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?

​@Firedog , indeed! It is the first time I’ve encountered a situation like this. I underwent quite a lot of distress from the first debt collector as they threatened to take me to court and dent my credit rating - even though I had a final bill from OVO and proof of my move out - and insisted I get further signed documents from my previous landlord (which I went to pains to get - and the case was closed following that). 
 

This debt fishing tactic should be made illegal! The collectors should not be allowed to harass people like that.
 

Not quite, I'm sat in the pub with all my clothes on. 🤣

☢️cad

​@Abby_OVO please can you look into this and have the team STOP harassing me. I have sent an email to OVO per nudecad’s advice but nobody has responded and today I am getting calls from BPO again. It is fraudulent of OVO to be trying to claim from past tenants (in this case, clearly with a final bill as of the move out date) for an unpaid bill owed by another person.

Morning ​@JL1001 

Sorry to hear of what’s happening hear, I can fully imagine how frustrating this must be. If you’ve had no email back from Customer Services at hello@ovoenergy.com, you can try emailing again or calling. I’d also recommend speaking to our Social Media team about it. You can send them a private message via Facebook or Instagram / X using the handle ‘@OVOenergy’. I have colleagues in the Social Media team that are trained in reversing Trace and Search cases - if you contact them and request that a complaint be logged they’ll get it sorted for you. When you do get through to someone, please also ensure that they recall the debt from the DCA (Debt Collection Agency), if you’re being contacted by one. 

I’m sorry you haven’t had this fixed already, it’s a quick fix as long as we have proof that the tenancy has ended, eg a council tax bill or Tenancy Agreement - you’ll need to forward one of those to the team when you speak to them. Trace and Search is a means for debt collection where details for the possible tenant of an OVO supplied property are passed to OVO by third parties such as Landlords, Letting companies and Land Registries and, sometimes, these details can unfortunately be incorrect. 

Please keep us posted as to how you get on - I hope this is resolved soon for you 🤞

​@JL1001 

Did you read the post that I gave you a link for?
Here it is again, click on this green text:

Read this if you want to stop debt collectors harassing you.

It tells you there that complaining to a supplier will do NOTHING to stop a debt collector from contacting you.

You have to stop them yourself - which you do by following my advice in that post.

Thanks ​@Nukecad , yes, I did send an email to BPO per your advice but have not gotten a reply and the team are still harassing me over calls. It could be that the teams within the agency are not speaking to each other. Maybe it will take time but I am just very frustrated that I am getting these threats for something I am not responsible for…
 

​@Ben_OVO thank you. My partner and I had spoked with OVO over the phone during the time the first collector came after us and they assured us the account was close with nothing to worry about. Why am I still being contacted by a new debt collector? This should have been resolved already…

​@JL1001 very frustrating! Have you tried contacting the Social Media team? They’ll be able to ascertain what the issue is, and they can recall the debt from the debt collector as well - there’s a form that the Advisors fill out and send off to recall DCA action. Just to confirm - OVO can recall debt from a DCA if the debt was sent to them by OVO - this is something we do whenever we see this exact type of situation.

Let us know how you get on!

In that case then next time they call:

Remind them politely that you have already instructed* them that you require* all communication to be by email or letter, and that you will ignore any further attempt at telephone contact.

Don’t say any more other than ‘goodbye’; hang up there and then - don’t get drawn into discussion.

Then stick by your word and either block the number or ignore all calls from that number.
(Personally I go the ignore route and make a note of date/time everytime that they phone after being instructed not to, as evidence for if I do want to prove harassment).

If you do answer one, by mistake then just repeat that you have already instructed* them that you require* all communication to be by email or letter, then hang up.

instructed and require are important words to use, they let the DC’s know that you are serious and have probably taken advice.
(They are also much stronger words to use than ‘told’ and ‘want’).

Thanks ​@Nukecad and ​@Ben_OVO . I managed to contact the OVO team via social media and they are looking into it. Will let you guys know how I get on!