OVO Energy Complaint / Help Required

shiggins721

Hi folks, I’ve just signed up to this forum as I don’t know where else to turn:

Here’s the deal. My mum had OVO energy as her supplier to her old house. She was always the account holder for over 15 years, notified them of the house sale and was that good a customer received a £600 payment as she was in credit when she sold her house in November.

OVO have now done a trace at the address and have decided that I am liable for an unpaid bill of £1084 which as of this morning is a final reminder. I have never been an account holder (even in my current property)

Last week when this came to my attention I’ve gone onto my credit report and can see this is now showing under my credit file which has severely impacted my chances of getting a mortgage. What was a 10% deposit has turned into 15% deposit due to adverse credit (this) on my credit file.

Do I have grounds to challenge them on GDPR breach or any other avenue? I’ve raised a massive complaint for several different reasons with OVO over this. As it’s not my account, I have no details of cost or back details they came out of. My mum can’t phone up to discuss as all account information is now in my name due to their !!!!!! up naming me responsible for this debt.

The impact this has had on my credit file is massive. What’s the best options to take in this?

ariarnia

if they wrote to you with a debt that you dont recognise then a good first step is to send them whats called a 'prove it' letter. that basically says they have to show the debt is yours (which should let you no how the ended up with your name in the first place). some say write but i prefer email as it keeps it all together digitally and the replies are faster. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter

the reply should also have in it info about what the debt is (i'm guessing the new owners gave a different meter reading to the closing reading so if your mum took a picture of the meter or anything like that then it might be a good idea for her to look for it now) 

macman

What billing period does this apply to, in relation to your mum's occupation? Have you ever lived at the property? Did you live there in this period?
Do you share a surname and initial with your mum?

shiggins721

macman said:

What billing period does this apply to, in relation to your mum's occupation? Have you ever lived at the property? Did you live there in this period?
Do you share a surname and initial with your mum?

The first correspondence I received was a letter saying “we recently got in touch about your 643 debt, which is now overdue” no billing period stated, just a debt recovery letter from Ovo.

I moved out the property in June 2020. This was my parents address, therefor bills were handled by them or in this case, my mum.

We share the same surname but different forenames, different initials.

My mum phoned and cancelled her supply with them and received a credit plus confirmation her supply had ended. The next thing I’m bestowed with it.

ariarnia

shiggins721 said:

My mum phoned and cancelled her supply with them and received a credit plus confirmation her supply had ended. The next thing I’m bestowed with it.

they have a right to correct a mistake on a final bill within a reasonable period so the credit and confirmation dont actually mean much.

the first thing to do is to establish if any money is owed and who by (if its your mums account or the new owners or just a mistake). 

the prove it letter should give you that info (and why they think your the account holder). 

shiggins721

ariarnia said:

if they wrote to you with a debt that you dont recognise then a good first step is to send them whats called a 'prove it' letter. that basically says they have to show the debt is yours (which should let you no how the ended up with your name in the first place). some say write but i prefer email as it keeps it all together digitally and the replies are faster. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter

the reply should also have in it info about what the debt is (i'm guessing the new owners gave a different meter reading to the closing reading so if your mum took a picture of the meter or anything like that then it might be a good idea for her to look for it now) 

The first letter I received was to say my 643 debt was now overdue. So when I phoned them they explained they’ve done a trace at the property and that’s how they’ve found my details, however that should not give them the right to incorrectly lump me with the debt and apply it to my credit file without any notification - this has only arisen because we were going through the motions of a DIP for a mortgage. Which is now put on hold.

All closing readings were submitted by the bill payer (my mum) upon closing the account.

macman

You need to ask them what billing period this relates to. If it was during your mum's occupation and is correct, then she will need to pay it, even if it was their error originally.
How this has been assigned to you is not clear, but they must have accessed some record which shows that you were resident during that period, although not registered as the account holder.