Ovo Energy Bill is way too high - faulty smart meter

[Alfy]

Hi

I was being supplied by ovo after unknowingly being swapped from SSE. 

My issues began when we had a smart meter fitted and our bills almost doubled overnight

- we at the time assumed we were just paying not enough until then and just continued to pay the excess bills each Month. 

I would from time to time contact ovo and get faced with a call centre in South Africa of the most rude agents who would just hang up after hours of wait and I could not even get an acknowledgement of an issue with my meter.  At one point we were not in the property for 4 months and the bills were coming just as high! 

It was at this point I was sure something is not right and ovo only care to send bailiffs and started threatening us with a pay as you go meter despite me taking out a 3.5k loan to pay of my outstanding balance.  Around 1600 each on both gas and electricity. 

This is where its gets really bad -  the very same day they sent me out a new bill saying the money paid already was only to cover up until the November previous and because its now Feb we owe another 1k.   By that August this had risen to over 3k and I still couldn't get anyone to even acknowledge a fault let alone fix it. 

In despair I tried to swap suppliers and to my surprise octopus accepted us because even tho the debt is owed we are trying deal with. 

During our time with them the bill was coming only on my wife's name as I was responsible for other bills and she this one - now that we owe them 3k they have magically started adding my name as well as my wife's to the same debt to apply double pressure and its showing on my Experian report now with a question mark and 2700 showing in grey - 

This was my wife's debt which we dispute we owe yet they have now sent me a letter with both our names on from oriel and past due credit debt agencies - is this illegal and how can I get them to take my Name of this and leave on wife's name as its so unfair they give us a both a default for wife's debt which we disputed. 

In the end about 3 weeks ago I wrote an email to their ceo and rishi sunak and low and behold for the first time in our history with ovo someone who spoke English contacted us and said she will look into our claim. 

I explained to her that we feel our meter is faulty and despite me contacting them using WhatsApp email and phone I still have not got anyone to acknowledge a fault even. And that I dispute I Owe anything as my son was in hospital for 3 months and we stayed with him so house was empty and still. They were sending us super sized bills more than when we started at home. 

She promised to investigate and a few days later replied that she is sorry for the poor customer service and offered us £50 compensation - however she also mentioned that she's attached statements for us confirming the payment for 3k I made was only up until Nov and in Feb despite me pay 3.5k nearly it's correct for them to bill me. Another £900 the very same day and she did not agree our meter was faulty and therefore the debt stands and she will not be calling it back from past due credit. 

During my time with my new supplier post ovo, octopus, I requested they check my meters because I felt they were faulty and over charging me

I got excellent response asking me for further details which I supplied and I got a response back within days to say my meter was indeed faulty and octopus have now remotely repaired it.  

I then contacted the energy ombudsman and explained my situation how she at ovo tried to fob me off and demand I pay money we don't feel we owe due to faulty equipment we reported but ovo had no process or mechanism to deal with it or lodge complaint even without having to cc their ceo and our pm.

now I feel sick to think both husband and wife will get a 6  year default for debt which have a validity of a questionable nature. 

I explained all this to the energy ombudsman and they accepted my case and I explained to them that my new supplier found my fault which ovo refused to accept - I've uploaded the email from new supplier to ombudsman showing we had a fault. 

My question is

is there anything I can upload in defence of my case to ombudsman before they decide outcome in a few weeks 

All advice greatly appreciated

not only would I like advice on how to clear this debt

but also how I can pursue ovo for compensation and deterrence for the future. 

Thansk 

[dx100uk]

let the ombudsman do their job. you'll win handsdown

you dont obv owe OVO p'haps anything at all. 

dont worry about Past Due credit or any other DCA ( THEY ARE NOT BAILIFFS!)

as for you being added to the debt, thats quite OK, you were a resident adult and equally liable under law.

once you start getting things moving via the  ombudsman dont forget to get your credit files cleansed of any negative data & seek compensation for distress etc, again the  ombudsman should sort both out for you.

as you are now NOT a customer of OVO, there is very very little they can do to you now.

 

[aesmith]

Do you have historical meter readings from before the meters were changed? And more recent history showing consumption, in metered units not in £s,  since the change.

One specific thing to check is gas. Check that the meter and the bill use the same units. If the meter is recording cu.m but they're billing as if it was counting 100 cu.ft, then your bill will be nearly three times too high. 

Overall I'm guessing it's an Ovo screw up. It's significant that they didn't block the transfer, maybe they aren't so sure of their position.

Edited April 20 by aesmith

[Alfy]

I'm going to check the measurement units today as I feel this could well be happening otherwise I can't understand how the bill can be so high even when nobody there living sometimes. 

[aesmith]

Are you on Economy 7, or were you at any time since the smart meter was installed?

[Alfy]

I'm not sure we were on standard tariffs

- I've uploaded as many proofs as I can for the ombudsman

- ovo called last night upping the compensation to 100 from 50 pounds for the slip in customer service

however they won't acknowledge the problem them not acknowledging a fault has caused nor are they willing to remedy anything as they won't accept the meter or formula was wrong. 

 I'd appreciate more details on the economy 7 approach and I'll update the ombudsman with any information you can share. 

[aesmith]

It you had E7 in the past but have converted to single rate then the meter will still hold the last recorded Night readings. This introduces scope for error when manually reading.

If the meter has only ever been used on single rate then there's only one figure that can be taken. For example ours shows "Rate 1" reading and a "Total import" reading, but they both give the sme figure. If it has ever been on E7 the total will be higher, including the retained night reading.

[Alfy]

Could I try say a 3 letter process on ovo would that help. 

[aesmith]

Almost certainly not. The various "three letter" or five letters processes originated from the US using their debt validation principles. The idea is to deny every having dealt with creditor, that's not going to fly living in a house with the electricity.

Have you posted up meter readings yet?

[lolerz]

Get that freemen of the land twaddle out your head. It'll only cause problems.

As dx said, let the ombudsman do their thing, I've had to do it with a couple energy suppliers recently and they've both come out in my favour (incorrect readings).

Go find other meter readings and prepare to give them the readings to back up your point.

The ombudsman will likely order OVO to rebill the whole account from contract start.

Stop fretting and let the process happen.

[dx100uk]

2 hours ago, Alfy said:

Could I try say a 3 letter process on ovo would that help. 

yep stop following freemen of the land TWADDLE.

dx