OVO chasing for extra payment after closing my account

Freesoul01

Hi there, 

I switched my energy provider from OVO at the end of March. Despite closing my account, OVO still withdrew money via direct debit. I expected them to reconcile the account and issue a refund, which they did in mid-April.

At the beginning of May, I logged into my OVO account, downloaded the final bill, and closed the account. Since then, however, OVO has been contacting me, demanding payment for energy I did not use, as I am now paying another provider.

I requested some time to review my bills, as I wanted to be honest and ensure I paid anything I genuinely owed. However, I noticed that the bills I had previously downloaded appear to have been changed compared with what is on the online account. The one I downloaded shows zero balance, however, the other online shows a debt of £42.45 to pay.

Can anyone advise me on how to proceed in this situation? OVO contacts me daily, and as a full-time worker, I don’t have the time to deal with this constantly.

QrizB

Which supplier did you switch to?

What's the opening reading(s) on your first bill from your new supplier, and does it match the meter reading(s) on either of the "final" bills from OVO?

WiserMiser

Check the final readings, they maybe different from the readings you sent them.  They may be different even if they were smart readings.

There's a weird and wonderful third party process that can tweak the final readings to something they consider to be more likely.  You can't challenge it unless it's a significant difference.

However, the costs differences are likely to be quite small, and you're just as likely to win rather than lose.

All the matters is that the final readings for the old company are the same as the opening readings for the new company.

Freesoul01

QrizB said:

Which supplier did you switch to?

What's the opening reading(s) on your first bill from your new supplier, and does it match the meter reading(s) on either of the "final" bills from OVO?

Thank you for your prompt response. The final meter reading with OVO matches the opening reading recorded by my new supplier, Home Energy Co. I’ve already submitted my meter reading for April and have been charged accordingly for my energy usage during that month. I will also, send the new reading today to May energy usage.

MWT

Freesoul01 said:

The one I downloaded shows zero balance, however, the other online shows a debt of £42.45 to pay.

Can anyone advise me on how to proceed in this situation? OVO contacts me daily, and as a full-time worker, I don’t have the time to deal with this constantly.

You need to look at the revised bill and compare to the original bill and work out why there is a difference.

Once you know why you can decide if it is legitimate or not.

Your supplier is allowed to correct errors in a final bill, you cannot refuse to pay just because it has changed, but the change needs to be legitimate, and not for example related to consumption they failed to bill you for over 12 months ago...

Freesoul01

MWT said:

Freesoul01 said:

The one I downloaded shows zero balance, however, the other online shows a debt of £42.45 to pay.

Can anyone advise me on how to proceed in this situation? OVO contacts me daily, and as a full-time worker, I don’t have the time to deal with this constantly.

You need to look at the revised bill and compare to the original bill and work out why there is a difference.

Once you know why you can decide if it is legitimate or not.

Your supplier is allowed to correct errors in a final bill, you cannot refuse to pay just because it has changed, but the change needs to be legitimate, and not for example related to consumption they failed to bill you for over 12 months ago...

I reviewed the bill and noticed that I was incorrectly charged based on an estimated reading from the heating meter, which I do not use. I have sent a photo showing that the meter reading has not changed since my last submission.

For clarity, I have two meters: one for general energy usage and another for heating. The heating meter has never been used, as it has not been connected since I moved in. 

Thanks for your support! 

MWT

Great, shouldn't be too hard to get that corrected now you know what has caused the problem.

Scot_39

Having second unused meters - real or so called ghost / phantoms registered on database at a property - has in past been potentially a bad idea.

Often not highlighted as a problem at a current supplier - but comes to surface when come to switch.

I remember posts here of people having switches failing - some not immediately - and others simply having quotes refused.

Others were bounced back on to 2 rate 2 MPAN billing in line with meter database at new suppliers who did accept switches - until the meter if present - or the database resolved / the associated MPAN - removed from records.  Not normally free to do if self instigated.  (My uncle paid SSE / Ovo to remove a second meter - over £100 + pre crisis - now ? - and they needed an electricians report confirming it wouldn't leave him without "key services").

But something that suppliers should organise for free for any imposed changes - like the 100,000s currently likely having twin RTS replaced by single smart. 

Which I suspect might well be testing the capacity of the third party database manager too (as in normal times iirc Ovo were saying 6 weeks min to maybe 3 months to my uncle at the time).