Taking OVO Energy to court query

NickF_2

Hi All. 

Has anyone taken an energy company to court in the last year or two. I need advice on how to lay the claim out. Most solicitors aren't interested unless your claim is over £10K. Which mine is not. 

Last summer I returned home from a short holiday to learn that OVO energy had sent me a bill saying that I my energy was in arrears of £2,500 approx. I knew this was wrong as I pay monthly on time and regularly read my meters. OVO were adamant they were right. 

Eventually, after a million phone calls and emails I discovered that I am a customer who has suffered at the hands of OVO energy's Legacy software remote migration which failed. Essentially, OVO tried to upgrade the software on everyone's meters remotely and basically messed up everyone's readings. OVO Now don't know how much energy you have used. They were so embarrassed they even pulled down the My Account section of their website and stopped customers seeing what had happened. They are telling the story that they are designing a new website, but this was due to appear in December 2023 and it still is non existent!

Since I discovered this last summer, I have had to read and photograph my meters and upload them to OVO via email every time I need to inform them of my usage. I have been doing this every few days to make the point to OVO that I do not use anywhere near the energy they thought I did/do. Here's a laugh, when I got home from a two week holiday last summer in August, OVO sent me a bill for £6K gas. This was the hottest July/August on record. Our actual bill/usage was £15!

OVO energy are so bad and failing to correct these arrears errors on the account that I want to leave. OVO have told me that I can't leave if I owe more than £30. This fake debt is therefore OVO's way of holding customers hostage! 

I want to seek damages from OVO for undue stress and anxiety they have put me and my family through with fake debts and phone calls from debt collections departments. My family are never in debt and we are good with finances! 

I also want to charge for my time for photographing and uploading evidence via emails to OVO which replace the role of their 'Not very smart' smart meters, which are not doing this task automatically. 

Also, someone recently, on another solicitor forum said that it is very rare/unlikely that a small claim court would award the recovery of legal costs from the losing party in a small claim court. is this true? 

I am intending to pursue around £3,000 in damages from OVO energy for this issue. 

Any advice would be appreciated. 

Nick 

BarelySentientAI

Almost nobody takes an energy supplier to court and wins.  They certainly don't win 'damages' or charge for their time reading meters.

Have you gone through the OVO complaints process and then the Ombudsman?  If not, the court will have expected you to.

Hoenir

NickF_2 said:

I am intending to pursue around £3,000 in damages from OVO energy for this issue. 

You'd need to substantiate such a demand. Rather than simply pluck a figure out of the air. 

MP1995

One might suggest that a million phone calls is unrealistic and if this is how you have based a potential court case it could backfire quite spectacularly.

NickF_2

Hi All 

Thank you for the prompt responses. 

To answer your queries

1) I've been through OVO complaints and Ombudsman. The Ombudsman forced OVO to do a 'rebill'. This reduced the debt down to £1,000. When I asked OVO produce 'actual' reading of this usage they said they can't and only send estimated usage bills saying I owe £1k. This is not good enough in my book. 

2) 255 emails to be exact since last August. More than 40 phone calls. Some initiated by me. Some return calls by OVO - which often lead to nothing!!

3) I want £1000 for undue stress and anxiety, I want £10 per email as I act as their admin service to upload readings as there 'smart' meter doesn't. 

N

NickF_2

The reality is this. I just want to leave OVO energy but they are holding us hostage. 

I don't want to spend my free time uploading photos of their smart meters for them. I've lost all trust in OVO being honest and knowing what the correct usage is without me proving it to them. 

Now the trust has been lost I need to be able to leave

N

MeteredOut

I've been through a similar process with EDF - not millions of emails and phone calls, but certainly dozens of both, and hours taking readings - this dates back to August 2022 when I noticed my meter was incrementing even when isolated from the gas. I had to fight to get my meter tested, which proved it was faulty. I've now had my new meter for close to 9 months and will be submitting my final claim for overcharging in a month or so (as agreed with the Ombudsman).

But, I'd never ever entertained the idea that I could claim my time back from EDF (though the Ombudsman did make them provide me with a £100 credit).

Good luck, but I suggest any money spent on a solicitor would be wasted. If you want to claim, do it via the small claims process and I suspect, without being able to prove any loss on your part, you won't be successful.

Did the Ombudsman not order OVO to give you a credit as part of their judgement?

NickF_2

Hi Metered Out.

OVO were made to give me two £125 credits. This means nothing though when they have invented a £1000 debt they think I owe. 

I've told by a solicitor that energy companies often breach the T&C's of your contract with them regularly. They fail to send accurate bills on time, they pull down their MYaccount section of their website which is part of the reason in the contract that you sign up with these organisations in the first place - because you can 'manage' your won account/affairs etc.. They fail to deal with queries and complaints with a reasonable/stated time frame etc

Nick 

tim_p

If you have been uploading pictures of the (no so) smart meter readings then you must know, or be able to calculate, what you in fact owe them. 

MeteredOut

NickF_2 said:

Hi Metered Out.

OVO were made to give me two £125 credits. This means nothing though when they have invented a £1000 debt they think I owe. 

I've told by a solicitor that energy companies often breach the T&C's of your contract with them regularly. They fail to send accurate bills on time, they pull down their MYaccount section of their website which is part of the reason in the contract that you sign up with these organisations in the first place - because you can 'manage' your won account/affairs etc.. They fail to deal with queries and complaints with a reasonable/stated time frame etc

Nick 

Do you have your own records that show the £1000 debt is not valid?  Can you show what energy you used during the period on question? Was that evidence presented to the Ombudsman?

If you don't have that evidence, on what line would your court claim be based?

And the solicitor who told you "that energy companies often breach the T&C's of your contract". Was that a paid-for advice and aer they are willing for you to admit that in court as evidence under their name, or was it someone giving free advice-not-advice on a web forum?

Or do you have any other expert evidence that can prove that "OVO tried to upgrade the software on everyone's meters remotely and basically messed up everyone's readings. OVO Now don't know how much energy you have used."

(I'm not suggesting you don't have a case here, but having a case and proving that case are very different things).

BarelySentientAI

NickF_2 said:

1) I've been through OVO complaints and Ombudsman. The Ombudsman forced OVO to do a 'rebill'. This reduced the debt down to £1,000. When I asked OVO produce 'actual' reading of this usage they said they can't and only send estimated usage bills saying I owe £1k. This is not good enough in my book. 

However, if it's good enough in the Ombudsman's book and supported by the Electricity Act and the Electricity Licence Conditions (which it seems it is), then attempting to persuade a court of something different with anything less that cast iron evidence (which you do not and apparently cannot have) is likely to get you nowhere.

Courts are quite happy to enforce Ombudsman's decisions.  They are extremely reluctant to throw out an Ombudsman's decision and substitute their own.

NickF_2 said:

OVO were made to give me two £125 credits. This means nothing though when they have invented a £1000 debt they think I owe. 

What do you think you owe?  What evidence do you have that their estimate (which the Ombudsman seems to have agreed with) is wrong and yours, whatever it is, is correct?  If you have good evidence that the bill is still wrong, then that's what you proceed with and get fixed.

NickF_2 said:

3) I want £1000 for undue stress and anxiety, I want £10 per email as I act as their admin service to upload readings as there 'smart' meter doesn't. 

Yeah, that's just nonsense.  We aren't the USA yet.  You can claim for actual, demonstrable losses.  The Ombudsman usually awards greater payments than a court would - they are minded to work on what is 'fair' rather than what is strictly legal, so will even award payments for things that are completely acceptable but not explained well for example - and they've awarded you £250.

NickF_2 said:

I've told by a solicitor that energy companies often breach the T&C's of your contract with them regularly. 

Then this solicitor should be happy to take your case, as it must be a slam-dunk.

NickF_2 said:

The reality is this. I just want to leave OVO energy but they are holding us hostage. 

Now the trust has been lost I need to be able to leave

If that's what you want, then you need to get what the actual debt position is agreed (so accept what the Ombudsman has determined or demonstrate that they are wrong), and then settle the account.

Do that and you can leave tomorrow.