OVO refunded me by mistake and now I have to pay it back?

I was about £1800 in credit , I phoned to bring it down by £500.00 as the amount of my s/o did not reflect my battery storage and solar panels. It was agreed with no problem and the s/o reduced to reflect this. The new S/o was a bit too low and has since been increased by a reasonable amount.

I shall see how it goes, It never bothered me before as OVO paid 5% interest.

I write this just to show that OVO can be flexible if one explains one’s reasoning and I accept their later amendment bearing that in mind.

Ofgem says the following: 

You cannot be charged for energy used more than 12 months ago if:

• you have not had an accurate bill for it before, even though you asked for one
• you have not been informed about any charges due via a statement of account before
• your Direct Debit amount was previously set too low to cover any charges due

You said “this year”, so I assume it was less than 12 months. That probably means “no”. I agree with Nick, it’s always good to speak to OVO trying to find the best solution. You can also speak to Citizen Advice, they should know better than me. And here you can find a letter example regarding the back bill complaint. 

This is correct. Back Billing rules ONLY kick in at 12 months. If the problem is younger than that, you can’t get out of paying any of it.

Hey @ffry 

Sorry for the issues you’re having. If you were refunded incorrectly you will have to pay the monies back but I can understand how frustrating this must be for you. 

This topic explains more about the back billing process:

There doesn’t seem to be any information about this specific situation in this article. A “refund” was made on the basis of incorrect information caused by a systemic error that has put the consumer at considerable disadvantage through no fault of their own. How will OVO acknowledge accountability rather than simply expecting the monies to be repaid?

I think it ultimately boils down to the rules of the Direct Debit Guarantee here, specifically about refunds.

• If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to

This rule is simplistic as it doesn’t include a proviso that holds organisations accountable to any extent for mistakes of their own making that put customers in difficult situations through no fault of their own.

I’m afraid it’s ultimately money that wasn’t yours, for which failure to return it can be considered theft or fraud. That’s why the rule exists.

And if you spend that money instead of returning it when asked? Yup, that’s definitely when it hits fraud/theft territory.

“Ultimately” is all very well. How about acknowledgement that “along the way” OVO’s  systemic and human errors reflect organisational incompetence that puts an honest customer in a very difficult situation? As for an accusation of “theft” or “fraud”, well that would just be plain insulting.

Because unfortunately, some people do milk the system deliberately and/or maliciously. My words are intended as a deterrent against such behaviour.

There is a separate process to hold OVO to account, you’ll find that one here.

So, OVO causes an error and the consumer is held responsible for the consequences of the error?

No. The expectation is to return the money you shouldn’t have had. It’s just like if you claim benefits and get an overpayment - by law you have to hand back the overpayment when the DWP demands it, whether you want to or not - but you do at least get to keep the portion that was correctly given to you.

In these cases, it was never your money in the first place, so unfortunately you can’t keep it and I can prove it.

On the other hand, if the DWP issues an underpayment, you are, of course, entitled to chase them up over it and require that they hand over the rest of it so it does work both ways.

You are not responsible for this and not being held responsible. As I understand, nobody fines you for this mistake. Again, as I understand, you are only being asked to return what mistakenly was given to you.