How is it possible for my supply to switch erroneously?

@LorraineB I have flagged the ovo moderators in case that helps.

Hey @LorraineB 

I’m sorry to hear this is still an ongoing matter.

I believe the Forum Support team have been in touch with you and are currently working on this for you.

They have access to teams that we don’t, so they’ll be reaching out to teams in charge of cases or the complaints team. They’ll keep you up to date with any changes or if they have any other questions to help, they’ll let you know.

@LorraineB Who is your current supplier rather than OVO ?

Ovo Energy is the worst company I've ever dealt with. I've been with them since March 2023, paying my bills regularly through direct debit. But in November, I got a letter saying I was leaving and had a final bill. Turns out, they closed my account without even asking me. They claimed someone else registered at my address, so they opened a new account without checking with me first. It was a big mess, and I had to go through a bunch of paperwork to open a new account. 

Then, they sent me a huge bill of £1500, saying I didn't pay anything the previous year. After bugging them for two months, they deducted about £900, even though I'd already paid around £1100 until October. And the whole time, their customer service kept threatening me about my credit report if I didn't pay up. It's ridiculous because they messed up by closing my account without asking, and they don't even know how much I paid! 

Its a shame that as a company they have no idea how much money I paid. After that I sent them all the bills I got from them, but they haven't bothered to reply or fix the problem. Ovo Energy in Bristol is just a terrible company to deal with.
 

Hey @eh2asham,

I’m really sorry to hear this,

It sounds like you had an erroneous transfer on your account. 

Why have you let me know I’m leaving OVO when I didn’t request to switch?

Sometimes we receive a request for us to switch your supply away from us in error. Whilst it’s quite rare there’s a few reasons this may have happened,

• Human error - someone may have entered your address details accidentally when applying for a genuine switch
• Fraud - very occasionally fraudsters may use your details to apply for an energy switch (if the details held by the other supplier match your details it might be worth contacting your bank and checking your internet security procedures)
• Mistake in your address listing on the national database - If way your address is listed is unclear or incorrect this can cause issues switching. Check out this topic for more advice in getting this corrected.

When this happens, we contact the supplier who has taken the supply in error and request for them to switch the supply back to us. During this time, you’ll need to continue paying for your energy usage as once the supply returns you’ll be charged as though the supply never left. We aim to sort out an erroneous transfer within 12 weeks. 

You can find out more about this process here. 

Can I get compensation for an erroneous transfer?

Yes! If you’ve been switched by mistake, on or after 1 May 2019, you may get compensation.

You’ll get a minimum of £30 for the inconvenience. The maximum is £120, which is payable if your energy isn’t switched back to your original supplier in a timely way1. The new supplier (the one you’re switched to) is the one that pays up.

This rule was introduced by the energy regulator, Ofgem.

If you’re concerned about the size of your bill, it’s worth checking the meter readings used have been actual readings you’ve submitted and not estimates. 

I hope this helps. 

Massive deja vu. A year ago there was an Erroneous Transfer on my account - assuming the meters got mixed up due to being in a flat (though don’t know for sure, as it was never explained).  It took months of sorting, back and forth and me finally going to the ombudsman to sort out. 

Now almost exactly a year later it’s happened again! Whilst waiting for the supply to be returned (or not, who knows what OVO will do this time), I get an email that there is a ‘Meter Reading Dispute’ - well of course there will be, there’s an erroneous transfer taking place. Why does another department in OVO not know what’s going on?

How do I stop this from happening?  Is there anything I can proactively do?  

Mand

I went through an ET last year that took months to resolve; eventually went to Ombudsman - they saw in my favour and sorted it out. 

However a year later i’m back with another ET on my account and looks like the same story.

Why is it possible to switch to a different supplier quickly but not have it returned in the same time frame when an ET complaint is made. Why at no point do the energy suppliers contact the customers to figure out what has gone wrong or make sure the details are correct? 

This process seems flawed and it’s not just OVO, seems like most energy companies have not managed to work out how to deal with this problem adequately.

Hi @ADickson,

I’m sorry to hear this.

If a customer keeps erroneously transferring, it’s usually due to an address issue. Your address could be listed incorrectly on the electricity national database or could be very similar to a neighbours address. So when the neighbour signs up with a supplier, the supplier takes your supply in error. 

Do you know how your address is listed on the national database and is it all correct? 

It can take up to 12 weeks from raising an ET until your account is fully back up and running. During this time your billing will be paused, however we’d advise you to continue paying your usual monthly Direct Debit This means you’ll build up a credit balance to cover the cost of your energy used as you will be issued an up-to-date statement from the date that your supply left us.

It may be worth contacting our Support Team so they can look into this further for you.

This thread might also be useful:

Hi @ADickson, 

I’m sorry to hear you’ve experienced this. I’ve responded to you on this thread.

Thanks, I've read references to the 'national database' but no links. Where do I search or check for this information?