Ovo debt issue

Artyboy1973

I have a disability and have anxiety and depression and every winter since 2015 I have been getting Warm Home Discount of £140. 

I don’t use much electricity as I am rarely in my flat during the day and only there overnight. I don’t use a washing machine or fridge and my television isn’t on very much. I am on Pay As You Go and I have the old style metres. 

Every time I check my meter there is always still credit so I don’t have to worry about putting more credit in. However, I received a shocking email from Ovo telling me I have a balance of £950 to pay which has baffled me. 

The debt apparently spans from last year to this year and according to the email the average units of energy used in 3 months is 673.00 units which is impossible if I’m not been using much electricity in those months. I contacted OVO and they are wanting a reading from my electricity meter which I said I will do once I’m back from a weekend holiday. 

I am going to contact citizens advice about this as I feel there is an error which those readings. Ovo have been a complete nightmare. I never had those issues with SSE. I am in complete panic due to having anxiety issues.

itsthelittlethings

When did you last top up and how much did you put on?

itsthelittlethings

Could you list the things in your house that do use electricity, for instance fridge presumably. Is your central heating gas or electric?

Artyboy1973

itsthelittlethings said:

When did you last top up and how much did you put on?

The credit in my electricity meter was sitting at £14 so I topped up £10 a couple of days ago leaving credit of £24.

Artyboy1973

itsthelittlethings said:

Could you list the things in your house that do use electricity, for instance fridge presumably. Is your central heating gas or electric?

My central heating is gas. The only thing the electricity meter is powering is the gas boiler. Every other appliance is switched off and unplugged from the wall and not been used for months.

itsthelittlethings

If you're on PAYG meter you can't run up a paper bill unless you use emergency credit I guess. Unless the bill is historical from before you went over to PAYG?

Artyboy1973

itsthelittlethings said:

If you're on PAYG meter you can't run up a paper bill unless you use emergency credit I guess. Unless the bill is historical from before you went over to PAYG?

I have always had PAYG meter in my flat. It’s totally baffling why I should be in debt considering my PAYG meter is always in credit and I don’t use much electricity.

itsthelittlethings

Artyboy1973 said:

itsthelittlethings said:

If you're on PAYG meter you can't run up a paper bill unless you use emergency credit I guess. Unless the bill is historical from before you went over to PAYG?

I have always had PAYG meter in my flat. It’s totally baffling why I should be in debt considering my PAYG meter is always in credit and I don’t use much electricity.

You can't go into debt on PAYG unless you use emergency credit and even then you should pay it back using top up. Just send them a meter reading as they ask and come back here if you have any more problems, there are lots of knowledgeable people here to advise. 

Artyboy1973

itsthelittlethings said:

Artyboy1973 said:

itsthelittlethings said:

If you're on PAYG meter you can't run up a paper bill unless you use emergency credit I guess. Unless the bill is historical from before you went over to PAYG?

I have always had PAYG meter in my flat. It’s totally baffling why I should be in debt considering my PAYG meter is always in credit and I don’t use much electricity.

You can't go into debt on PAYG unless you use emergency credit and even then you should pay it back using top up. Just send them a meter reading as they ask and come back here if you have any more problems, there are lots of knowledgeable people here to advise. 

I phoned OVO a couple of days ago with my electricity meter readings then was asked for my electric and gas meter serial numbers. 

They then told me that they will get in touch with me with feedback. They phoned me back today and insisted that I am in debt which resulted in me losing my temper with them and hanging up due to the stress this has been causing me.

I then phoned them back and fortunately got put through to a UK call centre and spoke to a lovely woman who helped me considerably. She was also baffled why I was in debt considering I am PAYG. However, she told me that I was in debt of £725 and not £912.50 as stated in the email.

Anyway, she asked for my meter readings again which I gave her and then she recalculated my debt to be £150. She explained the reason of the debt could be because I haven’t giving a meter reading to OVO in over a year and as it’s an old meter I’m using the meter takes a while to update to OVO so basically the debt was an estimate. She said she will phone me tomorrow for the Gas meter reading and an update on the Electricity meter reading and hopefully that will clear the debt.