”settled”. I haven’t heard anything back from LCS as of yet.

@NeddyMorai I have received this response after giving evidence; I think 7 days have passed so they are just responding on that basis.

Thank you for your recent communication, the content of which has been noted.

I can confirm the case is now on hold due to LCS querying with our client SSE.

As soon as we gain a response we will contact you directly.

Hi,  I've just had this same issue with LCS and a supposed outstanding gas bill in a previous property I rented.  Except the landlord has removed all the gas appliances so the house was entirely electric when we moved in.  It looks like the actual gas meter was left in but I had no reason to top it up.  Months after we left we started getting these letters from LCS so I contacted OVO and they apologised and said they reset the balance to 0 and gave £50 compensation for the hassle.

 The letters then stopped for a while but then restarted so I had a heated discussion with 2 ovo chat workers who brushed it off and told me to contact LCS as they won't do anything more.  I came across this forum and followed the advice about demanding they prove the debt, via email, and I go the same reply as others who done the same.  I was wondering if anyone had LCS come back to them about this or any further info on this issue?

I haven’t heard from them since I challenged them to provide exact details of the debt.(Over 4 months)

Glad to here that.  Perhaps I'll never hear from them again.

Same thing happened to me and my mother at different properties, SSE was in credit then the sudden switch over and we are both in debt! OVO are inept at running their own business, so much so they need volunteers on here to do their dirty work for them!

I will only comment on the mention of Volunteers you just posted @PP27 . I will leave the rest to someone else. However, I ask that you refrain from Threadjacking - it gets extremely spammy for us and adds no real value to anything.

Forum Volunteers do not work for OVO, that much is true. However, we choose to do this of our own free will and, likewise, we are free to step down of our own free will whenever we want - and we don’t have to provide notice so we can literally just go. Nor can OVO stop us from leaving - it’s explicitly written into the very fabric of the Forum that OVO can’t do that. We exclusively do our thing on the Forum only - we do not touch OVO’s internal systems, ever.

What we do have however, are special arrangements and agreements with OVO that allow us to do what we do - and in return, OVO gives us access to stuff that never normally goes public. It’s mutually beneficial for all of us. OVO gets to tap into community powered support resources, and we get to tap into OVO’s upcoming projects and ideas and deep insights into how things work.

However, I take issue with your claims. It is normal for Volunteers to run support type Forums like this one and it’s definitely not unique to OVO. Go look at the ones for Spotify, Sonos, Deezer, Microsoft, Google, Gainsight, Apple, TypeForm, Zapier, Docebo and a whole bunch of others - they too all have Volunteers who choose to help out for free because they want to, just like I choose to do so here.

You need only look at my 6k+ comments to see how powerful my assistance can be…

Likewise, I choose to Volunteer with the Fire Service of my own free will - they never forced me to do it. I do it because I want to and because I enjoy it. And I can also tell you that my efforts have already led to saving peoples lives, even without being an operational Firefighter myself. The power of Volunteers there is incredible and we can do an absolute ton of stuff that would otherwise be genuinely impossible - the crews just can’t dedicate that much time (nor go that far from the station for so long!) and the Prevention related activities of the Service would never have enough resources without us chipping in. If you ever get rescued by a Firefighter, keep in mind that a Volunteer such as myself may well have been involved in the training of that Firefighter to enable them to do what they do best. Without us, their training would be severely weakened…

Volunteers are not cheap labour. Anyone who thinks that we are, seriously needs to reconsider their position and actually try doing it themselves. We are, in fact, a highly valuable resource that can do amazing things in ways that allows the community to get involved - hence why Special Constables are Volunteer police officers - whilst also giving something back to the causes we choose to support. You choose to give your time for free as a Volunteer - no-one can make you do it. But that’s what makes it special - because the feel-good factor is magnified as a result.