An update, I have called OVO Energy again, this time I advised them I was also recording the telephone call as well for my own records.

They insist “you’re in debt because your fuel consumption has been more than you have paid”… although, by her own admission £614 of gas usage in one month debt when I was on a Pay As You Go meter does seem “unusual”. 

They have promised to open a complaint for me.

Hey @RW1987,

I’m really sorry to hear this, it sounds like a stressful situation to be in. 

Are you able to ask for the meter read history? This might give some clues as to how the debt balance came to be so high. There may have been estimates for long periods of time. 

@Emmanuelle_OVO ,

No, I was on PAYG, I didn’t think meter reads were necessary. 
 

Regardless, £614 of gas consumption alone (that’s ignoring my daily standing charge for the month) in one month, when I was on PAYG and I only topped up £80 that month and 80% of that was taken for debt is impossible.

They have opened up for it to be investigated so hopefully sense will prevail and this will be corrected. 
 

Thanks for taking the time to respond, I’ll keep you posted!

Hi I’m wondering how after 28 years with a PAYG meter with SSE after the switch over to OVO which I didn’t ask for says I owe SSE £80 odd which has now been sent to a debt collection agency and now up to over £100???

@Scotlynd ,

I feel your pain.

I am in exactly the same boat but mine is £1,000.

They told me I would hear back in 5 days but I haven’t heard anything.

When I was actually with them I tried to complain so many times and heard nothing back, this time they have actually let me make a complaint so I’m just waiting for my 8 weeks to run so I can go to the Ombudsman.

OVO are honestly bullies.

Just awful!

Hey @RW1987,

I’m really sorry to hear this,

I’ll get Forum_Support to reach out, please keep an eye on your private messages. 

Hey @Scotlynd,

Sorry for the issues you’re having,

It may be that your meter went into a ‘non disconnect’ mode during the migration process, where a debt balance was built up. Sometimes standing charges build up if a customer doesn’t top up gas for a long period of time, say over winter.

For traditional top up gas meters

Ever got to winter, topped up your gas meter for the first time in a long time and found the credit disappears, this topic should explain why. Let’s first talk about standing charges… What are they? And why do we pay them? Standing charges are a set, daily amount that you pay no matter how much energy you use. It covers the cost of the supplier to supply energy to your home. 

For traditional top up meters, standing charge debt will build up daily but won’t show up on the balance.

To see the standing charge debt on your gas meter follow these instructions: Firstly, make sure your top up card is out of the meter, then tap the red A button to turn the meter on. It will then say “PLEASE WAIT” and show your current meter balance, lightly tap the red A button again once and this will take you to the “OWED” screen, which will show the outstanding amount. 

You might be wondering, ‘how do I pay this amount back?’ When there is balance outstanding on the “owed” screen the meter will take up to 70% of your top up until this has been cleared. Please be aware if you’ve used your emergency credit this will not be available to use again until the amount on the “Owed” screen has been cleared.

We don’t have access to your account on the Forum but the PAYG team should be able to investigate this further for you. 

How to get in contact about my OVO Pay As You Go account

• The best way to get in touch with us is via chat here. Just click the green chat icon on the bottom right of your screen. We’re here to help anytime from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.
• Or call us on 0330 175 9669 - Opening hours: Mon-Thu 8am to 8pm, Friday 8am to 6pm, Sat-Sun 8am to 5pm.

Update.

I just received a telephone call from OVO saying they need further time to look into it.

Thank you for your update @RW1987, I’m glad someone is looking into this for you.

Please pop back if there’s anything we can help with. 

In 2020 i moved in to a empty flat with not a lot of stuff . 10 days later my first bill was 200. Couldnt figure it out  so kept asking for help .. got so many different answers. Friday8th march 2024 some customer service  emailed me to say it was due to debts on my previous meters at my old address  which were pay as you go .. 705.22 in debt. Maybe im stupid but how can any one rack up such an amount on pay and go ? Secondly when i left the old flat both meters were in credit as my old landlord pointed out when he came to collect top up card and key and property keys.i have never used emergency credit in my life . Never been in debt on gas and electric meters pay n go or bills. Now heres where its complicated again. My old address the tenents before me were a major problem.  Now sse supposedly told my ex landlord that for me to have my own account the debt on the meters would need paid.so from that i gather the meters at some point before me was bill meters.so how is it my debt ? I was never given new cards or top up key even asking the landlord to speak to sse for me  many times as im deaf. Emails ignored hung up on. the debt on the meters the day i moved in was around the 300 mark.that was 2018. My ex landlord says he never had that conversation with sse.but surely i should of had a clean slate so to speak on the meters.now ive paid all three of those debts in top ups and monthly bills at new place.ovo dont care and sse were not much use. All i get is everything is ok our end. Yeah it would be you are getting paid.im so stressed ive been in a and e with chest pains. I cant figure out how those debts are mine .. also a debt collector for previous tenent at new flat said sse charged them up untill xmas eve 2021 at my new address .i moved in september 2020 

I’m so sorry to hear this @Mc68, it sounds very stressful.

Are you with OVO pay as you go or Boost?

When I last posted on here I was promised a call back within 10 days to update me on the complaint.

Over a month later, still haven’t heard anything.

Since it’s been over 8 weeks now I called and asked for an outcome or a deadlock letter so I can go to the Ombudsman and I was told “it’s gone to second line so we can’t help you, we will have to send an e-Mail and someone contact you at a later date”

Honestly, this is just awful. 

That really isn't great 

If it has been over 8 weeks you should be able to go to the Ombudsman without a deadlock letter

I suggest you ask the Ombudsman

Also post a review on Trustpilot as this can sometimes prompt action

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

I have also flagged the ovo moderators on the forum

Hi @RW1987,

I’m really sorry to hear that you haven’t heard anything since you last gave us an update.

I’m going to have our Forum_Support team reach out to you so they can help you further with this.

Look out for a private message here soon: https://forum.ovoenergy.com/inbox/overview.

** UPDATE TO ANYONE ELSE IN THE SAME SITUATION**
 

Moderators, no response needed from you, please.

Dont give up.

If they say you owe them money from a PAYG meter, insist they log a complaint and go to the Ombudsman.

As you can see, they claimed I owed them £1,000….

I paid it down until they finally allow me to move to a different energy company.

After refusing to let me make complaints (actually closing down chats on me telling me, you can’t make complaints about debt), I finally got someone who let me make a complaint and surprise surprise, OVO didn’t get back to me after the 8 weeks period, so I went direct to the Ombudsman with proof they had not come back to me.

It turns out, on PAYG, your meter should send OVO a reading at least once a month (industry standard) however, my meter wasn’t.

Despite me calling them and complaining and giving them meter readings, no one bothered to update my meter reads and realise something wasn’t right, just constantly saying “I owed money”….

Also, the Ombudsman’s findings were OVO customer service was lacking… and they had failed me as a customer.

OVO tried to dispute the Ombudsman but it was ruled in my favour, it ended in OVO owing me money, the Ombudsman also telling them to give me a GOGW payment for the failings.

The final insult from OVO was, they were late in doing it.. and their apology letter was pitiful. Absolutely disgusting.

A kind of “here is the money owed, the account is now settled…. However, if at any point you would like to rejoin, please call one of our representatives who will be happy to assist you”

To be quite honest, I’d rather freeze than join OVO ever again. 
 

Don’t give up, don’t let them beat you down and if they claim you owe them money on a PAYG meter and you have regularly topped up… fight and go to the Ombudsman!