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?

Hi ​@SimonFF2 ,

This is probably one for the Collections Team. Please try 0800 069 9831 in the first instance.

Otherwise… https://ovoenergy.com/feedback

Thanks

Actually they do make sense, £46 looks like a years Standing Charges for an empty property, but it’s not your bill. (Unless you own the empty property).

If you moved out of the property in July 2023 then, unless you still owned the property, you were no longer responsible for the billing after that date.

Because of what is now happening I am assuming that it was a rental property and not a property that you sold to someone else. Is that right?

What will have happened is that nobody moved in after you had left; so nobody has taken over the bills. That makes the Standing Charges the Landlords responsibility to pay.

So OVO are now chasing for payment - But they don’t have a ‘named’ account for whoever was responsible for the bills after you had left in July 2023.

In such circumstances either OVO them selves, or a Debt Collection company acting for them, will run a Search/Trace to try and find who is responsible to pay.

Because of the nature of such a search it will often more easilly find the previous tenant, (ie. you), rather than finding the landlord who isn’t on the Electoral Register etc. at that property

What you need to do now: Don’t just ignore the letters.

You need to look if the letters are from OVO themselves or from a Debt Collection Agency. Whichever one it is is the one you need to reply to.
(If the letter is from a  Debt Collector then to stop them sending more you have to deal with them and not with OVO).
Reply to the letters simply stating that you moved out of the property on such a day of July 2023 and so any bills accrued since that date are not your responsibility.

Don’t get into long discussions or debates with them, just simply keep saying “I moved out on such and such a date, any bills from after then are not my responsibility”.

I wrote a help article on how to deal with these kinds of letters.
Read and digest the ‘Important Facts’ in the opening post; and then you’ll want link#3 "Letter addressed to you by name about a debt at a property that you have now left."

Yes, I understand now.

In the meantime, I was finally able to speak to the collection department in South Africa, and that was their reasoning: the refund they gave me last year was "a mistake". They refunded me too much and now, a year later, they want the money back.

The agent that you spoke to was clearly wrong.

Telephone jockeys in any organisation will and do often make on-the-spot ‘guesses’ about things, some of those guesses can be very wide of the mark.
Especially when they haven’t listened to you properly and/or haven’t understood what you have told them.

You already have proof that it is  NOT an overpayment of a refund.

You said in your first post that it’s an itemised billing for July 2023 to July 2024.

Don’t rely on anything said over the phone by an agent when you are complaining about something, as you have found here, it’s often a ‘guess’ said without checking the facts. It can easily be denied later that they ever said it, you have nothing written down.

You need to deal with such matters in writing, ie. email or letter.

I say in that article that I linked (did you read and digest it?)

Tell them that you require that all further communication must be by email or by letter and that you refuse to discuss anything on the phone, it they do ring you then inform them again and politely hang up.
(Having everything in writing avoids “you said/no I didn’t” type arguments that can arise with phone calls).

I also say repeatedly in that article, and repeated it above - don’t get into any discussions or debates (and particularly not on the phone)

Stick simply to - “I moved out on such and such a date, any bills from after then are not my responsibility”.

​@SimonFF2 I hope you’re well, and welcome to the OVO Forum.

​@Nukecad has given some great advice here that’s absolutely spot on. Your details would have been passed to us incorrectly by a third party like a Letting Agent or Land Registry through the ‘Trace and Search’ process. You’ll need to raise a complaint about this (you can find out how to do this here). I’d recommend doing everything by email, as you’ll need to send in the Tenancy Agreement for the old property showing the dates you were there. If you don’t have this, a council tax bill would be the next best thing. 

Once Customer Services have received this from you then they’ll be able to reverse the Trace and Search account that’s been set up, and remove your name and details from the incorrect account. They’ll also be able to remove any negative credit file markings if any have been sent to Experian. By all means reference this Forum topic to Customer Services when you speak to them.

This is a stressful thing to happen, but is also a very common occurrence, and is easily resolved by our staff. Let us know how you get on!

I got a text yesterday saying “We’ll call you in the next 15 minutes to discuss the resolution of your case” but then I received no calls. What should I do? And what timeframe have they got to reply to my complaint?

Hi ​@SimonFF2 that’s really frustrating to hear. When you raise a complaint you should hear back within 48 working hours.

If you’ve had an email from your complaints handler I’d recommend replying to that email requesting a call back. If you haven’t received any email you can email in at hello@ovoenergy.com. You can also try calling on 0330 303 5063.

Let us know how you get on.

​@Ben_OVO I did received an automated email from hello@ovoenergy.com on Saturday.

Should I contact the complaint department again?

​@SimonFF2 if you haven’t received anything since the complaint was raised I’d definitely get back in touch with them. It’s a shame - you shouldn’t have to do this, but it sounds like you’ve been left without contact for too long. 

for ovo customer service….URGENT

ovo have sent letters and final notice with serious warnings to my empty property (removed by moderator).

this property is completely empty and unoccupied since June 2025.

In June I paid the outstanding bill and closed the account. No more dealings with OVO.

now it seems a new contract was opened on that property, not requested by anyone. (removed by moderator). Please tell me how a contract can be created with no end user agreement and how I am liable.

I tried to set up one of your online accounts but it says OOPS and cant go any further. these estimated readings are ridiculous, it should be zero. why have you been sending bills there when noone has set up an account?

please reply by return email....today...indicating the final notice bill is void so I can sort out this situation without worrying. I am 90 years old and that letter is very upsetting and making me ill.

The old account was (removed by moderator). I just logged in again and confirmed account closed. how was a new account created?

So....who authorised the contract? how am i supposed to create a website account (not that i want to but how else to sort out this mess)?? 

please reply immediately.

regards,