OVO charging me before being a tenant

Marco84

I was due to move into my new place a few months ago on 15th but it was at short noticed cancelled as a gas check wasn't done. However I still got an e-mail from OVO (the landlords supplier) welcoming me to my new account on 15th. I told the landlord I'm obviously I'm not liable for 15th, they agreed.

On 16th I signed the tenancy and switched straight to Octopus. Early this month OVO sent me a bill for £27 mainly for gas £22~ (I know its small but it's not all mine) for the period of 15th to 18th. I know the vast majority of gas usage wasn't mine as my average gas bill is only £50 a month.

I've tried reaching out to OVO several times explaining this, but they have ignored me and still spamming me with reminders to pay up.

Am I being unreasonable not paying for usage that clearly isn't mine before my tenancy started? 

PennineAcute

Your tenancy agreement will show your start date.  Show that to OVO.

Alnat1

You can show them you didn't sign the tenancy agreement until the 16th and ask for 1 days less gas to be billed, but you still owe 16th-18th, so you could be entitled to £27/4.If around £6.75 means a lot to you and you think it's worth fighting for, then go for it.

If it's a smart meter however, they probably can show daily usage. As you weren't in the property until 16th then units used on the 15th will be low and you may only get the standing charges for one day's gas and electricity refunded, around £1. It's quite possible you did use a lot of gas on the first day of occupation, if the property had been empty and was cold it would have used a lot more than normal heating up the fabric of the building.

Phones4Chris

@Marco84 And raise a formal complaint if they still ignore you or don't amend the billing.

Gerry1

Remember that the start date is when you take possession, not when you move in.

Always read the meters yourself (including any water meter), never let an agent or landlord do it on your behalf otherwise you may pay for a void period or usage by the previous occupier.

You may have been monetised by the agent or landlord, Ovo offer them incentives.

Marco84

Alnat1 said:

You can show them you didn't sign the tenancy agreement until the 16th and ask for 1 days less gas to be billed, but you still owe 16th-18th, so you could be entitled to £27/4.If around £6.75 means a lot to you and you think it's worth fighting for, then go for it.

If it's a smart meter however, they probably can show daily usage. As you weren't in the property until 16th then units used on the 15th will be low and you may only get the standing charges for one day's gas and electricity refunded, around £1. It's quite possible you did use a lot of gas on the first day of occupation, if the property had been empty and was cold it would have used a lot more than normal heating up the fabric of the building.

I have no issue with paying the literally few pounds I owe, but I certainly didn’t use a lot of gas, as it was empty the first few days during the move and the heating was off.
How OVO is behaving is not endearing me to give them a penny more than I owe, also I can’t show them anything as they are ignoring me, all they do is send out emails asking for payment. 

bagand96

Marco84 said:

Alnat1 said:

You can show them you didn't sign the tenancy agreement until the 16th and ask for 1 days less gas to be billed, but you still owe 16th-18th, so you could be entitled to £27/4.If around £6.75 means a lot to you and you think it's worth fighting for, then go for it.

If it's a smart meter however, they probably can show daily usage. As you weren't in the property until 16th then units used on the 15th will be low and you may only get the standing charges for one day's gas and electricity refunded, around £1. It's quite possible you did use a lot of gas on the first day of occupation, if the property had been empty and was cold it would have used a lot more than normal heating up the fabric of the building.

I have no issue with paying the literally few pounds I owe, but I certainly didn’t use a lot of gas, as it was empty the first few days during the move and the heating was off.
How OVO is behaving is not endearing me to give them a penny more than I owe, also I can’t show them anything as they are ignoring me, all they do is send out emails asking for payment. 

Assuming you have meter readings from the time you got the keys, and the point you switched to Octopus, you can work out exactly how much you owe?

Tell Ovo how much you believe you owe (using the tenancy agreement for the dates and your meter reads) and go from there.

Switching as soon as you move into somewhere often just complicates things. IMHO it's better to register with the incumbant supplier and sort out your owoneing reads and then switch. Even if only for a week or two. 

Mobtr

Check your final OVO bill to see if their initial reading matches yours, if it does, then you’ll only be owed 1 days standing charge. 

Then check the final reading is the same as the initial reading with your new supplier & the one I assume you took on the changeover day & gave to them. 

If all this matches then your bill is about right. 

If you didn’t give octopus a reading & it’s estimated for the changeover day, there’s probably not a lot you can do as due to the amount of the bill it’s unlikely to be over the tolerance level to be able to dispute. 

Speak to your landlord, if he agrees you don’t owe it all then maybe he’ll give you something towards it, you can then just pay the bill & get on with your life 

Marco84

Their final gas reading is also 400+ units higher than the photo I took on 16th… still no reply from them.

Alnat1

Octopus should have used the same reading to start your new account. If so, you won't pay for any units with them until the meter passes that figure.

Mobtr

Marco84 said:

Their final gas reading is also 400+ units higher than the photo I took on 16th… still no reply from them.

If the reading is that much different then previous bills must have been estimated otherwise your final bill would have been in the region of £250 not £27. 

If I was you I would ring octopus as they are the ones who gave OVO the final reading to use. 

Find out from them what your initial reading is & if it’s the same as your final OVO reading, tell them what it was on 16th, take another reading so you can tell them what it is now & they should raise a dispute. They’ll probably ask you to email photos in