I am a letting agent and am struggling to switch end of tenancy suppliers?

Hi there @albayford .

Welcome to the OVO Forum! :)

This sounds like something that could benefit from a little assistance from a forum moderator. Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble of course, it’s just the easiest way to get the answer you’re after for this one.

Bear with me, as I’ll notify @Emmanuelle_OVO immediately to ask for options. This may take a little time but we’ll keep you posted in this thread.

I hope that’s OK with you.

I understand your policy, however, setting up an interim account in the landlords name is nothing more than a week. it would not even be possible to change a supplier in this time.  Even if the new tenants were to take their supply else where, it will still need to have a short term contract with OVO until the switch happens

Please can you let me know why OVO will not have 3rd party agreements, which SSE and OVO both previously had in the past. 

We are trying to help all parties concerned by having correct billing. Should we just be advising our tenants to move away from OVO to energy companies that will work with us?

GDPR regs are not set up to stop things like this. We are trying to help you. I fear that if it went to court, a judge would rule that all the correct information has been supplied to OVO, OVO then decided to disregard it. This is a very bad use of all our time I sadly fear

I just want to get a solution that works for everyone. 

It’s actually becoming a LOT more common for suppliers to do the same thing OVO is doing. If you try to use the methods you’re used to, you’ll rapidly find yourself running out of options.

Unfortunately, it just has to be dealt with by the landlord and tenant as third parties are getting locked out more and more by suppliers. It’s not about GDPR either - it’s about a legally binding contract.

The only way around this is to make yourself the temporary account holder iirc.

Third party agreements are common place in this industry. providing information to suppliers for them to act accordingly is not a legally binding contract. it is then up to the supplier to contact the tenant and set up the account. correctly. 

A tenant leaving a property would not know who to set the bills up in the name of. What should they be doing at this point?

The government are trying to tighten up legislation to make things more in favour of the tenant. surly this is about as in favour of the tenant as things can get. making their life's easier. 

We have agreements with our clients that we can act on their behalf with all things for properties, including utilities. Why would the supplier therefore not speak with us to set up interim accounts for void periods?

this is all just very disappointing. 

In certain cases, you just need to use the right tools. Tili is owned by OVO Group, but my understanding is that you could look into using that as a letting agency. It does not force you to use OVO’s products however. While it does pay commission, I receive none of it myself.

When moving out, you don’t need to know who’s moving in. You just need to notify suppliers you’re leaving and control gets passed back to the landlord/estate agent automatically once that date comes. Your liability ends the moment you pay the final bills off, everything beyond that is not for the tenant to worry about.

Hey @albayford,

Thank you for your interesting points, 

The reason we have this policy and have done so for years, is because it provides an extra layer of protection for a tenant. If their name was incorrectly added to an account by a letting agency or fraudulently added to an account by someone saying they are from a letting agency and that account went into arrears this would affect their credit score. It’s a financial agreement they are entering into so we require verbal consent from the financially liable party.

I understand this might be frustrating for landlords who might only be liable for weeks at a time, but from the tenants perspective they may wish to sign into a fixed contract or be provided with their unit rates/standing charges so they can make comparisons. 

We can set up an account on behalf of a letting agency but would require a tenancy agreement.

This is madness. I can simply email 95% of utility companies and can even set up tenants with council tax but OVO seem to be impossible to deal with. Forcing people to call does not protect anyone from being set up fraudulently . Simply ask for a copy of tenancy agreements if you are that worried. 

I’ve attempted to use three OVO email addresses to close one tenant’s account and open an account in the new tenants name (also providing details of the landlord for the interim billing) but “computer says no”. I’ve tried my best and I’ll keep a record of my efforts. Very frustrating OVO. Your service needs improving. 

OVO is more security conscious than most suppliers. It’s actually a good thing because if anyone can just email in and gain access to an account just about anywhere… That’s a pretty big security hole.

While it may seem excessive, I actually side with OVO on this one.

Hey @thelettingskid,

I’ve updated the best answer in this topic:

We can now take move in details from Landlords or Letting Agencies. Please contact our Support Team on 0330 303 5063. 

We can do this with a tenancy agreement if you don’t wish to call, you can send this across via Web Chat.