Surprise final bill from OVO

OscarG

In September last year, we moved to a new property that had SSE. Sorting out the account was near comically complicated. And as soon as they finally sorted it, they announced that we'll be moving onto OVO. They also made a right dog's dinner of that transfer.

Then, on 19 March I had had enough of this circus, and decided to move to Octopus Energy. The experience was instantly a lot smoother. Our OVO account was ~£500 in debit, and with the monthly DD of ~£200, I was expecting a final bill of around £300. But OVO had one last shambles in store as a parting gift.

On 27 April I got the final bill, and also a separate email stating that "because of an error on our system, your bills were missing some charges." Attached was a final bill of £717.14.

It's not in my habit to pay invoices 2.5x the expected amount without some questions. So I rang OVO, where a very bored lady gave me a case number with the billing department, and said they'd be in touch. Naturally, I never heard from them again.

On three separate occasions I've tried to get an update over OVO's WhatsApp service, and each time I had the exact same mysterious experience;

Me: Can you provide an update on case #XXXXXX?
OVO: I can see that the billing department has filled out an SSE exception form.
Me: What does that mean?
Me: Hello?
OVO: Hello, you're through to Kirsty, can I take your account number please?

OVO have sent multiple automated reminders to pay the bill, but a) I still don't understand why it's so high, and b) it's not the sort of cash I have lying around.

I'm kind of at my wit's end. What is my next move? How do I get OVO to explain this invoice? If it's legit and I need to pay it, does setting up a repayment plan affect my credit rating?

Gerry1

You're not the only one !

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-65544654

OscarG

Yikes... thanks for the link. I've sent in a complaint with them via email this time, I'll see what they have to say.

Though given that unlike the people in the article, my bill isn't for tens of thousands or something equally obviously unrealistic - if it turns out this bill is legitimate, does setting up a repayment plan with OVO affect my credit score or show up on my credit report?

MattMattMattUK

OscarG said:

Yikes... thanks for the link. I've sent in a complaint with them via email this time, I'll see what they have to say.

Though given that unlike the people in the article, my bill isn't for tens of thousands or something equally obviously unrealistic - if it turns out this bill is legitimate, does setting up a repayment plan with OVO affect my credit score or show up on my credit report?

It probably will not show on your credit report, but if it does it should be fine as they are unlikely to report it as missed/arrears etc. Credit scores are meaningless made up numbers, ignore them.

They may be very resistant to a payment plan as you are no longer a customer, so it might be worth thinking about a backup plan just in case.