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

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 🤔