I moved house and closed my OVO account but my details have been found through 'trace and search' - how can I stop the debt collectors contacting me?

Morning ​@kgoodenough99 

I’m really sorry to hear that this is happening - very very frustrating 😔. It does sound as if this has happened through the ‘Trace and Search’ process where we’re given details for who lives at a property by third party contacts such as Land Registries, Landlords, the Post Office etc. Sometimes the info we get given via this process can be wrong, as may have happened here by the sounds of it. 

It really sounds like this has been going on for too long. If you’ve raised a complaint you should have been given a complaints reference number. You’ll also have a dedicated complaints handler who needs to remain in contact with you until this is resolved. If you’ve received an email with your complaints reference number I recommend replying to it and asking for an update, and asking them to reverse the Trace and Search and also recall the debt from the Debt Collector (these are both things we can do when the Trace and search process has gone wrong). 

The only other thing I can think is that the complaint was raised but wasn’t escalated after a certain amount of time - when you get in touch ask them to escalate the complaint if that hasn’t been done already. Let us know how you get on - good luck with it. There’s a few Forum posts by people who’ve had the experience like this one:

Cheers.

Hi ​@kgoodenough99 

What has happened here is unfortunately pretty common in rentals.

Your initial response in complaining to the energy supplier is also common but (again unfortunately) it is the wrong approach to take.

You need to stop the Debt Collection agency themselves, complaining to the supplier will not do that.

You need ro be clear in your mind that it is not the supplier who is chasing you; (the supplier already knows that your account with them was closed before the debt arose), it is the Debt Collection Agencey who is chasing you and so it is the Debt Collection Agency who you have to stop.

What has happened:

• You moved out and closed your energy account, exactly as you should.
• Someone moved in a couple of months later and opened a new account.
• OVO want paying for those couple of months, if the property was not let then that should be the landlords responsibility, but the LL never opened a new account when you moved out.
• OVO have instructed a Debt Collector to chase the money owing for that couple of months the property was empty.
• The Debt Collectors should be chasing the landlord for payment, but their systems see you as an easier target to go after first.

What's happening now:
Once the Debt Collectors are on the job:

• They will look for a name, any name at all, that is connected with the property where the debt arose - and yours came up as their favourite because you had been living there.
• They will then trace that name to an address and send demands for payment to that name/address.
• They are not bothered if they are correct or not, they are just chasing debt from anyone who will pay it.

What you need to do next:

• You need to contact the Debt Collectors not OVO.
• You need to tell the Debt Collectors that you are not liable for the debt because you had left the property, and can prove that. (Provide proof such as your final account from OVO).
• Tell them that any further demands for payment of a debt which is clearly not your debt will be classed as Harassment, and reported as Harassment to the regulator.
  (Emphasise that word - harassment - it has a serious meaning for debt collectors).

What happens after that:
The Debt Collectors should back off, but they may try to give some more waffle, however you just stick to your position which is -

1. You do not recognise that debt and do not owe that debt.
2. You have sent them sufficient proof that the debt is not your responsibility and do not need to engage any further.
3. As they have proof that the debt is not yours then any further demands for payment will be regarded as Harassment.

If they don't back off then do complain to the FCA that they are Harassing you. Such a complaint has very serious consequences for debt collectors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An alternative way to stop Debt Collectors -
As you have already made a complaint to OVO then there is an alternative, similar but slightly different, approach that you could take with the Debt Collectors.
See my post here:

After recovering my email account after a good while checking my inbox have received an email from Ovo Energy saying my latest bill opening date 26th February 2025 £3076.31 in debt and closing date 25 March 2025 £3140.89 in debt. I don't understand how or why I'm being sent this bill as I was with another company who i took with me to the new house in July 2019 i was on a payg meter and my company took over a week or so later and there was obviously no debt otherwise I would not of been able to change Energy Company and I had move out around 4/5 weeks being there  because of being infested with rat's, then around 3 weeks in to being there the ceiling fell through from the bathroom that was the room above but my wonderful (Landlord) wouldn't fix ceiling or get pest control for rat's  and because of my physical health I moved out and took my company with me to the new place and  when I moved back to London a year later I closed my account with my Energy Company but now I'm worried about this and them trying to take legal action against me as I'm not sure if or where my paperwork is too prove I wasn't living there in the past 5 years.

Hi ​@Blu3wolf 

I’m the forum volunteer who usually gets asked to look at these billing/debt collection issues.

So lets see if we can work out what is going on here, once we know exactly what has happened then we can work out what you need to do about it.

As you have written it above that is all a bit confusing to follow.
(It usually helps readability if you use spaces to divide it into sections rather than just a solid wall of text).

Trying to pick the bones out of it - and please correct me if I have read it wrong - lets take it in small stages rather than trying to do it all at once.

So to start with could you answer these first few questions and once we have the answers we can go on from there:

1. You have been emailed a bill, from OVO, for a property where you no longer live, is that right?
2. Does that bill have your name on it?
3. When you did live there OVO was not your supplier, is that right?
4. Were OVO the supplier at the property when you first moved-in in 2019, ie. before you switched to your own choice of supplier?
5. Have OVO ever been your supplier, are they your supplier now?

Hey ​@Blu3wolf 

Sorry to hear this.

I’m glad to see one of our volunteers has already stopped by. If you could answer their questions it’ll be helpful in getting you the best advice.

I’ve linked below to a few topics which might be helpful:

Further information from yourself would help too.

I ended my contract with OVO energy two years ago  in 2023. Last Friday 20 June  I received a bill for £288.46 which they say I owed from that time. Furthermore,  I had to pay this amount by 04 July otherwise I might be charged another £15. This caused me acute anxiety and I spent 2 hours going through my online bank statements. It became clear to me that I owed nothing. In fact I was paying by Direct Debit until my final payment of £27.72 which I paid using my debit card. I rang OVO this morning and they admitted they had made a mistake. I have no idea how a mistake like this could have been made.

Hi,

   Sorry to hear you that you had issues with billing, I've been with OVO for 4 years and not had any major issues, in fact I was refunded for an overpayment that I wasn`t aware of 😊.

I`m also a but confused why you posted this on a OVO Forum when your no longer a customer,

at least your sorted now and got a refund 👍.

Shelle, it was interesting to learn of your issue. It does prompt us all to check all bills, transactions, statements etc that go through in our daily lives. Even in big well organised businesses mistakes can and are made so it was good you kept the “paperwork” to prove an incorrect billing.

Glad it’s all been sorted quickly by OVO Energy.

Hey ​@Shelle,

I’m sorry to hear of the stressful experience you’ve had, but I’m glad it’s been resolved. 

Sometimes the final meter readings a customer is billed to can change & they are re-billed. For example, if a customer moves out of a property & doesn’t provide a reading so we estimate the final bill & then the new tenant send us a meter reading after they move in & it’s out of line with the estimate. Or, in the case of a switch there can be a read dispute, in which the final estimated reading is out of line & one of the suppliers challeges it. 

But it sounds in this case like there may have been an administrative mistake. 

The following topics may have some helpful advice on this topic:
 

Hope this helps.