Ovo energy billing for money I do not owe. HELP

[whatdsugar]

Hi all, I’d really appreciate some opinions on an energy billing issue because it feels very wrong and I’m not sure how this is even allowed.

I have never been an OVO customer. My partner was.

We lived together at a property from January 2022 until 30 September 2024. All energy bills at that address were only ever in my partner’s name. I was never named on the account, not at that address and not at our new one.

When we moved out, my partner did everything properly. He informed OVO he was moving, gave a forwarding address, and transferred his OVO account to the new property. He even changed the supplier at the new address to OVO so the same account continued. We both left the old address at the same time.

A few months later, the new occupants of the old property contacted us to say there were letters for us. When my partner went to collect them, there was an OVO bill addressed to me, in my full legal name, for the period 30 September to around 30 October, for about £120.

This is after we had already moved out.

I contacted OVO to say:
• I have never been their customer
• I did not live at the address during the period billed
• They should not have my personal details at all
• The actual customer (my partner) did not disappear and had fully transferred his account

OVO then asked me to provide a tenancy agreement. I refused, as I do not see why I should provide documents when I was never a customer and they should not have put an account in my name in the first place. I also questioned how they even obtained my full legal name.

They claimed my partner gave them a tenancy agreement before signing up, which I believe is untrue. I’ve never heard of an energy company requiring a tenancy agreement just to open an account, and in any case, I was still never the customer.

I raised a formal complaint. Their final response did not answer how my name was added, did not cancel the debt, and essentially repeated the same position. I emailed back stating that if the bill was not cancelled and they did not explain how they obtained and used my personal data by a set date, I would escalate to the Energy Ombudsman.

Now, I’ve received a debt collector letter at our new address, in my name, for the old address.

To be clear:
• I did not live at the property during the billed period
• I was never an OVO customer
• The actual customer gave notice, transferred the account, and provided correct details
• If there was a gap after we left, they should be pursuing the homeowner or new occupiers, not me

I’m now drafting a complaint to the Energy Ombudsman and will be copying OVO and the debt collector.

Does this sound as wrong as it feels? Has anyone dealt with something similar, especially being billed as a “non-customer”? Any advice on how best to handle this would be really appreciated.

Thank you.

Honestly I think the best bet would be to provide the information they’ve asked for - potentially the energy ombudsman will see that they’ve requested reasonable data to help them fact check / close the claim and you’ve refused. The tenancy agreement would have been a quick way to confirm everything you’ve said?

Did you check with your partner if they did provide the tenancy agreement when signing up? That might help clear that up for certain rather than you just believing it is untrue - if he did, that’s where they got the name - if not then it helps substantiate your questions on where your details came from.

It’s common to ask for a tenancy agreement. When there’s a gap between tenants or a dispute about dates then it’s proof of who is responsible for what. Even if you move out on a particular date, you’re responsible for bills up to the end of the tenancy. It’s pretty standard to ask for it

i asked and he said he was never asked to provide a tenancy agreement and never provided one. To be hones, I have had energy accounts in my name all my adult . life I have never been asked to provide tenancy agreement before opening an account with an energy company at all. I think what happened was that they say a gap between the time my partner moved the account and when new occupants signed up and though oh let’s find some to charge for this and I am their culprit. I asked them the most sensible thing to do was to look for the homeowner not a random person. I am sure it would have taken same effort to find the homeowner and find out who is liable for that period.

@Blushingm That isn’t quite right.

If a tenancy has a break clause and the tenant leaves lawfully in line with that clause (for example part way through a 12-month term with proper notice), then the tenancy ends on that date. The tenant is not liable for rent or utilities beyond the lawful end of the tenancy.

Responsibility for energy bills only runs up to the point the tenancy legally ends and the property is vacated. It doesn’t automatically continue to the end of the original fixed term if the tenancy has been ended early in accordance with the agreement.

In any event, in my case I wasn’t the tenant or the account holder at all, which is why I’m querying why my name has been used.

Can you prove you weren’t in the property or liable for the bills if that property for the billed period? If you can prove it then provide them with the info that proves it. Make sure all communication is coming to your new address incase they start legal proceedings that could end with a CCJ.

Just continue the complaint to the ombudsman. Don't enter into further correspondence with ovo. The landlord should have been billed for the void period not you. It's pretty obviously their cock up.

@EvangelicalAboutButteredToast that’s the issue here, I should not have to prove anything because even if there is money owed, it should not my name on the owed bill.

I would provide the tenancy agreement and get the matter cleared up

@PrincessofWells yes I plan to and I drafted the letter already to be posted and send one to ovo and the debt collector. I have owned several properties and the landlord is usually the ones responsible for gaps like this not a random person.

The tenancy agreement will not show when the tenancy ended so it's irrelevant.
If this proceeded to court it's up to ovo to prove the debt not up to Op to disprove it. The TA was never in her name at the period during which she lived at the property.

@swingingbytheseat i understand when people say provide tenancy agreement but I should have to. When partner said he was moving and provided forwarding address and transferred account and even changed new energy provider at new address to ovo. Ovo should have contacted homeowner for the gap that is the norm

@whatdsugar
as the other poster says a tenancy agreement won’t show your end date.

However, I’d be very touchy of my Credit score being marked by this so I would CC the energy ombudsman asap and get them to research it - it usually kicks the energy company up the arse once you do this and they will pause

OVO are dreadful, the worst, most incompetent bunch of f**kwits I have ever had to deal with, good luck OP

They only have 12 months to chase any previous bills. They can do one as you were not the named customer and also a breach of data rules.....