OVO owe me money

johnuist

This may not be the right forum to raise this matter but, OVO owe me money and have done since September 2023, there's no dispute. I have the amount they owe in writing, yet in spite of repeated contact and their broken promises of repayment this amount has never been repaid. I understand that if it was the other way round they'd be chasing and threatening you to get it paid, but so far I've failed to find anyone willing or able to raise legal action against them. Is this a possibility? Any recommendations?

la531983

A far simpler way would be to initiate a switch somewhere else. 

MeteredOut

Have you got an official complaint open with them? If not, do that. If so, if its been open for 8 weeks, open a complaint with the energy ombudsman.

The issue with these companies is that they typically do no empower or incentivise any of their staff to take ownership of issues.

BarelySentientAI

johnuist said:

but so far I've failed to find anyone willing or able to raise legal action against them.

You are perfectly capable of raising legal action against them.  You don't need anyone to do it for you.

A formal complaint followed by the Ombudsman would seem to be a much simpler option though.

johnuist

la531983 said:

A far simpler way would be to initiate a switch somewhere else. 

This was for a property that we have sold, wouldn't have anything to do with them on our new house.

johnuist

I have been using their complaints email address since January, didn't feel when I spoke to the ombudsman that they would be much help as ovo have admitted on numerous occasions that they owe me the money, they are just choosing not to pay it.

MeteredOut

johnuist said:

I have been using their complaints email address since January, didn't feel when I spoke to the ombudsman that they would be much help as ovo have admitted on numerous occasions that they owe me the money, they are just choosing not to pay it.

Have you raised a complaint with the Ombudsman? They can (just about) force OVO to pay what you're owed, and you might get a goodwill gesture thrown in too.

Assuming they can't help after speaking to them on numerous occasions is not helping you.

TheElectricCow

johnuist said:

I have been using their complaints email address since January, didn't feel when I spoke to the ombudsman that they would be much help as ovo have admitted on numerous occasions that they owe me the money, they are just choosing not to pay it.

The good news is as this sounds like a breach of Ofgem’s Guaranteed Standards of Performance for credit refunds, you may already be automatically entitled to (at least) an additional £60 in compensation for the delay. Potentially more depending on the specifics of issue and when your final bill was issued.

Definitely raise the complaint to the ombudsman, as from your description this would be a fairly straightforward open and shut case this route will be the easiest way to the desired outcome with the least investment on your part. 

Even if the ombudsman doesn’t help it’s advisable to exhaust the proper complaints process with them and the supplier before attempting to make a legal challenge of the issue in court, as this is the purpose of the ombudsman and not doing so will not be helpful to your case.

johnuist

Thanks for the comments, just to say that I've just emailed a formal complaint today, so will wait another 8 weeks, it's only been 8 months so far!!