Ovo Electricity / Southern Electricity Issue

djh77

Afternoon all,

Could really do with some advice if possible. It's a bit of a long story but I will get through it as quickly and accurately as possible.

On 13th June 2013 the wife, the kids and myself moved house (we rent with a HA).

When we moved into the house we already knew, through speaking to one neighbour, that the property had been empty for a while due to flooding.

Our Housing officer informed us that electric was supplied from Southern Electric,
we took meter readings and phoned Southern Electric up.
There is no gas supply to the property (or to the village for that matter - very rural).
We set up a direct debit for £65 per month.

For the first few months living here any post that came for the previous tenant we would bundle together
and hand into the HA once we were going past (we had no forwarding address).
Once it got past about 6 months we just threw the letters in the bin tbh.

About 3 weeks ago we got a letter that was addressed to Miss D xxxx/current occupier, so I opened it.

It was a letter from a debt collection agency (face 2 face) operating on behalf of Ovo electricity, demanding £2150.50.

I called Ovo to explain that we don't owe this debt, we are with Southern Electric.
The guy said to me that was fine and that he would update their records immediately.

However, Monday, we were away on holiday and didn't get home until Monday evening,
a doorstep collector turned up at our house and obviously as we were not there put a card through the door to say that he called. Again,

I called Ovo to complain, saying we didn't owe this debt and that we are with Southern Electric.

However, at this point the chap turned around and said, no you are with Ovo.

They, as it turns out do supply our property with electric, not Southern Electric, and have done since December 2011.
The chap said there was a request from Southern Electric back in March 2013 to take over supplying the property,
but Ovo denied it as there was debt outstanding.

It turns out this was our HA asking Southern Electric to supply it when they were doing the necessary work on the property when the last tenant left.

I phoned Southern Electric to check this out, and after about 30 mins of investigation
they confirmed that indeed Ovo do supply the property, not Southern Electric.

The lady I spoke to said she would raise a formal complaint on my behalf, but this could take a few months to sort out.
Obviously Southern Electric have about £750 of my money.

Which leads me on to Ovo.

After all this I gave the chap at Ovo our current meter readings.
It turns out since we have been here we have used £1650 of electric,
so we were massively underpaying Southern.

The reason Southern didn't spot it earlier was because all there bills/statement were estimates.

The chap at Ovo said to cover current consumption we would need to pay £135 per month - that's fine.

However, he also said the debt of £1650 needs to be cleared in 12 months.

There is no way I can do that.
It would push my bill up to about £275 per month (until I get the refund from Southern), then down to £220, which I just can't afford.

The guy did say the only way they will extend the debt is through pre-pay meters,
but they just are not practical where we live.

Our nearest pay point shop is nearly 7 miles, and even in this winter, which wasn't that bad by all accounts,
we couldn't get out the village for about a week in total through flooding etc.

I did, in another conversation, ask them to fit a smart meter as you can top them up online which would be fine,
but he said our meter isn't compatible, and as they didn't have to do it until 2020 or something they wouldn't do it.

I have told Ovo I can afford £175 per month, but they won't accept.

So, what do I do?
I have left it that Ovo are going to call me next Wednesday to set up a repayment plan of £275,
which in all good conscious I can't do because I can't afford it.

I have called Southern god knows how many times to sort out getting my money back (and compensation)
and just get told it is going through the complaints system.

Southern are trying to push the blame onto Ovo, saying they should have contacted me well before now.

I feel we are being right royally screwed here, and don't know where to turn!

Thanks.

macman

A complex story-but the first point I would query is why you haven't submitted meter readings in nearly 12 months (since the opening readings in fact)? The supplier is only required to read every two years, intermediate reads are down to you. Had you done so, or queried the estimated bills, the unrealistically low DD would have been picked up on much sooner.
The norm with debt recovery is that they allow you the same period to repay as that in which the debt has built up-which is what they appear to have offered.
Once you get your refund from SE (what is the timescale for that?) then you can use that as a lump sum payment to reduce your Ovo debt and negotiate a better repayment schedule.

closed

ask SE for £780 back immediately, via twitter if necessary, or use the DD guarantee

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Quite aside from the SSE/OVO debacle, you're using over £2k a year worth of energy. £65 a month should have rung alarm bells. You need to identify how you're using so much, and do something about that. That means more of your payments can go on the debt, and less on your ongoing consumption.

Biscuit_Tin

djh77 wrote: »

Afternoon all,

Could really do with some advice if possible. It's a bit of a long story but I will get through it as quickly and accurately as possible.

On 13th June 2013 the wife, the kids and myself moved house (we rent with a HA).

When we moved into the house we already knew, through speaking to one neighbour, that the property had been empty for a while due to flooding.

Our Housing officer informed us that electric was supplied from Southern Electric,
we took meter readings and phoned Southern Electric up.
There is no gas supply to the property (or to the village for that matter - very rural).
We set up a direct debit for £65 per month.

For the first few months living here any post that came for the previous tenant we would bundle together
and hand into the HA once we were going past (we had no forwarding address).
Once it got past about 6 months we just threw the letters in the bin tbh.

About 3 weeks ago we got a letter that was addressed to Miss D xxxx/current occupier, so I opened it.

It was a letter from a debt collection agency (face 2 face) operating on behalf of Ovo electricity, demanding £2150.50.

I called Ovo to explain that we don't owe this debt, we are with Southern Electric.
The guy said to me that was fine and that he would update their records immediately.

However, Monday, we were away on holiday and didn't get home until Monday evening,
a doorstep collector turned up at our house and obviously as we were not there put a card through the door to say that he called. Again,

I called Ovo to complain, saying we didn't owe this debt and that we are with Southern Electric.

However, at this point the chap turned around and said, no you are with Ovo.

They, as it turns out do supply our property with electric, not Southern Electric, and have done since December 2011.
The chap said there was a request from Southern Electric back in March 2013 to take over supplying the property,
but Ovo denied it as there was debt outstanding.

It turns out this was our HA asking Southern Electric to supply it when they were doing the necessary work on the property when the last tenant left.

I phoned Southern Electric to check this out, and after about 30 mins of investigation
they confirmed that indeed Ovo do supply the property, not Southern Electric.

The lady I spoke to said she would raise a formal complaint on my behalf, but this could take a few months to sort out.
Obviously Southern Electric have about £750 of my money.

Which leads me on to Ovo.

After all this I gave the chap at Ovo our current meter readings.
It turns out since we have been here we have used £1650 of electric,
so we were massively underpaying Southern.

The reason Southern didn't spot it earlier was because all there bills/statement were estimates.

The chap at Ovo said to cover current consumption we would need to pay £135 per month - that's fine.

However, he also said the debt of £1650 needs to be cleared in 12 months.

There is no way I can do that.
It would push my bill up to about £275 per month (until I get the refund from Southern), then down to £220, which I just can't afford.

The guy did say the only way they will extend the debt is through pre-pay meters,
but they just are not practical where we live.

Our nearest pay point shop is nearly 7 miles, and even in this winter, which wasn't that bad by all accounts,
we couldn't get out the village for about a week in total through flooding etc.

I did, in another conversation, ask them to fit a smart meter as you can top them up online which would be fine,
but he said our meter isn't compatible, and as they didn't have to do it until 2020 or something they wouldn't do it.

I have told Ovo I can afford £175 per month, but they won't accept.

So, what do I do?
I have left it that Ovo are going to call me next Wednesday to set up a repayment plan of £275,
which in all good conscious I can't do because I can't afford it.

I have called Southern god knows how many times to sort out getting my money back (and compensation)
and just get told it is going through the complaints system.

Southern are trying to push the blame onto Ovo, saying they should have contacted me well before now.

I feel we are being right royally screwed here, and don't know where to turn!

Thanks.

Several options for you to try here:

1. First off I suggest you visit the Febt Free Wannabe board and post your SoA there. The good folk there will surely give you some good advice. The amount of people who have posted there in the past, thinking all is lost and they cannot afford to continue, ... but then discover that they can afford their dents with money to spare after following the advice providfe speaks for itself.

2. You are definitely looking at this from a glass half empty view.
You owe Ovo £2150. SSE owe you £780
So you need to find an additional £1370. (£114.17 p.m plus interest, if any for 12 months)

Whilst you owe this amount, Ovo will not let you leave them.
They should, however, allow you onto their best tariff as opposed to their expensive deemed tariff they would have charged you for the last 12 months.

Irrespective of the fact you cannot leave Ovo at present, put your annual consumption figure (in kWh) in a couple of comparison sites - it could well be you could save a lot more still if you could move supplier.

There is, of course a way to leave Ovo. Pay them what is owed Look into the possibility of a loan. That may be a nice credit card with 0% interest, or even a loan that is affordable to you (maybe over 2-3 years if absolutely necessary). Yes interest will be payable on a loan, but the interest may be less than you are spending staying with your current supplier.

Worth considering as avoiding a PPM will certainly allow you access to cheaper tariffs whether stuck with Ovo or not.

But start with posting your SoA on the DFW board so you can see what spare cash you do/could have.

Whatever you do, do ensure you provide regular meter readings in future.

Edit: Your faulty fridge/freezer probably didn't help keep a lid on your electric consumption either

djh77

Thanks for the replies all. I few things I need to answer:

I would query is why you haven't submitted meter readings in nearly 12 months (since the opening readings in fact)? The supplier is only required to read every two years, intermediate reads are down to you.

To be completely honest I didn't realise that it was our responsibility to give them the meter readings, you learn something new every day, and I will make sure I keep on top of it in the future.

Once you get your refund from SE (what is the timescale for that?) then you can use that as a lump sum payment to reduce your Ovo debt and negotiate a better repayment schedule.

SE have raised a formal complaint, but have said it can take a few months to resolve, and we have no timescale to get our money back. They keep trying to push the blame on Ovo.

ask SE for £780 back immediately, via twitter if necessary, or use the DD guarantee

We have told them we want it back within 5 days, but they just keep fobbing us off, telling us they will phone us at certain points/times and then they don't - 'Sorry our system was down'.

Quite aside from the SSE/OVO debacle, you're using over £2k a year worth of energy. £65 a month should have rung alarm bells.

Sorry, perhaps wasn't totally clear in my original ramble, but this year we have used £1650, which is what our bill is. The original bill that came through from Ovo was for £2150, but part of that would be what the previous tenant and the HA will owe. Once we gave up to date meter readings to Ovo our bill is £1650. Now, considering we don't have gas so everything is done on electric (cooking, storage heaters etc), it doesn't seem to be too bad after speaking to friends - it works out a total energy cost of £135 p/m for current consumption.

djh77

Biscuit_Tin wrote: »

Several options for you to try here:

1. First off I suggest you visit the Febt Free Wannabe board and post your SoA there. The good folk there will surely give you some good advice. The amount of people who have posted there in the past, thinking all is lost and they cannot afford to continue, ... but then discover that they can afford their dents with money to spare after following the advice providfe speaks for itself.

Thanks, I will head over there in a bit

2. You are definitely looking at this from a glass half empty view.
You owe Ovo £2150. SSE owe you £780
So you need to find an additional £1370. (£114.17 p.m plus interest, if any for 12 months)

There is no way I am paying interest on anything. We were told by both the HA and Soutern Electric that they supplied the electric. The outstanding bill is 1650, and yes we will get the 780 back, but we don't know when, so Ovo want the whole 1650 divided by 12 = £137.50

Whilst you owe this amount, Ovo will not let you leave them.
They should, however, allow you onto their best tariff as opposed to their expensive deemed tariff they would have charged you for the last 12 months.

Irrespective of the fact you cannot leave Ovo at present, put your annual consumption figure (in kWh) in a couple of comparison sites - it could well be you could save a lot more still if you could move supplier.

There is, of course a way to leave Ovo. Pay them what is owed Look into the possibility of a loan. That may be a nice credit card with 0% interest, or even a loan that is affordable to you (maybe over 2-3 years if absolutely necessary). Yes interest will be payable on a loan, but the interest may be less than you are spending staying with your current supplier.

I wouldn't get a 0% card due to poor credit in the past tbh. I have a vanquis and capital one card that I could put the debt on either of them, however, the interest on one or both of them would kill me tbh

Worth considering as avoiding a PPM will certainly allow you access to cheaper tariffs whether stuck with Ovo or not.

But start with posting your SoA on the DFW board so you can see what spare cash you do/could have.

Whatever you do, do ensure you provide regular meter readings in future.

Edit: Your faulty fridge/freezer probably didn't help keep a lid on your electric consumption either

The fridge freezer certainly didn't help, but Indesit are fully refunding us on that now.