I built up some standing charge debt which OVO took approx 80% of every top up I made (which made trying to keep my home warm during the winter impossible!)
I tried to get the % of each top up they took lowered, however, they would claim they had done it on the telephone, but didn’t.
i did a web chat on several occasions, asked to complain and was told “you can’t complain, it’s debt” and they would end the web chat on me.
I paid off the debt and transferred to another company.
i received my final statement from OVO, keep in mind I was pay as you, and they claim I owe them £1000, saying in one month my gas consumption alone was £614.
i was on pay as you go, I was unable to use gas I did not top up my meter to use.
My standing charge debt I had run up was paid off before I left, but they claim this debt on my final statement is actually gas consumption.
i have tried to complain again about this and get it rectified, but they constantly transfer me around department to department, cut off my call and once again making a complaint so I can go to the ombudsman is just impossible.
I have emailed their CEO complaints team (both in Octoner and November) and they just do not respond.
I am literally at breaking point with all of this!
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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???
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.
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.
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.
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
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”
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
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!
I was in my old flat from November 2016 until December 2024. I was switched to Boost from Economy Energy in January 2019 when it went bust, and in June 2024 Boost announced that it too was in trouble and I would be switched to Ovo.
On 28 June I received a welcome email from Ovo.
I continued to use gas and electric, topping up when needed and never resorting to emergency credit.
In mid-December, having previously notified Ovo that I would be leaving the property and been told to phone back on the day I physically moved out, I was sent a final statement for £28.47 which I paid that same day. I noticed that the final statement had a closing balance of £274.06 but ignored this as I knew it couldn't apply.
To repeat in those 8 years I topped up the gas and electric when needed and never used the emergency credit.
On 8 January 2025 I received another final statement, in which it was claimed I was £193.38 in debit. I phoned Ovo and explained the situation, saying that it was impossible to be in debit because I paid for my gas and electric in advance and that if I didn't pay I would have no gas or electric.
The woman insisted that the system was correct and that they had no record of payments in May or June. Ignoring the fact that I wasn't switched to Ovo until June, on 14 June I topped up my electric with £75 and on 21 June topped up my gas by £30. Yet according to the "ins and outs" on my final statement I made no payments (top ups) that month.
Ovo appear to randomly produce figures claiming that by mid-June I was £112.26 in debit and at one point this rose to as much as £203.00.
I am 71 years of age, and as I said I never even used the emergency credit, and if I was in debt which was impossible because it was pre-payment, why didn't Ovo ever notify me. Indeed, the 'final' statement on 18 December was the first time I had ever received a statement of any kind.
Because top ups are usually done on an infrequent basis and there is seemingly no official record, as would be the case if you were paying online or by direct debit, Ovo appear to think that they can say you are in debt and it is up to the customer to prove otherwise.
However, as I have said, with pre-payment no money no gas or electric so it is impossible to get into debt, other than the £5 emergency concession. However, since I paid for my top ups at the same Cooperative shop using my debit card there will be records.
No matter the cost I will fight this all the way. This is an absolute con and I can see that others are being conned in the same way.
I’m sorry to hear you are going through the same as I have. I can empathise with the stress it puts you under.. and OVO customer service really is lacking.
They would sometimes hang up on me, refused to listen to me, end web chats.. and would just refuse to let me make a complaint, saying “let’s resolve this now” and also promising me people will get back to me when they didn’t.
Have they let you make a complaint and giving you a complaint reference number?
If they haven’t resolved your complaint within 8 weeks, you can go to energy Ombudsman.
If the resolution also isn’t satisfactory, you can ask for a “deadlock letter” and you go to the Ombudsman with that.
In typical OVO energy style, they didn’t resolve my complaint within 8 weeks, didn’t get back to me when I asked for a deadlock letter so I just went to the Ombudsman who even said “unless you haven’t topped up your meter in years, this kind of debt of standing charge build up on PAYG is impossible, surely someone at OVO should have spotted this?”
Even though I sent OVO a copy of my tenancy agreement and did some maths that, it was impossible to have £1,000 of standing charge debt, even if I never topped up my meter in the time I had lived here.. and wouldn’t of been able to use gas they claim I consumed because my meter would have been on £0.00, they refused to listen to me.
It was the same mind numbing “you have consumed more than you have topped up so have an outstanding balance” every time.
Let the Ombudsman take the stress out of it for you.
OVO’s GDPR/Data protection is also appalling… the Ombudsman looking into it is quite in depth and you see an upload of all the data OVO keep and all the conversations you have had with them and their attempts to call you/letters to you.. and what OVO claim they sent me/tried to call me didn’t match reality.
I then separately did a “Subject Access Request” and the info provided to me on all the data they held on me, actually matched the reality, not the lies they told the Ombudsman.
Just keep insisting on making a complaint.
Even though their website says for PAYG you can complain by email, they won’t let you complain by e-mail on PAYG… I even e-mailed their CEO complaints team 3 times and to this date, which is over a year later, still haven’t had a response.
I’m no expert, but I have been exactly where you are, I know they will just insist you owe the money without looking into it… or say “we can no longer deal with it as it’s with our back office/secondary team, someone will call you back” and refuse to get back to you, but if I can be of any help let me know.
At present I’m more angry than worried. Indeed, last week the woman at Ovo said “I can understand you being upset”, to which I used the classic line used by Rowan Atkinson when pretending to be a gorilla. “Upset? I’m livid”.
Other than that one phone call, and the statements there has been no dialogue, though they have ignored the tweet I sent earlier.
Call them and say you want to log a complaint, tell them it’s your right to be able to complain about this and dispute the debt owed and INSIST they make the complaint and give you a complaint reference number on the telephone..
My gut tells me, they will try everything to not let you make a complaint and if they do, you have to give them 8 weeks to resolve it.. if by 8 weeks they are communicating with you but haven’t resolved it, you ask for a deadlock letter so you can go to the Ombudsman..
If they refuse the deadlock letter, you can go to the Ombudsman anyway.
You have to give them 8 weeks from the date you get the complaint reference number.
Once that 8 weeks has elapsed, go to https://www.energyombudsman.org and they will take on the complaint for you, it’s quite a long process with the Ombudsman, took about 4 months for them to resolve it as OVO have to be given time to investigate it and the Ombudsman.. but they are thorough and really understanding.
So, to clarify, I want to make a complaint, and whether they allow me to or not they have 8 weeks. Though ideally they allow me and give me a complaint number?
The complaint department is open on Saturdays, I’ll call first thing.
you have to make the complaint, get the complaint reference number.. then allow 8 weeks for OVO to resolve it or attempt to before you can go to the Ombudsman.
I think if they refuse to let you make a complaint, you can still go to Ombudsman after 8 weeks.. but it’s proving you have tried to make a complaint since OVO won’t let PAYG customers do it via e-mail.
Just insist they log a complaint and give you a complaint reference number.
Ah, it just so happens that a device on my phone records every single conversation… I’m a journalist.
Just listened to the call from when I told them I’d moved out and the woman at the other end couldn’t understand my address, consequently the resulting statement was ludicrous. Seemingly I live in the quaint old Essex town of “taxini”.
Rang (twice) this morning. It is clearly an overseas service - Stephen Fitzpatrick no doubt still seeking to recoup the cash from his disastrous attempt in F1.
The first time, after giving the basic details, the woman said that my account was closed and she would hand me to the collections team. She transferred me, I got a message about the line being open from Monday to Friday and then the line went dead.
The second time the woman kept disappearing to check things. Once again she said my account was closed and therefore she couldn’t access it. However, she said her supervisor would contact the relevant team on Monday and would call me back. Having persisted I was at least given an 8 digit complaint number.
Whilst waiting for her, and tired of the classical music playing down the line, I checked Ovo on Wikipedia and the company has a long history of overcharging and poor customer service.
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