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

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G
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I was looking for an email address as well and I couldn’t find one. Here is a tip I use. Most companies staff have their own email addy, usually their name. So if you have someone’s name say John Smith, I would try to email John.Smith@ovo.com.  It might just work 

L
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Have you tried WhatsApp

Just type OVO Energy you should get an answer but might take a day or two for them to get back to you.

Firedog
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One other channel that has worked for me is Twitter. You can DM them and include pictures, along with your name, date of birth, address, postcode and OVO account number. It’s a good idea to tweet them as well to draw their attention to your DM.   

 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
C
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I had a similar thing happen to us. We’d only been in our new home for a month and first bill was for £800+. got it sorted today after a few phone calls.

im still waiting for a reply, but was given this email address today…

customer.support@ovoenergy.com

 

hope it helps and you get sorted out soon :)

nealmurphy
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I'm not sure what email addresses were given out by customer support, but email isn't the preferred method of contact for OVO. As others have said, try WhatsApp or the OVO bot. Official contact methods are on this page:

https://help.ovoenergy.com/#contact_us_container

R
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I'm not sure what email addresses were given out by customer support, but email isn't the preferred method of contact for OVO. As others have said, try WhatsApp or the OVO bot. Official contact methods are on this page:

https://help.ovoenergy.com/#contact_us_container

The OP was asked to send an email which would indicate that for sending a meter picture it was the preferred method.

Quote; “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 “

nealmurphy
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@rodman The OP was asked to provide photos. The email address they have obtained don't work, hence the suggestion to send the photos via WhatsApp or the live chat.

R
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@rodman The OP was asked to provide photos. The email address they have obtained don't work, hence the suggestion to send the photos via WhatsApp or the live chat.

You are missing my point. The OP was given that information from OVO on how best to send the picture of the meter. It may have been better by another method but that was the information given directly to the OP by OVO.

It is not right that the customer is constantly being misled by OVO’s inept customer service information and then are being told by members of this forum (with best intention) on how best to deal with the issue..

nealmurphy
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@rodman the email addresses that the OP obtained by searching online are unlikely to be current or monitored.

If @Lynnmcp need any more assistance there are several people here who can try to assist.

But the quickest way to send the images is likely to be attaching files to the live chat. 

L
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Thank you all for your helpful comments. The issue is still unresolved and there has been absolutely no response from the emails. I will attempt to send the photos to WhatsApp as advised on the forum. 
Thank you all once again

S
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Hello there,

 

Since July I have lived in my property and have been paying my bills (both Gas and Electricity) to a company called Better Bills. Since living here I would get letters from Ovo saying I owed them money. Each month I would ring up and say my case and that I’ve been paying my bills to a different company and I’ve been told multiple times over the phone I can just ignore the letters. Back at the start of December I received a letter saying Bailiffs would come to my property and have a writ from the court to take my possessions. 
 

I then called up and explained the situation and again was told to ignore all the letters. But now I’ve received more letters from the bailiffs and the final time I rang OVO I ended being on the phone for (in total) eight hours. I was put on hold for three hours at one point and then on my final call back the phone was put down on me. I’ve tried everything I possibly can to clear this debt and the company still won’t budge. Someone please help me?! 

BPLightlog
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Have never heard of Better Bills but you can check who your registered supplier is here

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/finding-your-energy-supplier-or-network-operator

Edit - just doing a search, the only company I can find called Better Bills are from Australia .. not sure what they would be doing in the UK .. unless you are in Australia?

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Blastoise186
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I think that company may have scammed you as well. 

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Firedog
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… I have … been paying my bills (both Gas and Electricity) to a company called Better Bills.

 

Does this company have a website where you can see the state of your account? Please share the address, if so. 

There are several companies with names like this, and several others offering a bill paying service, e.g. We help renters set up their bills and get instant WiFi • Billing Better. I suppose some users might think it worth £100 a year to be free of the hassle, so long as it remains hassle-free, that is.

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
S
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They do have a website just here!

https://www.billingbetter.co.uk
 

apologies it’s not Better Bills it’s Billing Better - but I’ve been paying my bills to them since the move in and OVO keep sending me stuff? I’ve also sent proof of me paying the bills from my bank as well as the bills from Billing Better and I’m still getting letters from OVO

BPLightlog
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Reading through the terms & conditions it looks like the company set up bills in their name but there is a condition that you remain responsible. 
I’m not sure that OVO accept this type of set up .. there’s another thread here on a similar subject. 
 

I think you may need to contact billing better and get details off them of payments made to OVO and how the account is set up

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Blastoise186
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Ok, so here’s what I think has happened so far. Probably worth mentioning I can’t guarantee it’s perfect.

  1. You moved into the property around July 2022
  2. You set up services via this “Billing Better” company in good faith, thinking - quite understandably - that they’d deal with everything on your behalf
  3. You were told that the electric/gas supply accounts had been set up and were ready to go
  4. You made payments to this company in good faith, on the understanding the appropriate portion would be forwarded to OVO
  5. “Billing Better” failed to pay OVO at all and simply gobbled up your cash
  6. OVO’s debt management journey triggered because the system noticed “your” account was in massive debt
  7. OVO probably ran a Trace & Search to figure out who was living at the property and found your details
  8. OVO sent debt collectors your way
  9. “Billing Better” completely ignored the piles of debt building up

I think you’re being scammed by that company. Just in case it helps, I’ve notified the forum moderators about this thread. IIRC OVO does NOT support this type of arrangement.

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S
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At first that’s what I thought that it was a scam - but when I contacted billing better for proof of me paying my bills they sent me documentation for each month saying that I have paid for both gas and electricity. When I provided this evidence to OVO they shut it down and have ignored my emails and have also put the phone down on me? 

Blastoise186
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But that doesn’t mean they passed the money to OVO.

That’s the issue at hand here. It sounds like Better Billing ran off with your cash and left OVO out of pocket.

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S
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But Billing Better have showed me the evidence of them paying for my energy! They don’t pay OVO - they pay a different company!! 

BPLightlog
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That’s why I sent the first link. You should check who supplies your address

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/finding-your-energy-supplier-or-network-operator

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S
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It says that Billing better supply me when I click on that link!! 

BPLightlog
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There seem to be a few similar reviews on Trustpilot https://www.trustpilot.com/review/billingbetter.co.uk?page=2

You need to be careful and get Billing Better to sort this out. The T’s&C’s of this type of company means that you can still be liable for your bills even if you believe you’ve already paid via BB

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Blastoise186
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Billing Better is NOT licensed by Ofgem at all. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/industry-licensing/lists-licensed-companies?sort=relevance

They should NOT be taking money for energy supplies in return for supplying energy directly.

It is impossible for them to actually be the supplier themselves, otherwise I’d have found their license in a matter of seconds.

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Blastoise186
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If you have gas, please look up your gas supply at https://findmysupplier.energy and tell us what comes back

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