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

A, there are over a years worth of letters piled up so the “process” is obviously quite laboured

B, some of the letters were from debt collectors so that hasn’t worked 

C, I have now given them the name of the previous owner twice so not much tracing to be done!

D, my mother has proved beyond reasonable doubt that she is the new owner of the property and she did not live there when the debt was accrued

So regardless of your “process” it is still harassment of an older vulnerable woman who has moved to a new area and knows very few people.  I don’t really care how you dress it up, it’s very poor behaviour in anyone’s book.

Hey @ledwards01,

Sorry to hear that it’s causing your mother stress, I can imagine it’s a frustrating situation to be in. 

When a customer has a final outstanding debt and we’ve exhausted our internal collections procedure, the account is placed with an appropriate Debt Collection Agency (DCA).
 

Once it’s been escalated to a debt collection agency they are then in charge of chasing for any owed monies. The debt is then passed to them. Do you remember the name of the agency or have any letters from them? If so, I can tell you their contact details. 

If so, my advice would be calling them to advise that your mother now lives at the property and the previous tenant has moved out. 

You’ve mentioned your mother is over 65, if she isn’t yet on the Priority Services Register I’d advise getting her added. There are free services and support that may be helpful yo her. 

There is also the option of raising a complaint if your mother is unhappy with the service she’s been given. 

Hope this helps. 

I have received a letter addressed to "The Occupier", requesting payment for a “final energy bill” (“we’re sorry to hear you’re leaving. We’ve attached your final energy bill to this letter”) for dates (30th June - 10th July) before I moved into the apartment (11th July), so a bill that the previous tenant would be responsible for. The account number on the letter is different to my account number. The letter wants payment within 14 days.

I contacted OVO via online chat and provided them with my details and account number, the date I moved in, the account number the bill is charged against and the dates on the bill. Though the rep asked for no evidence (e.g. my tennancy agreement) for these dates, which I would have been happy to provide.

The service rep told me that “[I] can disregard [the letter], as you're not liable for it.”, and that the interaction would be noted.

I just wanted to check that there is nothing else I need to do to avoid any further issues with this, and to ensure that this bill doesn’t come back to me? 

Hi @TedFQ ,

Yup, you can disregard that one. You’re NOT liable for anything related to a previous tenant. Feel free to let your landlord know too if you wish.

Once you’ve informed OVO, that’s really the end of the story as far as you’re concerned.

Hi @Blastoise186,

Thank you for replying so quickly.

Do you think the online chat and the detials I provided have been sufficient to “inform OVO” and ensure it’s logged in their system?

I’d say so. The live chat interaction will have been logged and the agent should have made notes.

What you say on the forum is considered “off-the-record” for OVO’s purposes, but you can still refer to it if you wish.

Ok thanks, the agent did specifically say that they would make a note of it, so hopefully they did. I’ll leave it as is for now and see what happens at the end of the 14 days indicated on the letter.

If any other letters arrive I’ll give them a ring, though hopefully the live chat will have sorted it.

Can anyone help I have exhausted every avenue and no one is helping 

my son recently moved in to an apartment ( mortgaged) he set up a temporary account so he could switch from OVO to a new supplier which has gone through successfully and final bill paid no outstanding balance.

HOWEVER …. He is constantly receiving letters To the occupier , and since we have no idea the last letter informs of a dept collection agent being involved. We have phoned / emailed/ spoken to collections/ web chat / spoke to the resolution team / emailed a letter of completion showing date from solicitors ……., and all we get is …. Ignore the letters …. How do we stop the letters and stop a dept collection calling . 
I have today emailed Ramans team I’m honestly exhausted 

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Hi @S-Lou,

Thanks for sharing this and I’m sorry to hear there’s letters being sent.

If your son set up an account with OVO when they got the keys to the property, and then switched supplier (which would be confirmed with a final bill from OVO and a new account with your new supplier), the letters sent to the occupier will relate to period before. That period relates to the previous occupier. It sounds like there is an outstanding balance for that account. Your son can carry on ignoring those letters. Although they might consider getting the previous occupier (or the agency involved in the exchange) to contact OVO to provide a forwarding address.