Customers of Ovo, the energy supplier were reportedly left shocked when they received energy bills of up to £49,000, due to data errors that led to overinflated energy bills for some residents.
Ovo accepted that some of its customers have been affected by erroneous meter readings, and it blamed the problems on some accounts that were transferred to it after it acquired the retail division of SSE in 2020
While the firm claimed that there was a difference in the closing and opening readings in meters, which has caused problems for some of its customers, according to other customers, Ovo has continued to send ridiculous energy bills despite having received updated meter readings.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Ovo has added that they have been successful in completing millions of migrations to date, and they are aware that a small percentage of Ovo’s customers have been receiving large bills. To resolve the issue, Ovo’s teams have arranged for extra control which will enable them to check any bill which is of a substantial amount. The firm is hopeful that this will help them in identifying erroneous bills and correcting them before they are sent to the customers.
For the uninitiated, this has not happened for the first time. Even in the past, Ovo was ordered to pay £8.9 million ($10.62 million) by the energy regulator, Ofgem, after it was found to be falsely charging customers for more than five years.
At present, Ofgem has not yet confirmed if it is aware of the ongoing issues about the bill amounts that Ovo is sending to its customers. A spokesperson, representing Ofgem, also stated that energy suppliers need to ensure that their customers receive the correct amount in their energy bills.
The spokesperson also added that intelligence has been shared with Ofgem and it will assess the same. It will also take necessary actions to ensure that energy suppliers in ethical in their practices to protect the users in these highly challenging times.
Source credit: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/nov/23/uk-energy-customers-bills-ovo-sse