Why have I received a bill covering energy used before I moved in to my new home?

Help! I don’t know if OVO customer services reads these questions, but maybe someone can suggest a solution as I have written to them twice about this and yet I still get threatening letters from them.

WE DO NOT HAVE AN ACCOUNT WITH OVO! NOT EVER!

And neither have we had an account with SSE, we have been with British Gas for years and are now with EDF. Over the last 18 months we have been receiving letters from OVO asking for meter readings and and saying we are at risk of debt. The letter is addressed to “Mr The Customer” and they say they haven’t had a meter reading since last year. If they have a meter reading I don’t know where they have one from as there is no meter at my house. My house is part of a farm and is on the same supply as the farm for which we are billed by EDF.

Any suggestions on how I resolve this?

Hi @landroverman ,

To resolve this, I’d suggest trying 0800 069 9831 - this is the best number at OVO to resolve issues like this one.

I will also inform the Forum Moderators.

Hey @landroverman, 

I’m sorry to hear about the letters you’ve been receiving. As we don’t have access to account information here, the best place to get support with this would be our Support Team. You can either call, live chat, or contact them on Whatsapp at 0330 175 9695. I wouldn’t recommend using email, as the system would need an active account to filter the email through correctly. 

I hope this helps and let us know if you manage to get this resolved! 

My dad has received a debt letter for Ovo (he was SSE) from a property he moved out of pre COVID. He cannot remember if he told SSE he was moving but had to move out as the landlord was selling the property, so we are checking dates he moved in to his current house.

The debt letter says it is for supply in 2023.

Who are we best to contact as we do not have an Ovo account number so are struggling to speak to someone to resolve this matter which is causing a lot of stress for him.

It would be best if you/he had any record of date of leaving the property - together with date of new accommodation. 
For that previous property, you don’t mention if the billing was via the landlord or direct to SSE (presumably direct if there’s a follow up).

Once you have some detail to submit, I’m sure someone can find a department to get in touch with. Hope you can find some paperwork. 

Hi @Traceystyles72,

I’m sorry to hear this.

I can see our forum volunteer BPLightlog has already given some good advice here.

Did the debt letter that you received have an account number on it? If so, you should be able to use this account number as the debt would be linked to it. 

Please contact our Support team so they can look into this further for you. I’m afraid we don’t have access to accounts via the forum so we’re unable to do this here.

Please let us know if you have any problems getting through to the team.

We are double checking the exact date he moved out, which isn't helped as the letting agent appears to no longer be in business but do have bank statements etc... at his new address and last date of paying the agency.

Billing was in my Dad's name, so whilst he moved out as the landlord/owner was looking yo sell the property therefore my dad did not have any surety the buyer would continue as a landlord he moved. It looks like the house was sold in May 23, likely the reason the debt letter mentions a June 23 date for the bill.

I've taken some time off work as suspect this won't be straightforward to reach the correct dept and will need to be with my dad to 'authorise ' I can speak on his behalf. He's 80 in December so will be looking at power of attorney etc.. after this to avoid situations like this happening.

As you can likely imagine, it's a lot of stress on an older guy to be hit with a bill like this.

HI that's good to know that the number on the debt letter should work. We tried to get through and felt like we went round in IVR circles trying to figure out how to speak with someone, hence the question of what is the best contact number for them.

I know I'll need him with me to authorise me to act on his behalf as he's finding this quite stressful and confusing as he thought he did everything correctly when exiting the property hence a £12k bill for a property he moved out of in 2018 has given him quite a scare.

Hi @Traceystyles72,

The team can be contacted by phone on 0330 303 5063 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm). 

This thread may also help: 

Please keep us updated.

I just moved to a new a house and the electric bill is going crazy. In less than a week I have £80 bill. How do I resolve this because it makes no sense. Especially when I’ve barely used any appliances in the property. Everything is switched off asides one or two heaters that come on at intervals. I’m thinking of going to a different supplier at this rate. Smh

Where do you see the £80 bill ​@chigboking ?

It’s showing on the smart meter ​@BPLightlog 

The Meter itself doesn’t know that you just moved in - that figure is for guidance only and should not be relied upon for billing.

Do you mean the smart meter itself or on the in home display (IHD)?

Yes so the meter that display the readings/ billings. That’s where that price is showing.  Even on the app for example on the 1st of Feb it says I consumed 40kwh which is quite shocking. 

In that case, please tell us what heaters/hot water the property has. That’d provide us with some clues.

So how long does it take to reset? 
the way the numbers keep flying calls for concern haha

my heater is electric uses heat pump. The heating can be controlled individually. I’m not really sure about the heater. But it’s powered just through the boiler. Now the boiler I turn it on once or twice a day for 45mims to and hour max. 

The info on the Meter will reset when your next billing cycle starts as long as it knows what that is. Some parts may reset on the 1st of the month however.

I have a suspicion that whatever your issue is, leaving OVO won’t fix it. But I need to know what heaters you’re running and what tariff you’re on.

I see. Heat pumps can use a lot of juice if used incorrectly. I will ask ​@juliamc to stop by as she might be able to help you get that under control. ​@M.isterW have you got a sec too?

See my tariff attached. How do I know what heaters im on?

Hmm… S2 EDMI meter…

Please also post photos of your heaters and we’ll identify them for you - best to include the controls too!

That’s the heater all around the house. 

Then I suspect I may have cracked the case. That looks like a fan heater… Yet you’re running on Economy 7? That’s probably a bad combination…

You should probably explore OVO’s Single/Flat Rate tariffs instead. Let me grab ​@Nukecad as he’s way better at the numbers than me!

Okay great expecting a response.