OVO - PLEASE HELP! ADVICE NEEDED

BryonyG

Hi everyone. I’m writing on here as I’m so desperate for help. I have a complaint that hopefully the ombudsman is finally reviewing/investigating but I fear the issue could still take months to resolve. 
I moved into a new home in Dec 21, found out OVO were the suppliers. I rang them with readings to take over the account. Setting up a DD for £124 a month.  Later in Jan when I went to try and log in online to offer a reading I couldn’t. They advised me the account hadn’t yet been set up. I rang again in March, same. Still no account despite my regular payment of £124 pcm.  I couldn’t enter meter readings, so around April/May I asked them to note a reading on their records (in view of the prices going up).  A month later there was STILL no account and I started to get threats about paying an outstanding bill since Dec (linking my account to a totally different account to the one stipulated in the DD confirmation email). I have tried so many times to resolve this. Sick with worry as I can’t even check the amount I’m paying is enough and to get an idea of my usage.  9 months later they are STILL sending me threats of non payment whilst taking my DD. Whilst on the phone saying they can see there’s an issue and my DD is in credit on a file somewhere!??? They have also advised me they’ve lost my meter readings in April but not to worry as they will just pro-rata any meter reading, once the account is resolved and set up. I have said they certainly WONT as I would have used a lot more gas in Winter Months up to March when the price plan was cheaper!  I have also requested a SARS (log of all my calls) to be sent to the Ombudsman who’s investigating this. I suppose my question is, I am not sure if I’m in a fixed contract or price plan but I’m desperate to get out and set up with someone else? Is this possible. When I ring them I just get no answers and in the energy crisis as someone who lives on her own I’m beside myself with worry and fury that they continue to get away with no account being set up 9 months after moving in! What are my rights if I try and move early or get out of their grip??  I shouldn’t have to put up with this surely? 

Robin9

Have you made a formal WRITTEN (ie snail mail) complaint to OVO ?

ariarnia

if its been accepted by the ombudsman now then the first thing you need to do is try and calm down. i know that's hard but its important as you need to get this next bit right if you want to get a good outcome. 

the ombudsman will considr the evidence you provide but only the evidence you provide and you have to provide it to the deadline. anything that you say that's not supported by evidence will not go your way and its your job to make sure the ombudsman has a good understanding of what you say happened. what you want to happen. and the evidence that you're right. 

my advice is make a cup of tea and write down a timeline of what happened when. keep all emotion out of it. set it out like this (if you don't know the dates then you could put 'first week') 

1 december 2021 moved into property and provided ovo initial meter readings and set up an account. account was x (fix or variable) with an estimated monthly cost of x 

10 december 2021 first dd of x amount taken by ovo

1 jan 2022 attempted to submit meter reading and was unable to log into online account. phoned ovo and was told no account existed. was advised account not yet created and gave meter reading over the phone/that i could give the meter readings when account created in x weeks

10 jan 2022 second dd of x amount taken by ovo

1 feb attempted to submit meter reading but still no online account.

10 feb third dd of x amount taken by ovo 

1 march attempted to submit meter readings but still no online account,. phoned ovo and.,..

Then you can look at what evidence you have (screen shots of call history. bank statements. any emails/tweets. pictures you took of the meter or where you jotted down the readings. we always take a picture as the meter is in a but of a difficult spot and not near the laptop and i can never find a pen but its good to have had them). about the meter readings. if ovo were the supplier before you moved in then they should have the last reading from the person who lived there before (even if you cant see it then they can) so it should be easy to see exactly what you used. ig i was you i would suggest they use your usage over the next month to give an idea of your usage 'over the summer months' and the remainder would be the winter months? assuming you don't have heating on now. 

then think about what you want. i know you say you want to just leave and go somewhere else but if you think you might have been on a fix in december then it might be worth pushing for that or arguing that you would have fixed before now if this hadn't all happened and the resolution you want is for ovo to put you on the best fix they had available in december of 2021. 

BryonyG

After many times raising it as a complaint on the phone I officially emailed and headed it please accept this as my written formal complaint (June/July time). Its now with the ombudsman. I’ve actually just rang them and found out I’m on a variable tariff so can switch when I wish. Quite why, when they know there are two duplicate accounts set up for me, they can’t just cancel one out to credit the other I do not know! 9 months I’ve been waiting to have online access and monitor my usage! Its a joke. Will see what the ombudsman says. Thanks for your reply.

BryonyG

@ariarnia - thank for such a detailed reply. Luckily I have done just that. Given an overview of events as they progressed, and also asked for the SARS (phone conversation records) to provide to him.  Thankfully (as noted when replying to Robin before you) I have just rang them to find out I’m on a variable tariff which thankfully means I’m not tied to them and can switch when I wish! I will be doing just that. Thanks again

ariarnia

hope it works out well for you come back and give us an update (not just because we're nosy. we are. but so other people in the same situation know what happened as well) 

pochase

There are not many suppliers you could move to, EDF and Octopus might let you switch if you call them.

The bigger problem might be that you don't have an account you can switch to another supplier if I understand you correctly.

ariarnia

pochase said:

The bigger problem might be that you don't have an account you can switch to another supplier if I understand you correctly.

op has said ovo were the suppliers for the property before she moved in so they will have a deemed contract if nothing else. problem seems to be that they set up an account in the ops name to take money but didn't link it to the house's account. so theres two accounts. money is being paid into one and building up credit while the debt is building up in the other as if she just moved in and started using the energy without ever phoning them. 

pochase

In this case Ovo can stop the switch as the OP is in debt on the account they try to switch.

Switching if you are repaying a debt

You can still switch if you've been in debt to your supplier for less than 28 days. Your old supplier will add any owed amounts to your final bill.

You'll need to repay a debt first if you've owed money for over 28 days. This differs for prepayment meter customers (see below).

Your supplier can’t stop you from switching if it’s their fault you’re in debt. 

ariarnia

which would be part of the ongoing ombudsman case. the op isn't trying to switch now. she wants these problems to be sorted so she can switch away. 

if ovo correctly link up the account that's in debt with the account thats in credit hopefully it cancels out if the monthly Dd was set up at the right level for the annual usage (plus any compensation the ombudsman awards for the poor service and hassle over 9 months)