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,

Please call 0800 069 9831 to fix this one.

Thanks

I have already spent endless hours on the phone and so did my son.  They are not removing my son’s account as they want private information he should not give, and they are not addressing the core issue that they don’t supply the property in the first place and that the final meter reading was paid by me.

Why do you think that calling that number will make any difference? 

That number is the collection department by the way.  The same people I have spoken to, as well as my son, with no results whatsoever.

The details they requested are required in order to disable the account. Please provide them to speed up the process, otherwise OVO is entitled to dig deeper.

Got a sec @Nukecad ?

That is illegal under GDPR.  They are not entitled to ask for private information from someone they haven’t spoken to before nor has any links to them.  Furthermore, after they remove my son, they will do the same with my daughter, won’t they?  Ovo needs to resolve the root problem, that no electricity has been provided by them to the property since March 2023, when the final bill was paid according to the final meter reading.

Am I saying something that doesn’t make sense?

It is legal for debt collections to do this. I’ve asked Nukecad to stop by and you’ll soon find out why.

OK thanks Blastoise186, let’s see what Nukecad says.  Let’s say that we send the information and they remove my son from the account, then what?  They will do the same with my daughter, won’t they?  Where does this stop?  They need to realise the property is no longer supplied by them,

The data does not come from the Electoral Roll - it comes from the Credit Reference Agencies - Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Someone has a credit agreement at your property so OVO can use Trace and Search to identify you that way, completely above board.

It doesn’t matter who supplies the property now, if there’s an outstanding debt from an old account of any type, whoever it’s owed to is legally entitled to chase it up.

If the matter gets totally solved, the process ends and nothing further happens after that.

I couldn’t comment on the legality or otherwise of OVO’s actions. I would though urge you (collectively) to take a pragmatic approach to save a lot of hassle and possible expense in the future. If your son is still living at home, all he has to do is make a statement that he is not responsible for household bills because you are.. 

The final bill you say you eventually received and paid should have been the end of the story. OVO must have had some reason (possibly wrong) for sending a subsequent bill, and by ignoring it instead of challenging it you have really brought this situation on yourself. Compare the amount they claimed with the costs you might incur - not just in money, but in time, too - by pursuing this apparent illegality. There are rules governing a supplier’s ability to ‘backbill’, but they don’t always apply:

You haven’t mentioned what the backbill was for, so I can’t speculate on the possible outcome of any further action you may take. If you’re sure you don’t owe OVO anything, all you have to do is write to them and say so and why. You can then dispute any substantiated claim they may make.

I’m sure that Nukecad will recommend that any further communication with OVO be done in writing.

Hi @gbuteler 

I believe that I know what is going on here, it looks like debt collection which is why Blastoise186 pinged me because I know about that stuff, and how to stop it.

.

I started to receive letters “to whoever is living in the property” and trying to bill for a certain amount that was owed.

“Was Owed” - Without knowing the details It sounds to me that OVO believe there is a debt outstanding from when you left them, and have instructed a collections agency to collect that debt.

(I personally have had similar from multiple agencies, one after another, after I left one supplier 3 years ago who were then trying to charge me for an invalid debt.
Which is how I know about it and how to fairly quickly stop the collection agencies contacting you. I quickly managed to shut each of them up everytime).

Can you confirm if these letters are actually coming from OVO, or are they from a collection agency saying that they are working for OVO?

I strongly suspect from what you have said that they are in fact from a collection agency.

Letters addressed to “The Occupier” are usually from debt collection agences, who have been appointed.instructed to collect a debt outstanding to a supplier.
(They have to send these as part of a legal process).

They may then use a trace service to find a name (any name) connected with the property and if they do then they have to send letters to that name at the property rather than just to ‘The Occupier’. (again it’s that legal process).

Do the previous letters addressed to “The Occupier” and now to your son say that they are regarding an outstanding debt?

If so then the “Account” they are refering to is a collections/repayment account with the agency, it is not a supply account with OVO at all.

There are simple ways to deal with that if that is what is happening, and I can help there with the right wording to use and advise how these things play out.

But first it is important to work out just who is sending you/your son these letters.

So to start with what company name is on the top and/or bottom of the letters?
I may even know the particular company and may have dealt with them (shut them up) myself.

If the letters are indeed from a collection agency then shouting at OVO is not going to help because OVO will not know what is in them or what the “Account” is because it isn’t an account with OVO.

Once you’ve confirmed just who we are dealing with, and that it is a collections agency, then we can go from there using the right methods.

Thanks all for the help. The letters that were addressed to the occupier (and that I dismissed because I had closed the account and there was no more Ovo meter) were coming from Ovo itself. The new letter addressed to my son is also coming from Ovo, but this was a letter about booking an appointment for smart meter. Having my son name on an Ovo account in my house was a red flag for me which is why I called Ovo. They have not (yet) send a letter claiming money. But it is concerning to me and my son that there is an account in his name and that most likely is (wrongly) in debit.  My son lives in the US as he is studying there and moved in September 2022, 6 months before I closed the account with Ovo. He comes here for holidays of course but technically doesn’t live here although he lived here all his life. 
 

I think you have a point Ovo believes there is an outstanding balance. When I closed the account the day BG came with the new meter and the Ovo meter was removed (I had to do this as I needed a three phase meter which Ovo was not giving me and BG agreed to install) their first final bill had the wrong reading. After flighting (and a photo of the removed meter which they took months to collect) they amended the final bill. It could well be they are trying to get that difference from someone, ignoring the fact that this has been my house all along.  However, this doesn’t explain the fact that I had a person coming to check the meter reading for Ovo. Shouldn’t they know there is no more Ovo meter? They took it with them!!

Thanks for trying to help. 

You say that it was OVO writing to you as "The occupier" or “to whoever is living in the property”.
Although I don’t understand why they would do that if they had your name all along?
EDIT- Yes I can now, it’s the standing charge for the single phase meter which was still there, and they could only write/bill to ‘the Occupier’ because you had closed your account.

Along with other things that you say then this no longer looks like a debt collection issue at all.

However something else that you say does sound much more likely to be the whole cause of what is happening here.

The circumstances of the meter exchange sound pretty odd to me.
You seem to be saying that BG replaced a single pahse meter and took you as a new 3-phase customer while you were still an OVO customer too?
Or at least saying that you had closed your account with OVO earlier that day, but hadn't switched from OVO to BG in the normal way.
Usually you switch companies first and then get the meters changed once the switch has been done.

As it appears to have been done in an unusual way then that may well be the source of your problems.
It appears that because of the way it was done then the removed single phase meter was never marked down in the DNO records as being removed, and so an MPAN for a single phase supply meter is still registered as being at your property.
That would certainly explain the fact that OVO sent a meter reader (because nobody was sending readings for the still registered meter) and why they think there is a meter that needs to be replaced.

It also explains why they were then sending letters to ‘The Occupier’ - someone was responsible for the standing charges that were accumulation for that single phase meter which was still there.

If the Network records still show that there is a single phase meter at the property then all the rest slots into place as explicable.

In which case it would be that MPAN record that you need to get corrected, backdated to when the meter was actually removed.
Until that is done then the Network Operator, and so OVO, believe that there is still a single phase meter at the property. (And standing charges are still being racked up daily).

I believe that would normally call for a 'Logical disconnection' request from the supplier to the DNO, but am unsure about the backdating issue, or just which supplier that would now be?
Presumably it would still be OVO to make that request as the BG 3-phase meter should have its own different MPAN?
@Blastoise186 do you agree with my thinking here? and if so do you have any advice on a Logical disconnection request in unusual circumstances?

@Nukecad Great insight!

Don’t forget the standing charge for that 1-ph meter if it’s still registered as being in place at the property. Eighteen months’-worth of standing charges is hundreds of pounds, to be haggled over.

I had realised about the standing charge, which could probably explain what was said about earlier billing to ‘The Occupier’, but if a logical disconnection gets backdated then those only apply up to that disconnection.

As for the account in the sons name, No Meter Point Administration Number = no supply account possible.

I doubt that BG did actually disconnect the single phase meter which after all was still registered to OVO, it would seem more likely that BG sinply fitted their own 3-phase alongside it.
They might have disconnected the OVO meter from the CU but shouldn’t have disconnected the OVO meter itself from the network.
In which case the standing charge would still apply but as the OP had closed their OVO account then they could only bill it to ‘The Occupier’.

I can imagine all sorts of shenanigans if a database controller were to allow entries to be backdated. There must be a process in place for ‘Sorry, I forgot’ scenarios, but I shouldn’t be surprised if some haggling between supplier and customer had to take place. 

Hey @gbuteler,

Sorry for the issues you’re having it sounds like a very stressful situation

It sounds like OVO believe there to still be an amount owed on the account.  You can use this online tool to double check your gas supplier. To find out who supplies your electricity will depend on who is your Distribution Network Operator (DNO). 

And then find out your supplier using the online tool provided by your local DNO below:

Western Power

SP Energy Networks

Electricity North West

Northern Power Grid

UK Power Networks

OVO will be able to confirm exactly what date your supply switched away from us using the national database & re-send you your final bill. It sounds like there may have been confusion arising from the meter exchange as we’d need to have obtained the removal readings of the old meter from the new suppliers engineer report & then the final & opening meter readings need to be agreed by a third party data collector. The new meter details then need to be updated on the national database by your current supplier. So it may be during this process something has been missed or gone wrong. I’d advise double checking the meter serial numbers on the meters against the ones on your statements.  

A final bill can take up to six weeks following a switch & this is an industry process, there are also factors as mentioned above that can delay a final bill being produced. 

It sounds like OVO believes there to be an outstanding balance on the account but the account in your name was closed & an ‘occupier’ account was created. When no one took liability for this period & outstanding amount & the occupier letters weren’t responded to it was escalated to a debt collection agency who found your sons name via trace & search. In order to remove his name he can show that for that period on the bill he was liable to pay bills elsewhere or you can advise you are responsible for the bills at that property. 

This similar topics may have some helpful advice:

forum_support will reach out for your account details & we can raise a complaint on your behalf, please keep an eye on your private messages. 

Sorry for the wait by the way @Nukecad , I was out on Volunteer duties all day and only just got back.

As far as I can tell, I think you were right. A Logical Disconnection might help, but it’d probably have to be the final step in the process of fixing everything up - do it too soon and it might fail.

Hi. I just received a letter saying that I am defaulting on my bills. I am a tenant at this house and I dont know who put my name on the bills. I used to send my share to the other tenant but he has moved out and he said he didnt put my name on the bills.

I can not login to OVO to see the details of the bill because i dont know what username and password was used to set it up in my name, or who did it. If i try to setup a new account, it says “Oops, we’ve encountered a problem” 

I live in a shared house and all the tenants have to pay their share of the bills, and since only my name is on the letters, i feel like my credit history is being ruined for no reason when I never even setup an account and now that the letters are in my name, I cant login to see the details and split the shares accordingly. 

Hi @ahmedm ,

These ones can be complicated and since @Nukecad is our expert on these matters, I’ll ask him to stop by.

In the meantime, I’d strongly recommend you try 0800 069 9831 to see what you can figure out with OVO.

Hi @ahmedm 

The utility bills in shared houses and HMO’s can be tricky to deal with.

Someone has to pay the bills, and somehow everyone has to come to an arrangement of who pays what, which of course can then cause arguments.
(She takes more baths/showers than I do, he leaves his TV on all night, etc, etc).

Been there, done that, the bills were in my name with my agreement.
I shared with 2 others, when I got the bills each quarter I added them up and simply split by 3, we were all content with that despite knowing that we actually used different amounts each.

However your issue is a different one if you did not agree to have the accounts/bills in your name in the first place.

What you describe can and does happen,
Someone has to be responsible for paying the bills at a property, and if nobody has created a new account after the previous bill-payer has left and closed their account then the company can reasonably (legally) associate a known ‘new’ tenants/owners name to the account and bills in such circumstances.

It looks like what has happened here is that a ‘Trace & Collect’ search has found your name associated with the property - and so they have used it for an account/billing.

See this post by Tim_OVO, it’s 2-years old but things haven’t changed:

To quote the relevant bit from that post:

Is it legal? Yes for change of tenancy scenarios, utility companies like energy and water sometimes have to create accounts based on information provided by people other than those actually responsible for the address’s utilities. It should be the landlord/lettings agent, and then the new tenants or owners, that reach out and give dates and readings. Sometimes the old tenant may give details of the new tenant, or the lettings agent does, or ‘ track and trace’. Sometimes a company may just address the bills to ‘the occupier. It’s a bit of guesswork in the absence of concrete information. 

I’d suggest that your course of action here is an official complaint to OVO that you have never agreed to be responsible for the bills for what is a shared/HMO property, and that it should be the Landlord, or their Letting Agent, who are responsible and who’s name should be on the account and billing.

You can find OVO’s complaints procedure here: Want to make a complaint?
 

Some general advice about making any complaint to anyone:
I suggest that you always use email (or letters) for a complaint so that you have a written record of everything that is said and agreed.
(When I’m complaining, etc. to anyone I ususally tell them that I will not discuss or agree anything over the phone it must be in writing, then if they do phone me I repeat that and refuse to talk to them).

You are understandably annoyed at whatever has happened, that’s why you are complaining, however:

Don’t rush things, type a draft but don’t send it, leave it at least a few hours before reading it again and correcting it and/or adding things you have thought  of now you have calmed down a bit.

Don’t indulge in ‘getting it off your chest’, name calling, or even abusive language.
Just state the facts of what has happened, and what you now want them to do about it to put things right.
Don’t go rambling off at tangents that might confuse things, stick to the facts of your current complaint.

Keep things calm, polite, and to the point, and you will get further, faster, than having a rant does.
(Also remember that sometimes complaints can escalate to the Ombudsman, or even all the way to a court, and anything that you have said and/or written may become evidence).

Hey @ahmedm 

Sorry to hear about this but I’m really glad a couple of our volunteers have already stopped by with some perfect advice here. Contacting our Support Team and raising a complaint will help in this case.

We have another topic similar to this which may also be helpful, but please do follow Nukecad’s advice here as they’re always spot on with these:

Keep us updated with how you get on.

i moved house as of 5 April 2023. Ovo is sending multiple debt collectors after me for bills from after 6 April 2023 for which I am not liable. I was no longer a tenant at the property. i had gone through a stressful and tedious process with the previous collector and after sending all the documents they requested to prove I had moved out including a final bill from Ovo made up to 5 April 2023, they confirmed the case was closed. recently ovo started has sent a separate debt collector after me. what to do? should i report this? Is this not a fraudulent and frivolous claim?

Hi ​@JL1001 

I made a post about how to sucessfully deal with debt collectors in such a situation, and without arguing or ‘proving’ anything to them.

It’s no use proving anything to them anyway, they can’t actually do anything about the alleged debt other than stop chasing you for it themselves. (until/unless they get instructed again).

As you have found, once you have seen off one collector another may be along who has been told nothing about the previous one(s).

If you want the supplier to stop instructing debt collectors then it’s the supplier that you have to convince that the debt doesn’t exist, and that may take the help of the Ombudsman.

Have you actually complained to OVO?
You need to do that before you can escalate things to the Ombudsman.
See: https://www.ovoenergy.com/feedback

You can find my advice post about seeing off collectors here -

Thank you so much @Nudecad, that’s really helpful information. I’ll try it out and see how it goes.

i sent an email complaint to Ovo but have not heard back and in the meantime am getting multiple calls from the second debt collector, so am very frustrated with how it is going (especially given that I had responded to and dealt with the previous one sincerely ie sent them all the proof they asked for).

It’s disturbing that debt collectors can legally operate like this, i.e. once the owner of the debt has given up and instructed them to try and collect, they approach anyone they can trace with a connection to the premises and demand payment.

[I’m minded of a story (presumably apocryphal) told me by a lovely French girl. She was a student in London, and got a holiday job as a shop assistant at Harrods. She was alone in the furs department at lunchtime one day when a rich-looking woman waltzed in and asked to see some coats. She eventually picked out a £10,000 mink (this was in the 1970s), asked for the labels to be removed so she could wear it and for the one she had been wearing to be packed up for her chauffeur to carry out. Simone obliged, looking forward to her boss’s praise as she bade the customer goodbye. 

It wasn’t until the others came back from lunch that she realized the customer hadn’t paid. She tearfully sought out the departmental manager and confessed what had happened. His reply: “Oh, don’t worry, my dear, there are only a dozen women in the world who would behave like that. We’ll send the bill to all of them.” She later discovered that five of them had paid.

​@JL1001 - don’t be one of the five!]