How do you get into debt on a PAYG top up meter?

Hey @Martynca,

@Blastoise186 is correct in saying that a meter can have active credit and debt at the same time. We see this where customers that are in vulnerable positions ask for help and we can add credit to the meter to support them. This debt is then added to the backend of the meter and the customer can choose how much they pay off. We normally find that customers may choose the minimum payment and will continue to pay that off until completion but they will still top up as normal outside of this. 

We don’t have access to accounts to find out what exactly is causing your issues but if you call the number that he suggested above then one of our lovely Support Team can look into this with you. 

Keep us updated on what they say after you call 😊

I've contacted the ombudsman, due to the lack of trying to get my money back from an estimated bill the cost me £640 when I was payg.

Hi @Jez8t3,

I’m really sorry to hear this. 

I’m afraid if your case is already with the ombudsman then we’d be unable to help with it here. 

You’d need to contact the Ombudsman directly via:

• Phone: 0330 440 1624
• Email: enquiry@ombudsman-services.org
• Website: www.ombudsman-services.org

Have you already got a complaint raised with OVO? If so, you should have a complaint handler who should be personally dealing with this. It’s worth noting that the Ombudsman wouldn’t be able to take this on if your complaint is less than 8 weeks old. If this is the case we’d be happy to reach out to your complaint handler for them to get in touch. Please let us know.

Well 640 disappeared from my account 

Hi @Jez8t3,

I’m really sorry for the issues you’ve been experiencing, that’s definitely not the experience we want for our customers.

I’m going to have our Forum_Support team reach out to you so they can help you further with this. Look out for a private message here soon: https://forum.ovoenergy.com/inbox/overview

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Hi @Jez8t3,

Apologies, try this link - https://forum.ovoenergy.com/inbox/overview

Why, when I pay for my electricity by pre-payment meter, do I have a bill for £3000, which - as far as I can see - is an estimate?

Hi @Emil Ciora ,

We can’t access accounts from here. Please call 0330 175 9669 or use Live Chat via https://ovoenergy.com/help .

Thanks for understanding

Hi @Emil Ciora,

I’m sorry to hear this.

Have you managed to contact the Support team yet so they can look into this for you? 

These threads may also be helpful:

Please keep us updated.

I am currently waiting on a smart meter installation in a no signal area so I am still on traditional pre payment meter which has served me well over the years, never had an issue with top ups etc, never been in debt with it , get an official meter reader  in twice a year so why are ovo sending me estimated bill usage ? Am in a 2 bedroom house and have actually cut back on the heating this year due to costs and the removal of the winter fuel allowance, I pay as I use so why are ovo sending me high estimates?

Morning ​@janie, hope you’re well.

Could you confirm - have OVO actually sent you a bill? If you could send a screenshot of what you’ve been sent that would be really helpful. Please remember to erase out any personal details like your full name, address, account number and meter serial number etc. Once we can see this will be able to see how we can help.

Cheers!

​@Ben_OVO 

This is my correspondence since April, you will notice a massive error in September by ovo which was rectified and an apology sent, then January predictions, then the latest April predictions. We have turned down our heating this winter due to costs and removal of the winter fuel allowance and still pay as you Go 70 pounds every week, we know exactly what we use and pay for it as we use it. We had a meter reader at the end of September and hopefully due another one shortly. I wouldn't mind your views on this.

Thanks

Hi again ​@janie,

Thanks for sending this in, very helpful and much appreciated. I can see there has obviously been huge discrepancies with the forecasted usage. I just want to put your mind at rest and say that you should take all of this with a very big pinch of salt. Because you are a Pay As You Go customer who doesn’t have smart meters, the forecasted usage won’t be correct, and we won’t be charging you for anything like the figures quoted. You’ll continue to pay via the meter itself, and we won’t be sending you a bill because you’re a Pay As You Go customer, so it’s all handled on the meter if that makes sense?

We’re regulated to send these communications to customers, but the forecasted usage figures are only as good as the data that’s put into them, so they only really become accurate when you’ve got smart meters. Try and ignore what you’ve been sent - there won’t be any bill incoming and you’ll continue to top up on the meter.

I hope this makes sense, and please do let me know if you have any other questions.

Cheers.

​@Ben_OVO 

Thanks Ben, my reasoning all along in this never ending saga is I pay as I go for exactly what I use and know what to cut back on as and when  I need to.  If and when I  ever get a smart meter installed in my no signal area I would hope for an improvement regarding estimates etc. Thanks again for your reply. 

Hi 

Hoping someone can answer this query for me. Just received a bill from OVO, was transferred to them back in November from SSE, (pay as you go), not my choice didn't know until I received a letter informing me of the change, saying I owe them £573. Even though I am on a pay as you go top up smart metre ALWAYS  IN CREDIT and like a lot of customers on here I tried contacted the various so called customer service department and was hung up on or had no clue how to resolve the issue.

I've read on this forum and other Internet websites this dept as I understand what OVO says comes from migrating debt from SSE.

I've been in the property for a few years now, when I first moved in, energy supplier SSE there a was a £30 dept on the metre from past resident, which I cleared and was later refunded, a new meter reading taken and tarrif set and regularly topped up never in debt. 

Being a new customer I contacted OVO to make sure the meter reading was correct, I was on the correct tarrif and everything was set up correctly, there was no mention of any debt at that point. I always ensure my meter is topped up and in credit because I spend large amounts of time away working. 

SO MY QUESTION IS HOW DO I OWE OVO £573 ??????

My answer is I DON'T!!!!! But stressed me out all the same!!!!!!

As I see it I have done my part to ensure everything was set up correctly with both suppliers, always ensured my meter is in credit, so why am I being send a bill surely the supplier is at fault. It seems to be just by reading the questions on this forum that I am not alone in dealing with his situation and with the lack of support from OVO it seems to be a very long stressful drawn out process which involves government bodies and organizations getting involved.

WHY??????

Hi ​@Skaman ,

I suspect this is just another lingering effect of the data quality issues that SSE suffered from and OVO is still battling to fix. It’s unfortunate and very hard to truly stamp out.

I’ll ask ​@Nukecad to stop by as I think he’s a better match for this one than me.

There's not much I can add at this point, apart from yes we have seen some errors crop up with the transfer from the old SSE accounting system.
They do usually get sorted out in the end.

You need to contact customer support once the Easter holidays are over and try to find out just why they think that you owe them.
(I'm sure that you already do this, but when dealing with any company's customer support it pays to be calm and polite to the person you are talking to, you may be angry but shouting at someone will make them less inclined to help you and more likely to try and end the call quickly).

If support can't help you then it would be time to escalate things to a formal complaint.
I'd strongly suggest that is done by email, so that you can write down exact details of what happened, making it easier for the complaints team to track things down.
Include everything relevant, dates, meter readings, etc. and try not to go off at tangents.
When things are in writing they can be referred back to, plus it avoids any "You said …, no I didn't" arguments.

Hopefully it can be sorted out before it comes to the stage where you are getting letters from Debt Collection agencies.
However if things should progress that far then we have a guide on how to deal with Debt Collectors:
How to respond to letters from debt collection agents

Hi Nukecap

Thanks for the advice and that's exactly what I will be doing after the Easter weekend hopefully this can be dealt with swiftly but as with so many people I've read about not just on this  forum but many websites when dealing with OVO I'm not holding my breath.

Yes I am annoyed and stressed out by this whole situation I find myself in with OVO. 

Over the years when dealing with similar situations I don't get angry I get educated and do my research and always remain calm and polite with the person on the other end of the call as you said there no point in shouting.

I honestly feel sorry for anyone who has to deal with similar situations getting hit with massive bills or hiked up monthly charges for energy supply it can be very stressful especially when you don't get the support you need. Thanks for you guys help it much appreciated.

Keep your chin up people!!!!!!

It’s an unfortunate situation made worse because SSE had a terrible system that messed up so many records.

OVO had to spend tons of time trying to manually fix a lot of accounts during the migration. It remains unknown if they’ll ever get them all 100% fixed up.

Just to note that I myself migrated from SSE to OVO, and it all went without a hitch.

Yes there was a debt carried over from SSE, but I already knew that SSE had not been setting the DD’s high enough and so a debt was building up.
It always pays to do your own DD calculations and keep a close eye on things.

Well Nukecap you must be one of the lucky ones I'm happy for you 😀.

Update on my situation:

Just spent the last 4hrs on the phone and yes I kept my cool was polite, didn't shout at anyone even though the little voice in my head was raging lol. Very frustrating!!!!!!!

The first lady from the Squad 7 dept I talk to for over 2hrs tried to help me as best she could, if she couldn't answer my questions would politely put me on hold and found out for me. Some questions she did avoid answering but eventually found out it was accumulated debt caused by a faulty meter old meter that went into none discount mode, been like that since 4/4/23 to 4/4 /25. Did question why the meter was not replaced and seemed a little strange she wouldn't answer the question which I asked on 3 different occasions if the debt was passed over from the year before. Overall I did manage to receive quite a lot of information very helpful but still didn't manage to sort out the problem.

2nd and 3rd ladies, 1 from the resolution depart and 1 from the customer service dept were again helpful with my account now being investigated by the dispute dept and I was told all the credit I put into meter will now be deducted from the dept.

Is it just me but surely you would do that first before sending out a bill saying you are owe money.

Overall I think like so many OVO customers I'm in for the long haul on this one and this is just the first step. At least I managed to get some useful information about why but still have more questions than answers lol.

Can anyone answer this one.

As far as I'm aware (did a bit of googling about it) the energy supplier is by law responsible for the maintenance of the meter, so if this meter was faulty has been showing the wrong information, put itself into a none discount mode, wrong tariff because it's faulty, by default they own the debt and it should write it off. After all I always regularly topped up the meter always in credit and put meter reading when required. 

Thought please?????

Belucky!!!!!!!

Just to let you know I'm a pay as you go top up customer not DD customer. 

Thanks

You mention “squad 7” there, did you mean ‘squad 70’?

There is a “squad 70” who are specifically dealing with the RTS shutdown and meter changeover, which can all get pretty complicated.

RTS meters are somewhat special in the overall energy market and the RTS signal being shut off has been an ongiong issue for a number of years - it's now coming to a head.

That could be the reason why the meter was not replaced at the time? SSE knowing it would soon become SEP perhaps?

(SEP=Someone Else's Problem. See also THGTTG).

​@Blastoise186 is our expert volunteer on RTS issues and knows more about Squad 70 than I do.

Good to hear that things seem to be getting sorted out for you. I guess that it is going to take a while though.

Yes it was squad 70 talk to a lady for over 2hrs and a further 1hrs with customer services dept and 1hr with someone from the resolution depart. My feeling are yes I managed to obtain some useful information not sure everything was accurate seemed to skirt over some of the important question I asked or maybe weren't able to answer correctly and sent quite a ong time on hold. Not sure if I made any progress only time will tell.

I didn't stop there had a busy day called various advise hotlines and organisations for advise with regards to my rights as a consumer and the next step to be taken if this problem can't be resolved with OVO. VERY INTERESTING 🤔