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November 26, 2023
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2nd final bill 8 months later!

  • November 26, 2023
  • 34 replies
  • 3313 views

Has this happened to anyone else?

I left my property end of March 2023, OVO took a meter reading in February 2023. I received my final bill in April and was in credit and received a refund. 

8 months later (November 2023) I received another final bill. I now owe over £1000 and I have been charged over £60 in arrears.

Unfortunately the person in customer care couldn't help me as "they had to raise a case" I am now left worrying myself sick as I have no money to pay this bill.

Best answer by Jeffus

Updated on 22/07/25 by Abby_OVO

Thanks @Jeffus 

 

I moved out of my owned property in March. I then had a period of 6 months before moving in to another property.

 

This bill is from 25th March 2021 - Feb 2022??

There is no challenge from March 2023

Obviously I can't be certain as I can't access your account.

But that does seem clear cut from what you have said.

The period 25th March 2021 - Feb 2022 is more than 12 months before your Final Bill in April 23 you mentioned in your first post.

Under the back billing legislation that is unlawful to try and bill you now for that period.

In your situation given what you have said I personally would put in a complaint, outline all the details and ask for compensation, typically something around £150.

I wouldn't personally wait for ovo to complete any investigation they have already started.

What they have done appears unlawful.

I would also ask them to make sure your credit rating has not been adversely impacted.

https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

@Emmanuelle_OVO may have some more suggestions.

You can include a link to this thread in your complaint 

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/switching-suppliers-and-moving-home-144/2nd-final-bill-8-months-later-16588

Here is an ofgem page on back billing

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

And here is some text from ovo

 

What is a back-bill?

 

We send a back-bill, or ‘catch-up’ bill, when we haven’t charged correctly for energy use. This can be through inaccurate bills or not being billed at all. Back-bills can be for any amount, and may be a result of:

  • Technical or human error on the member's account which has meant that a statement hasn’t been received within the regular timescale
  •  A customer has provided a reading that is higher than previous estimated readings used on their statements.
  • Mismatch between the data OVO holds and the actual setup of the meter for example crossed meters, or if a customer had a meter exchange which wasn’t updated before the switched to us

 

What is a Back-bill Write Off? 

 

Where we've issued a back-bill for usage over 12 months old, not covered by payments made at the time and the reason for the delay in this billing is not the customer's fault, we'll apply a write-off. This back-bill write-off will be a credit applied to the account to cover the difference between the updated usage and the payments made at the time.

The main situations where we'll write off usage prior to 12 months ago are: 

  • We haven't billed the customer
  • We've billed an account but not for all usage at the property i.e. only one fuel was billed
  • We've billed the customer inaccurately due to a technical or administrative error

There’s a similar topic which I’ve linked below which may also be helpful:

 

34 replies

Newcomer
May 10, 2024

I moved house on 11th Sept 2023, had a final bill issued in October, then a refund of over £1800 issued as I was over paying (Another issue, but not this one!)

 

Today I got an email with a bill for £237, with no explanation or anything

 

Spoke to a uninterested and unhelpful person on the webchat, who just said it was an error and they over-refunded me.

I got no explanation as to how (Surely system safeguards should prevent this!), a generic, insincere apology and no clarity as to what is going on.

To me, it sounds like its an OVO problem, no longer mine. I consider all our dealing finalised after the final bill (Clue is in the name, surely!)

7 months of silence, then a bill with no explanation, no apology or anything other than a demand for payment is grossly unprofessional, and ridiculous

Chris_OVO
Community Manager
Community Manager
May 10, 2024

Hey @DundeeSwordsman

 

I’m really sorry to hear about the email you received. It must have come as a bit of a shock. Sadly, we don’t have access to accounts to look into this for you. I’d recommend speaking with our Support Team, and they will be able to give you some answers. They can also file a complaint if you are unhappy about how this was communicated. You can find our Complaint Handling Statement here, https://bit.ly/3DcsZdj, along with more information on our complaints process: https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback.

 

I hope you get things resolved soon! 

Renewable energy jokes never get old.
Newcomer
June 10, 2024

Hello, 

In december i moved from ovo to enather company, in february  they sent me final bill £450, i paid it, and i got prove from ovo the final bill is paid,

But now 4 months later they sent me enather final bill £105 pounds,

Loks like they will keep sending now evry few months final bills, i think its time go ask solicitor about that becose it smell cheat, 

Shads_OVO
Retired Moderator
Retired Moderator
June 10, 2024

Hi @Peter2312,

 

I’m sorry to hear this. 

 

Did your final bill have an estimated reading on it? Did the property have smart meters? It sounds like the final meter readings might not match the opening reading from your new supplier. It may be worth contacting Support so they can look into this further for you.

 

These threads may also help -