I'm switching away from OVO, why is there a delay for my final bill?

Hi Emmanuelle,

Thank you for responding. I switched to British Gas on 27-12-2023, and before that my OVO account had a credit balance of £248. Despite this, I am still receiving bills from OVO and they continue to deduct money from my bank account on the 1st of each month. As a result, I now have to pay both British Gas and OVO every month. Whenever I contact OVO, they assure me that they will resolve the issue and send me the final bill, but no one can provide me with a timeframe for when that will happen.

Kind Regards,

Elena 

Hi @Elena Wilson 

I’m really sorry to hear you’re no further forward with this.

I’ll have the Forum Support reach out to you to help get this resolved as I know you’ve been having difficulties for some time now. 

You should receive a private message here soon: https://forum.ovoenergy.com/inbox/overview.

Hi @Elena Wilson , what I did when I switched away was to cancel my direct debit (knowing the I was in credit). You would get a message but it would stop any further deductions. 
Also they obviously already have your bank details so it would not stop any refund due. 

Hey @Elena Wilson,

BPLightlog has given some helpful advice here, if your supply has switched away and you’re account has enough credit, you could cancel the direct debit.

My only concern is that it might be that British Gas have taken an incorrect address over, and that we still hold your supply? The support team should be able to check this information on the national database. If that’s not the case, it may be a delay in the final statement being produced.

Hope this helps. 

I have been with Ovo for several years but decided to move to E.on Next Drive with the EV - works better.  At the start of the process I was in credit to the tune of £1200 with a monthly payment of £300pm and actual usage around £250pm over the last year.

I initially asked for a refund but it (automation) would only give me £400 as it wanted 3 month credit to remain in the account.  I then transferred to e.on.  The next day (or so) I got an email saying sad to see you go - how nice.  We will refund you outstanding balance in 6 weeks - oh and the refund can take up to 10 working days!  That’s ridiculous it is not like they don’t have the data - we are on a smart meter with ½ hourly readings.

Anyway I don’t close the direct debit because they can’t send the money back if I do - so OVO say.

Three weeks later they take another £300 from my account.  This is insane so I ring customer service.   I am polite but point out that I would like my money back.  No deal you have to wait until the 8 weeks is up.  The rep at least had the good grace to agree it was an unsatisfactory procedure and delay and offered to raise a complaint. So I got an email yesterday asking me if my complaint had been resolved satisfactorily to which I replied NO.

Advice to others: make sure you get as much money out / balance as low as possible before changing supplier.

This is just standard procedure across the energy market - it’s designed to help you pay off the Final Bill as smoothly as possible and avoid Bill Shock. Whatever is left after that gets sent back to you automatically, after which the account will continue close itself down. The old supplier nukes the Direct Debit at that point, but once the Final Refund is in your bank account, you can 100% terminate the DD yourself without penalty.

It is best to let it run that way.

I moved my supply just over a year ago. I had the standard suggestions about timing and dd maintenance and whilst I understand the need to be assured of bill payment etc., I don’t know why the refund takes so long (but all suppliers seem to have a similar process ).

One thing I did, knowing that I was in credit, was cancel my direct debit - this is not needed for a refund as they have your bank detail - and although I was prompted to reinstate it (I didn’t), that prevented any further payments. 

Hi Blastoise

I get that. But the model assumes you are in debt to the supplier which I am not and suspect many are not given how they play around with the direct debits.

Just because it is standard procedure doesn’t mean it is right. Taking a months payment 3 weeks after the supply has moved and while the account is in balance to the tune of 3 monthly payments is just not on.

Anyway thank you for your inputs over the last few years. Always helpful.

Thankfully I am not depended on OVO for usage logging having registered with glowmarkt some time ago - e.on just send you a monthly bill as far as I can see.  It will be interesting to see how overnight electricity (0000-0700) at 1/3 the day rate works out!

What we need is a proper smart tariff comparison site to compare all these time of day tariffs now the market is getting so complicated.

Regards

Ditto  -  I moved to octopus and kept my DD instruction with the bank as  advised. Lo and behold a DD was taken after I moved, so I had to wait for that amount to be credited too. Perhaps OVO could change their advice ? Cancel the DD at the bank when you switch because OVO won’t do it.