Solved

Moved into new property and I owe previous tenants bill, why?



Show first post

156 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +1

No worries. :)

Keep us posted here on the forum with how things go. I’ve got more advice handy if you need it.

I moved into my new flat this week and have set up my account with OVO who were already the electricity supplier here.

No problem doing all that but today in the post I received a demand letter addressed to the previous tenant “or current occupier” stating that if the £318 they owed wasn’t paid, I may get cut off.

There was no mention of this when I was on the phone for 20min setting up my account and I’m sure this will all be resolved in time but does anyone know the best way to sort it?

When I ring the 0330 303 5063 number, there’s this long-winded recorded message followed by options that are pretty useless.

In the letter, there is a phone number I can ring to pay the money owed but that’s all.

I’m just after the best/quickest way to contact them and resolve it.

Thanks

Userlevel 7

Hey @OCDean,

 

Welcome to the OVO Online Community,

 

Just to re-assure you, you can ignore any letters addressed to ‘The Occupier’.

 

They’ll either be for the previous tenant, interim period between tenancies or have been sent out before an account was set up in your name. It can take 5 working days before you’d get a Welcome Pack and your account is set up.

 

This similar thread might be useful to you:

 

Hope this helps.

Hey Emmanuelle,

I did find that thread and a couple of others after I’d posted mine and reading them gave me both a bit of reassurance as you all said to ignore the letter, but also a bit of trepidation as some of the OPs were still getting letters and grief long after it was supposedly sorted.

Will see what happens but are you sure I don’t have to ring OVO up and tell them about it? Just ignoring it doesn’t quite seem right.

Just to re-assure you, you can ignore any letters addressed to ‘The Occupier’.

 

How about one addressed to the previous tenant that arrived today?

I could see it was from OVO so I opened it (sue me). OVO have now passed his details on to a debt collection agency for what is now a £384.98 debt.

The letter states that these debt collectors could apply for a warrant to enter my home, install a pre-pay meter or disconnect me. They may also remotely switch my smart meter to a pre-pay one!

So I guess I now just sit and wait for these debt collectors to contact me or come banging on my door.

Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Opening post addressed to someone else is a really bad idea. You could have committed a criminal offence. You should write "not known at this address. Return to sender" on it and send it back.

Userlevel 7
Badge +2

@M.isterW I know that’s the law, but you would hope the sender responses to mail being returned month after month. I think whoever receives returned mail just bins it. Not Ovo’s approach of course !!🤞🏻

Userlevel 7
Badge +1

We're trying to help you stay out of trouble here. It would be appreciated if you would take our advice seriously. Opening post addressed to someone else is illegal if you don't have their permission and is a criminal offence. It can carry a two year prison sentence and a criminal record to go with it.

The only legal things to do are either hand it back to the postie if they're still nearby, pass it to the intended recipient yourself if you know how to get it to them, or return it directly back to the sender unopened. Usually, the easiest way is to just cross out the address, mark the envelope with something like Not at this address, return to sender or Not known at this address, return to sender and chuck it back into any post box or hand it in at any post office, since the sub-postmasters and branch staff will always be happy to take these things off your hands and arrange the returns process on your behalf. In some cases, you can just tick a box on the envelope rather than writing on it and some businesses may allow you to hand the item in at one of their locations. Banks for example, will often allow you to return misdelivered items to any of their branches and they’ll then take care of the rest.

But if you’re ever unsure, it’s best to contact the sender if you can identify them from the outside of the envelope, or contact Royal Mail on 03457 740 740 for advice.

In the case of OVO, the Support Team on 0330 303 5063 or the Collections Team on 0800 069 9831 should be able to help you out in cases like this one - and in particular they will be happy to help you out with returning letters that aren’t for you if you’re having trouble doing so yourself. The Collections Team can also put a stop to further letters once they’re able to verify that you’re unrelated to any debts owed. By the same token, the Support Team can shut down any erroneous accounts and/or move the previous account from the previous customer out of the way to free up the supply for you to take on, once a few checks have been completed.

Don't just bin it either! As strange as it may sound, doing that means you’d also be committing a criminal offence by “indefinitely delaying delivery” and can likewise carry a six month prison sentence.

You will never owe debts from a previous customer and debt enforcement will never be taken if you can satisfy OVO that you’re completely unrelated - this also goes for any warrants, disconnections or enforced meter changes. As long as OVO is satisfied that you’re not the debtor, they can terminate and recall any enforcement action that was placed against you.

Please bear in mind that over 99% of the users who help out here (including myself) are forum volunteers. We don’t work for OVO and we just help out here because we enjoy it. The same goes for @M.isterW and @juliamc .

It goes without saying that the contents of this reply should not be treated as legal advice.

Hello,

I am new to OVO, having only inherited a supply in July.

My property is empty and the power turned off. The smart meter has recorded a usage of 6 units so far.

I have received a bill and paid it. Today I have an email to say there’s been a fault with the system and I owe almost £1,000 !

I am only asking if anyone else is aware of any billing system faults please?

Thank you in advance.

Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Hi @churcha ,

This sounds like an extremely rare issue. Have you spoken to the Support Team yet? https://help.ovoenergy.com . Or the Collections Team on 0800 069 9831 ?

Userlevel 7

Thanks for flagging this, @churcha - very strange to hear about this bill. If you’ve moved into a house supplied by OVO, the point that we charge you from is dependent on the date of the move in, and the meter reading used. If we estimated a reading and then an actual reading was provided (for example, from the previous occupier), a rebill can be prompted. See our Moving Home guide here


The best thing to do will be to get an actual meter reading from the property, and make sure we have it, by submitting it online. Whilst you’re on the online account, have a look at the bill and the readings used, have a look at the usage sections. That way you can better identify what’s happened. If need be, our Support team are on hand as @Blastoise186 has mentioned. 

Hi Tim, many thanks for that, it’s appreciated. I received a call from OVO in respect of this.

The long and short of this is that the lady informed me that she had taken a ‘live reading’ from my smart meter, and recalculated the bill. It has changed from almost £1000 debit to a credit balance of £60+.

I am pleased that someone took this up for me, but have to admit to being perplexed as to how a ‘Smart’ meter could cause this.

Thanks again.

Userlevel 7

Hey @churcha,

 

Really glad this is sorted,

 

It sounds like some of the meter readings on the bill may have been estimated. The best thing to do is to take a meter reading when you move into a property, that was you can ensure you are billed from the correct reading. 

 

Sometimes smart meters may be set to ‘monthly’ meaning only one reading a month is taken, I'd advise switching to daily or half hourly from now on to ensure all your billing going forwards is accurate as possible. 

 

Hope this helps. 

Dear OVO Energy,

I hope you are doing well. I have a question for you. We just received
our first electricity bill and it says that we are being charged from
21st of October 2022. However, we started our tenancy from 4th of
November 2022 in this address.

Could you please look into this matter? We are being charged for
13/14days more than when we lived here. I have attached the bill to
this email for your reference.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you
Regards,
Ayesha

Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Hi there @Ayesha Aboni ,

I’m really sorry about this, but I’m afraid I can’t help you with this one as it’s an account specific query. If you can give OVO a call on 0330 303 5063 or Live Chat via https://help.ovoenergy.com you’ll be able to get the Support Team to assist. Please have a copy of your signed tenancy agreement ready as this will help a ton.

I’ve had to ask a forum moderator to remove your address to protect your privacy.

@Tim_OVO @Emmanuelle_OVO one for you guys to respond to please.

 

@Ayesha Aboni this is a public forum and I am concerned that you have put your address on here. This forum is for advice only and not complaints resolution I’m afraid 

@Blastoise186 @rcneedenergy thank you for your suggestion. I have removed my address from the question.

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Thanks for understanding! :)

While I can’t remove the flag status from your post myself, the moderators will know that the address has been removed so they’ll close it out for me when they get chance.

Don’t worry, you won’t get in trouble either, I’ll make sure of that! :)

Userlevel 7

Hey @Ayesha Aboni,

 

Welcome to the OVO Online Community,

 

We can’t access customer accounts here on the Forum. But this should be easy enough to resolve, If you contact Support they can amend the date your contract started and you’ll be sent a revised statement.

 

Hope this helps. 

I moved in my address in July 2022, I took over the account in July 2022. I made payments for the usage of previous tenant from June 2021 until July 2022, which was already paid by the previous tenant. I want to request a split bill with him since I moved from July2022 to current time. All payment made for the period of before July 2022 should be amended.

I have reached tried to call more than 10 times regarding this and have not been helped. I need to get this sorted as soon as possible as I have been charged for other people usage.

My account has been automatically migrated from SSE to OVO without any of my knowledge. No one is willing to help me with this issue.  

Please let me know who to reach out here and how to get this issue resolved ASAP.

Userlevel 7
Badge +1

Hi @udhungel ,

The best thing to do here is contact OVO’s Support Team and provide proof of when you moved in. A signed and dated tenancy agreement will be absolutely perfect for this purpose.

You really do need to set up your own accounts as soon as you move in and shut those accounts down as soon as you move out in future though, as it helps to prevent this issue.

Hello,

actually I do not have the tenancy agreement as I moved into my friends house (he was already a tenant). What I did was I took over the Gas and Electric from my friends name to mine in July 2022. I have his old account number (was under SSE) that made the payments from July 2021 to July 2022. The payment proof is there in his account and I made those same payments again when I took over the account.

What is the way to get this sorted? I have contacted support but they do not give me clear directions on what needs to be done to get this issue resolved for me.

Userlevel 7
Badge +1

I see. This isn’t the way you should do it and you might have unintentionally corrupted the account. Let me ask @Emmanuelle_OVO to stop by a sec.

Userlevel 7

Hey @udhungel,

 

This is a slightly complex one,

 

Are you on the tenancy?

 

I think  for a bill to be in your name you’d need to be liable for the property or on the tenancy. If your friend was the one named on the tenancy, they’d be liable for the bills, unless it’s in the contract for the landlord to pay. If there were two simultaneous accounts though, where you were both being charged for the same period, this is incorrect and one of the accounts should be closed, the statements reversed and any payments refunded. 

 

Did you ever have an account in your name? If so you’ll need to contact their Support Team about this. 

 

Hope this helps. 

Hi. I have been asked to provide photos of our meter readings. We’ve been in our new house for only 7 weeks and have been told we’re £1600 in debit which is crazy! I’m not running a bakery or running the heating with all the doors and windows open! Despite trying 3 different email addresses- all given to me by customer services or by searching online I cannot seem to get through. Has anyone got any idea of Ovos contact details as I am getting extremely frustrated! The last person I spoke to, literally just today, gave me an email address that doesn’t exist. 

Reply