Ovo Energy Back-Billing over 12 months of Energy Usage

Cardew

Well let us see how the Ombudsman deals with the complaint; and the result if they go to court.

dondhain

Thanks guys. I'm not sure if it changes anything, but I was paid the credit back after I left. So consequently I am having "financial shock" by receiving a new bill. What is it to say that I have not already spent that money - 4 months after i left!
As i had not cancelled my DD with the bank, they started to take monthly payments of £129 until this month when I told them I just couldn't afford that because I'm having to pay my current provider as well; now reduced to £70.
Cardew, from your understanding, until a supplier physically invoices you for energy usage, the money held on account (the credit balance) is still the customer's isnt it? I thought the DD scheme was to help customers manage and spread out the extra pressure of increased invoices over the winter months, so in reality the customer still has every right to request a credit whenever they wanted.

dondhain

I can ask for a deadlock letter and approach the ombudsman with this case, but the reason for me coming on here was to understand what probability I have of winning. If the consensus is that the Ombudsman are going to side with Ovo, then I risk losing out on the £125 compensation that has been offered. Potentially I can save around £700 if it goes in my favour.

Cardew

dondhain said:

Cardew, from your understanding, until a supplier physically invoices you for energy usage, the money held on account (the credit balance) is still the customer's isnt it? I thought the DD scheme was to help customers manage and spread out the extra pressure of increased invoices over the winter months, so in reality the customer still has every right to request a credit whenever they wanted.

From my understanding I don't think you are correct about the Credit balance belonging to the customer and that you have the right to request a credit whenever you want.

Take this example. My company bill me quarterly(some are 6 monthly) and I pay £100 monthly by DD and at the moment I am £350 in credit. However in 2 days time a £450 bill for the heaviest quarter will arrive and I will be £100 in debit.  Do you think I can demand today my £350 credit? I don't, as I owe them for the energy used in January/February.

Too many people(including myself ) are 'Barrack Room Lawyers' and give their interpretation of a guidance document as 'the law'. To my mind there is sufficient ambiguity in the backbilling guidance to support the company/ofgem/ombudsman interpretation.

However more to the point, there have been several cases where companies have taken the same stance as OVO and I am unaware of any customer winning their case. Below are two extracts from posts on MSE :

1. Back Billing rules were brought in to stop what was referred to as Bill Shock, so householders had some protection against bills issued late or not at all. However, if Direct Debits have been paid into the account over the term of the late bills, there is built up credit on the account that clears the debt,

So in fact there is no Bill Shock and Back Billing won't apply.

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2. Thanks for the replies and advice everyone. This was the response(from E-on) upon querying -

'Ofgem's Back-Billing Principle (billing code of conduct) is something we must adhere to it. It states: "If your supplier is at fault, it will not seek additional payment for unbilled energy used more than 12 months prior to the error being detected and a corrected bill being issued. As we're not asking you for any extra payment for the energy you used over 12 months the billing code of conduct doesn't apply on your account'

However as said earlier, give it a go if you feel you have been unfairly treated. I would be surprised if they stopped the £125 'compensation' - or did they call it a 'goodwill payment'?

MWT

Cardew said:

However as said earlier, give it a go if you feel you have been unfairly treated. I would be surprised if they stopped the £125 'compensation' - or did they call it a 'goodwill payment'?

Don't you feel that this changes things somewhat though ?
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dondhain said: Thanks guys. I'm not sure if it changes anything, but I was paid the credit back after I left. So consequently I am having "financial shock" by receiving a new bill.
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Cardew

MWT said:

Cardew said:

However as said earlier, give it a go if you feel you have been unfairly treated. I would be surprised if they stopped the £125 'compensation' - or did they call it a 'goodwill payment'?

Don't you feel that this changes things somewhat though ?
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dondhain said: Thanks guys. I'm not sure if it changes anything, but I was paid the credit back after I left. So consequently I am having "financial shock" by receiving a new bill.
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Yes it does present another scenario. However it is important to note that his DD payments from the beginning were sufficient to cover the correct charges. As they were under-charging him a credit balance built up - which the OP did not recover as they were paying 3% interest.

I suppose OVO will still argue that at a point 12 months ago there was sufficient credit from his DD payments on the account and no debt when the correct charges had been applied.  Thus in the last 12 months his DD payments covered the correct charges and there should not have been a credit balance. OVO then made a mistake by giving him that credit balance before the realised they were undercharging.. They then corrected that mistake by claiming it back from the OP.

There is no question that had the OP requested the credit balance returned to him 12 months before his account finished, back-billing would have applied and his underpayment up to that point written off.

 

MWT

I think at the very least it puts 'financial shock' back on the table.

He paid all they asked him to pay, they refunded the credit, closed the account then months later changed their minds.

I see this one in a different light to the other recent case on here where someone received a credit that they did not understand and could not get any explanation for which the supplier appears to have subsequently tried to recover.

It will be interesting to see how it proceeds from here...

dondhain

I'm going to take the risk and ask for a deadlock letter. 
I think I may need to clarify the point that the credit was returned, the final bill was paid and the account was closed in September 2019.
Thanks for seeing it from my light MWT!

MWT

I would keep it to those simple points, you may still lose of course, but it has to be worth a shot.

dondhain

The decision went against me.
Basically they work on a different rule when it comes to Direct Debits. If the money was there at the point the invoice would've been raised correctly then the money is owed.
Nevertheless, I was still given the £100 goodwill gesture.
Thanks for your advise and help guys.