13k underpayment!

debitcardmayhem

I believe the month in question was 2025, the OPs late mother passed away then (opening post)

e.g. why the final bill showed over £260 worth of electricity and about £100 of gas was consumed in June 2026, a very warm month.

TroubledTarts

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82081532#Comment_82081532

Yeah I am thinking perhaps we need to ask the OP the following

1) how is the hot water set and is it set all day or by immersion even though they have gas

2) is there any indoor aquariums running 24/7

3) given there is a swimming pool are there any external pumps for lakes or a water feature running?

4) are any of the showers electric showers?

5) were additional electric fan or oil radiators used in excess of gas central heating?

6) any outbuildings running electric heating which are left on schedules?

Maybe we can get a bit more info as to why the bill is so high

Reed_Richards

I have noticed in this thread and in others, some of those who post assert that the consumer can set the amount of their direct debit. Whilst some suppliers give leeway to the consumer to vary the amount of their direct debit, surely it is ultimately the responsibility of the supplier to ensure that the amount of the direct debit matches the cost of the energy consumed. So the supplier can, if necessary, override the wishes of the consumer in setting the amount of the direct debit. Therefore if the amount of a direct debit proves to be too low for an extended period of time, it is the supplier rather than the consumer who should be judged to be at fault because the supplier did not intervene.

WiserMiser

@sirjojo26 I trust you moved to a different supplier when you closed the Ovo account? Is the opening reading with the new supplier Smart or taken by a Meter Reader? You don't want any confusion to transfer to the new supplier !

Remember that you'll need to keep the pool looked after (pump running, chemical treatments etc) otherwise it’ll turn green and then black and you won't be able to sell the property. You'll also need to keep some heating available during the winter so nothing freezes. The pool may be OK because of its large thermal mass but the pump can soon freeze.

Scot_39

We can speculate whether the bills are right or not - and until the pool+5 bed revelation - I think most might have thought not - but the use has occurred - presuming the final bill readings are those provided by relatives or smart at the relevent dates.

Without old bills it might be difficult for OP to break this down.

The final bill - could for instance be a massive underestimatation from a set of final readings given by the relatives - and maybe playing catch up over a long time - since last real measurement - smoothed (with seasonal weighting curves as agreed by Ofgem / suppliers) over in limit upto the full period.

But that would suggest that backbilling would then potentially exclude say 3 yrs of 4 if 2026 of the excess (there seems a confusion above - and I cannot see the bills if 2025/2026 - but i will go with 2026 since probate still being resolved) use.

So any real measurements at all in the history might be key to total estate liability.

Also the OP mentions one DD of £157 iirc and 2022 swap.

That would have been for a relatively high user in early 2022 - cap just £1277 / £106 pm until Apr.

But a just sub median use in Apr 22-Oct on - cap £1971 / £164 pm - and even less under EPG £2500 / £208pm from the Oct. Nominally Ofgem guesstimate cap for 2-3 in 2-3 bed - and no pool.

Was that DD ever reviewed / changed by Ovo in the 4 years ?

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82080761#Comment_82080761

Not quite right. They can in certain circumstances.

Ildhund

@Reed_Richards wrote:

… it is ultimately the responsibility of the supplier to ensure that the amount of the direct debit matches the cost of the energy consumed.

Ofgem's back-billing rules make it quite clear that if a deficit arises because the DD was set too low, the customer can't be held responsible. OVO are normally pretty rigid about DD amounts, so they seem to have dropped the ball on this one. Of course, we don't know if there was any unreasonableness on the part of the customer, which would change things drastically in this respect.

Swipe

Back in the mid eighties my friend's parents house had a large indoor swimming pool. When I moaned that the water was freezing, I remember him telling me it cost £25 a day to heat it back then, so they didn't bother and just used it in Summer.

Boohoo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82081777#Comment_82081777

I thought the June bill was 2025 as someone previously mentioned earlier as OP mother died about that time.

MeteredOut

I suspect this question is less "Is this bill correct?" and more "Can Ovo charge for usage this far back?".