Why did I get a 'Sorry you're leaving' email when I don't want to switch from OVO?

I have received an email saying i was switching supplier. I didn't ask for this, spoke to an agent who said it was an error and but to worry, only to receive an email today telling my final balance and I had let them know I had moved out of my property which I didn't and haven't! Another call later and it is now saying I'm in debt and I'm leaving on Thursday, how do I stop this or even find out why it's happened, and can they leave me without gas? Thanks

Going through this too (and went through last year). Contact OVO again to let them know and get a case number. This will help with chasing updates. But it can take a while as the suppliers chat to each other (and ignore the customer!). If they take over a certain time laid down by Ofgem (sorry don't have link to hand) then you are owed some compensation. 

However like I said it can take a while to sort (months for me) and I ended up going to the Ombudsman. So document everything! However I wasn't left with electricity so you should not have your gas cut off. 

Hi @caggymcc,

I’m sorry to hear this.

Sometimes we receive a request for us to switch your supply away from us in error. Whilst it’s quite rare there’s a few reasons this may have happened:

• Human error - someone may have entered your address details when applying for a genuine switch
• Fraud - very occasionally fraudsters may use your details to apply for an energy switch (if the details held by the other supplier match your details it might be worth contacting your bank and checking your internet security procedures)
• Mistake in your address listing on the national database - If way your address is listed is unclear or incorrect this can cause issues switching - check out this topic for more advice in getting this corrected.

If you receive an unexpected leaving email, contact our Support Team to let us know you don’t want to go. They can put a stop to the impending switch and find out which supplier’s making the request. You’ll also need to make sure you let them know that you don’t want to switch to them as they may reattempt the switch.

This thread might also be useful:

Noticed I have a Welcome to Octopus Energy message on my smart meter display and TOP UP REJECTED.

I had an erroneous switch back in December 2024 and only realised this happened when I received an email from OVO saying sorry I was leaving them. They blamed the switch on human error.

Surely this hasn't happened again? 

Oh and my year old smart meters have stopped working now for a month. OVO won't send an engineer out until meters haven't been working for 32 days. 

This isn’t usually either supplier’s fault, but rather a third party who made a mistake. See the article What is an Erroneous Transfer (ET)? | The OVO Forum 

When you say your smart meters have stopped working, do you mean they’ve stopped measuring your consumption (blank screen or unchanging readings)? Or that they’re just not sending data to OVO? Or something else?

It’s unusual for a smart meter to stop measuring - that’s their primary task, after all - but for more than one to fail in this respect at the same time at the same site is pretty well unheard of.

Yes BOTH Smart Meters have stopped sending readings 

OK, thanks. That’s not strictly the same as ‘stopped working’ - I suppose you can still read the meters yourself and submit readings manually, just like you would with non-smart meters. 

This page explains how your readings are supposed to get to OVO: How do smart meters send readings? | Smart DCC. It’s the Communications Hub (CH) on top of the electricity meter that sees to all this, so both meters can be working as intended, but if the CH can’t communicate, readings won’t make it to the supplier.

You could try using this little utility, which will tell you if (a) the CH is communicating with the smart meter network (WAN), and if it is, (b) whether the devices on the local Home Area Network (HAN) are working properly:  n3rgy data Smart Meter check.

• Enter your MPAN (the 13-digit ID part) and tick the tiny confirmation box, then click Check meter.
• If you then see a detailed report, you can safely ignore any warnings about expired certification or missing firmware updates. Any other warnings may help explain why your readings aren’t getting through.
• If you can’t make sense of the report, copy it and paste it into your reply here. Please obscure any GUIDs and MPAN/MPRNs in the report before posting: they could be misused by any criminals watching.

PS It would be a good idea to submit manual readings tomorrow morning, on the first day of a new quarter. This should ensure that the next bill isn’t based on estimates.

Hi ​@PurpleArmy72, and thanks ​@Firedog for your help here as always.

​@PurpleArmy72 you’ll need to get in touch with our Support Team who’ll raise the Erroneous Transfer case to Octopus if you’ve been switched to them. We’d also recommend contacting Octopus  to let them know what’s happened, and to ask them to switch you back to OVO. If you contact the erroneous new supplier this normally speeds things along. Sorry this has happened - it’s normally when a new supplier tries to take over a neighbouring property, but takes the wrong one by mistake. 

As for the smart meters not working - this may be because of the switch of supplier, and Octopus haven’t yet got in communication with the meters.

Let us know how you get on 🤞

Smart Meters haven't been sending readings since the 3rd March 2025. Was informed I cannot book an engineer until 32 days have passed in case they start working. 

It's extremely inconvenient trying to take readings as my electric meter is 6ft on a wall which means having to climb a ladder.

​@PurpleArmy72 this is the case with smart meters - they do normally start working again, however after a month of them not working we would book an appointment. If you’ve already taken reads recently then don’t worry too much about taking them most days - we would only take monthly reads from a customer with traditional meter generally. 

Have you raised the Erroneous Transfer with us yet?

Why has ovo said I'm leaving my address and set up a new one and now I have two? 

Hi ​@Matt5050 ,

I think you may have messed things up there. Rather than creating a new account, you should have objected to the existing one being closed down.

Please contact OVO ASAP to sort this out:

0330 303 5063

https://ovoenergy.com/help - Live Chat

You haven’t given any details there.
Is there more that you could tell us about what happened?

eg. Have you tried to change your tariff? Say from variable rate to a fixed tariff?

We have seen occasions where someone trying to change thier tariff has mistakenly used the ‘Get a Quote’ webpage - which is for people switching supplier to OVO.

Using that ‘Get a Quote’ and accepting the quote opens a new account.

As said you will need to contact support to get things corrected.

Hey ​@Matt5050, 

Review the community advice shared above. ​@Nukecad  has provided excellent insights into the potential causes of the issues you're experiencing. Please share any recent updates or relevant information you may have; this will be very helpful.

Please see the contact options provided by ​@Blastoise186 above to reach our Support Team. They can help resolve these issues and get you back on track.

Let us know how you get on.

Receiving this e-mail, 9p.m. on a Saturday night has got me so stressed! Now I can't get it sorted till Monday. This is soooooo not okay! Moving is hard enough and I was ages making sure everything was in place for continuity, taking my great credit with me and being a loyal customer. I'm really upset!

Is it possible that OVO has to do this so that a supply from them can resume at a new address?

Hi ​@Technophobe ,

If you moved house recently, that email is probably the old account.

You have to start afresh for this.

I am moving house in twelve days. I have never signed up to any other company or contract so I don't understand why OVO's e-mail stated another supplier was involved?

That would be an Erroneous Transfer. Someone else is trying to switch the Supplier. This wasn't initiated by OVO, but you must contact OVO immediately to raise an Objection.

Ok, thanks. I can't get hold of anybody till tomorrow apparently. How quickly can this be stopped?

If done correctly? Immediately to 24 hours.

I'll call first thing tomorrow. Very stressful!!!!! Do you mean immediately within 24 hours of moving in or speaking to OVO tomorrow?

Tomorrow. The process is rapid, but you must initiate it otherwise the objection won't work

Very many thanks!

No worries. Sorry for the short replies earlier - I was on a train and had to keep them short so that they actually got through. Now that I’ve got a full-size QWERTY in front of me, this one will be far easier than poking thumbs at a 6.9-inch touchscreen.

The biggest thing to know here is that if you raise the Objection fast enough it’s pretty rapid.

Otherwise it’s a slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow process via Erroneous Transfer.