Alleged Ovo Debt Sold to Lowell

Uncle_Pennybags

I switched from Ovo Energy to Bulb early 2019. I recall vaguely that Bulb was finding it difficult getting the paperwork from Ovo that would transfer my last bill but I recall Bulb telling me that everything was sorted. The statements began to arrive from Bulb and I never heard from Ovo again - until yesterday.

Yesterday I received two letters in one envelope from Ovo and Lowell. Ovo informs me that I have an outstanding debt of £47.79 from April 2019 and because it still hasn't been paid, it has sold the debt to Lovel. The 'nice' letter from Lovell states the same and it gave me instructions to open an account to pay the debt.

My issues are, I suspect Ovo has not given Bulb the residual balance on my account and Ovo never once contacted me to let me know that there was an outstanding balance. Moreover, I paid Ovo by direct debit so it could have taken a final payment.

I feel that if I pay the small sum to Lovell, I would be admitting the liability and the fault for it not being paid and that might harm my credit rating.

Any advice would be appreciated.

sourcrates

Well the good news is we don`t have a credit rating to harm in the UK.

Secondly, the damage, if any, has already been done, so paying the debt can`t make things any worse.

Thirdly, not all utility companies report to your credit file, debts can be bought and sold at will, defaulted or not.

Lowell are a debt purchasing company, and may report this defaulted account to your credit file, so essentially ruining your credit history for the sake of £50.

EssexHebridean

I’m inclined to agree with Sourcrates here - you could argue this, but it’s going to take a while and may not achieve the result you want anyway, and realistically you need to consider whether it is worth taking that path for a sub-£50 amount. It’s annoying, but I suspect your best course of action may be to take a deep breath and pay it. 

Uncle_Pennybags

Thanks both, I just paid it. Now I can forget it. All the best.

peetee12

Lowell tell me via threatening letters that I owe money to OVO.  Never having heard of OVO, I rang them… no trace of me, my present address, previous address and anyway I do not owe any money to anyone.  My question … what the hell is happening cos these letters are weekly. Xx

sourcrates

peetee12 said:

Lowell tell me via threatening letters that I owe money to OVO.  Never having heard of OVO, I rang them… no trace of me, my present address, previous address and anyway I do not owe any money to anyone.  My question … what the hell is happening cos these letters are weekly. Xx

Its best starting your own thread, but OVO are a utility company, have you ever had them as your supplier?

The account they believe is yours has now been sold to Lowell, who are attempting collection of it.

Your best response to Lowell is to send them the "PROVIT LETTER" available from the stickies, and this will get them to provide all the information they have on the account, with which you will be able to establish whether the debt is yours or not.

If it isn`t, then you can dispute that fact with them, otherwise Lowell will continue to persist in collection activity.

peteuk

Uncle_Pennybags said:

Thanks both, I just paid it. Now I can forget it. All the best.

I personally would have asked Lowell to either send it back to OVO or put a hold on the account to allow OVO to explain when the amount owed occurred (dig out your first Bulb bill and check for over lap) and then ask why it wasn’t collected via DD and why they didn’t send a bill between 2019 and now.

At this point I’d ask for it to be written off.

born_again

peetee12 said:

Lowell tell me via threatening letters that I owe money to OVO.  Never having heard of OVO, I rang them… no trace of me, my present address, previous address and anyway I do not owe any money to anyone.  My question … what the hell is happening cos these letters are weekly. Xx

Moved into a new house then transferred to another supplier just after moving in?