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Rank 1
mcpoland
Rank 1
July 17, 2023
Solved

Account closed then demand for money 6 months later!?

  • July 17, 2023
  • 13 replies
  • 2706 views

I moved house in March 2022, and sent photos of meter readings (twice) to close my account.  My account was in credit and for no reason given, Ovo was not able to process this until late May 2022.  
 

Suddenly, in June 2022 I received an email saying there was a “meter reading dispute” but again, no information given.  I don’t see how there could be a dispute when I sent photos of the meter.  I assumed this was a mistake and didn’t reply.  In September 2022 I got a demand for money, for a property that I hadn’t lived in for 6 months and since then have had demands for money, now threatening debt collectors

I opened a complaint on 13th June 2023 to ask for this to be resolved, and have had no response apart from a further demand for money today (17th July) so clearly the complaints process is not working

How can I get Ovo to address this ?

Best answer by Abby_OVO

Updated on 23/07/26 by Ben_OVO

Hey @mcpoland 

 

Sorry to hear about this.

 

Did you receive a final bill from OVO when moving? If there had been a credit after the final bill was calculated, any remaining credit would have been automatically refunded to you after the final bill was taken into consideration. I’d have a check on your account for any final bill.

 

Check out these helpful topics for more on this below:

 

 

 

It’ll be best to get in touch with the Support Team to discuss this matter as we don’t have access to accounts here at the Forum. 

 

Thanks for the info, appreciate it.

Thing is, my final bill was issued and a refund provided, so the account was closed.  But then it was unilaterally re-opened and the demand for money started!

Hi @mcpoland 

 

Sorry to hear about this, it sounds like you might’ve been affected by an issue with the meter readings we used to open your OVO account.

 

If you think there is an issue with this reading they’re now trying to use our Support Team should be able to help get things sorted, and explain what changed to cause the account to open back up. They may request another set of meter readings to help recalculate what the reading should’ve been around the date your account moved over. 

 

Depending the difference between the readings, we may need to get this verified by the energy industry  by following a process known as a ‘Read Dispute’ - you can read more about this here.

 

As Jeffus mentioned, it would have been handy if the Reading Dispute was addressed originally, and may even have been avoided, but as the disputed change may be over 12 months ago, the team may be able to look into  a write-off. 

 

What is a Backbill Write-Off? 

 

Where we've issued a backbill 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 backbill 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

 

13 replies

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C
Rank 2
cwebster17
Rank 2
February 12, 2024

@BPLightlog thanks for your reply! After going through every bill I’ve found the error - I had a smart meter installed mid month and although the meter readings match up, the original bill seems to show a math error adding up the amount of energy used on the old meter and that on the new reading. This was then carried through every month since. So the new bill appears to be correct but would’ve been nice to have that explanation from OVO rather than having an unexplained bill show up. Thanks for your help anyway! 

    Firedog
    Super User
    FiredogSuper User
    Super User
    February 12, 2024

    Just to point out that if the difference that’s just come to light dates from more than 12 months ago, you’re probably not liable for it. You can’t be charged for energy consumed but not billed more than a year ago: Back-billing explained | Ofgem  

    Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |
      C
      Rank 2
      cwebster17
      Rank 2
      February 12, 2024

      Thanks @Firedog, I was hoping this would be the case but unfortunately the first wrong bill was 11 months ago 

        Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement

        OVO Energy Ltd, Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ, (Company no. 06890795) registered in England and Wales.

        OVO (S) Gas Limited is registered in England and Wales (Company No. 02716495) at Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ.

        OVO (S) Gas Limited is part of OVO Group Ltd