Being chased for bills I don't owe!

jmcg91

Good morning

I bought my property in September and arranged for my supplier Octopus to take over the supply of my new home the day that ownership transferred - (which Octopus have confirmed it did) and I have been paying Octopus for my energy ever since.

However I keep getting additional bills 'to the occupier' from OVO (previous supplier to the property). I called OVO about this previously and was told it would correct itself but have just received another bill from OVO for October - November. I am quite concerned about all of these false bills being linked to my home and would be really grateful for any advice about getting this sorted once and for all.. 

I have emailed Ovo using the address on the bill I got today and got an auto-reply saying the email was no longer in use ha.... 

Currently in long queue to speak to someone online 

GingerTim

You are automatically in a deemed contract with the incumbent supplier when you move in - in this case OVO. Did you set up an account with OVO when you moved in? Once that was done, then you would be be able to initiate the switch to Octopus.

It sounds like this process wasn't followed, which may account for the trouble. Hope it gets resolved soon!

[Deleted User]

Are you sure that Octopus switched your supply on the date that you became the legal owner of your property? All properties have a deemed supplier and it will expect to be paid until the transfer to a new supplier goes through. 

Ideally, you should have contacted the deemed supplier with your details and a meter reading. You were then free to initiate a switch back to Octopus. 

Have you actually checked the bill? It is possible that the previous owner failed to close their account, and Ovo is billing you for their usage: check the dates and meter readings. The latter might be widely out if the previous occupant didn’t provide meter readings.

jmcg91

Thanks both

Yes seems I didn't shut the previous account properly - mistakenly thought that it would close automatically when the switch happened and then OVO adviser told me when I phoned I didn't need to do anything else and it would update so thought it was fine at my end which is quite frustrating. 

Have checked and the bills are standing charges and no actual energy - but need to sort this out because I don't think they can charge daily standing charges for supplying when they are not supplying ... Back to OVO

ariarnia

we are with ovo and i emailed them recently. got a reply in a couple of days. 

hello@ovoenergy.com

in your email i would include the date you moved in. your opening meter readings. and if you have your first bill from octopus showing when they took over the account? 

[Deleted User]

Yes seems I didn't shut the previous account properly - mistakenly thought that it would close automatically when the switch happened

The gaining supplier is responsible for managing a transfer of supply. Its data collector determines an opening/closing reading which it sends via a data flow to both suppliers to open and close your accounts. At this point, the losing supplier issues a Final Bill and closes off the account.

By the sound of it, Ovo rejected the switch attempt. When did the actual transfer of supply take place? The old supplier can bill you until the transfer date.

jmcg91

The switch hasn't been rejected because on checking, they are only charging for standing fees and no energy usage (and we are on a smart meter). The supplier on the national database is listed as Octopus and we are being billed by Octopus correctly. I think it is a glitch in the matrix caused by switching from day 1

jmcg91

ariarnia said:

we are with ovo and i emailed them recently. got a reply in a couple of days. 

hello@ovoenergy.com

in your email i would include the date you moved in. your opening meter readings. and if you have your first bill from octopus showing when they took over the account? 

Good idea thank you. I have the Octopus bill showing all of that so I will send that to OVO. I am using their complaints email address now because I got an auto-response from the 'hello' one today saying it's no longer in use. 

jmcg91

Thanks all for the help.

Managed to get this escalated with OVO who have confirmed it's an error and the OVO account associated with this property should have been closed the day before I moved in so I shouldn't have been billed as they haven't supplied since I have lived here.