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

Hi @NiallSC and welcome to this customer forum. There’s a guide here and if you’ve already set up an account then we are told you can ignore anything to previous customers usually addressed to The Occupier. 
Hopefully you have a meter reading from when you moved in. 
 

I am hoping I can get more help her than I can from the number on the OVO letter. 

We moved to our current property in the end of Jan 2021. We contacted OVO and gave them the meter readings and informed them we were switching to a new provider. All was fine until a year later and we got a bill saying we owed them 27p. Weird but we paid this as it was the small amount we used while the switch took place.

Cut to this morning and we have received a Notice of Default saying we owe them £2772.19, but they are not our energy provider.

We called the number and entered our account number on the automated system but it said it didn't recognise it.

Spoke to 3 individuals who all hung up on us when we asked about the bill (not great customer service)

Has anyone had anything like this before?

Obviously we aren't paying as we have never received energy from them.

Hey @Wafer85 

Sorry to hear about this, and the trouble you’ve had trying to get it resolved. 

We don’t have access to accounts here at the Forum, so we wouldn't be able to see the reasoning for this. 

I’m going to get our Forum Support to reach out to you, to see if they can find the reason for this. Look out for a Private Message in your inbox. 

Hi @Wafer85

Worth checking who is registered as your gas and electricity supplier

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/moving-home-your-energy-supply/find-out-who-your-gas-or-electricity-supplier-is/

Is the Notice of Default from OVO or a 3rd party? 

Our supplier is Octopus, we switched as soon as we moved into the new property. This is also reflected on the find my supplier link.

I am having a conversation with OVO now, although they haven't responded for a while.

Hey @Wafer85 

I know we’ve instructed the Forum Support to look into this for you, but it would be good to know how you got on with the Support Team yesterday? 

I called the support team and they said the account remained open when we switched to the new provider when we moved into the property 

What they couldn't tell me is why we had an open account in the first place. We were never with OVO, the previous home owners were. The only contact we had with you was to notify you that you will no longer be providing energy to the property.

The person I spoke to did a simple search and found that Octopus has been the energy provider since Jan 2021, but couldn't explain why a Notice of Default was sent to us for £2772.19 when you haven't been providing us with energy!

He also refused to close the account until we send through the meter readings from 2 years ago to resolve this matter.

Obviously, I not very happy!

I now need to get in touch with my actual provider, get the first set of readings and then give them to OVO to close an account we never opened.

Oh, and the Support person who opened a private chat yesterday requested my details at 12 and still hasn't responded, so I had to call the support line.

In case it helps. 

When you move into a property you are put automatically with the previous supplier whether you want to stay with them or not. You don't get a choice.

So you would have been with OVO for a bit before actually joining Octopus as switching is never instant. 

So that is why you will have an account with OVO, albeit a short one. You don't get a choice. 

I don't know obviously, but you may find a meter reading dispute is raised. There may be a discrepancy between the final reading left by the previous occupiers and your starting reading. 

https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/guide-to-meter-reading-disputes

The answer Ovo gave to this is not actually true, my mother bought a home on 21st August and immediately registered with Ovo (on 22nd) and set up a direct debit.  She continued to get threatening letters addressed to the occupier.  I complained on 7th September and was told to ignore them as they were computer generated and couldn’t be stopped until they had a name to chase.  I gave them a name to chase and was told she wouldn’t recieve any more letters.  Received 2 more letters 2 weeks later.  My mother is in her late 70s and is extremely worried that bailiffs will turn up.  Spoke to Ovo again yesterday and they told me the letters would stop but couldn’t confirm it in writing because her emails weren’t working.  This is basically harassment of old and vunerable people.  Disgusting behaviour especially when we have proved that the debt does not belong to the current “occupier”

Hey @ledwards01,

Sorry for the experience your mother has had, it sounds very stressful.

Unfortunately if a previous occupier owes money on the account, we need to follow a collections process where letters would be sent to the property regarding the arrears. After a certain point, the letters would stop and we pass on the information to a debt collections agency who will find the details of the previous occupier through trace and search. They’ll then be able to track them down at their last known address. 

But we’re unable to go to a debt collection agency or court before we’ve shown we have attempted to contact the occupant who didn’t pay for their energy usage. 

As long as your mother has an account set up in her name from the date she was liable for the property she doesn’t need to worry about any occupier letters. She can return to sender. She isn’t liable for these bills. 

Hope that helps.