OVO Energy not recognising Power of Attorney

My neighbour is trying to get her mothers energy bill paid for her former home which is now for sale.

The bill is exorbitant and when she asks for an amended bill she is told that her mother must call or email to sanction someone else to deal on her behalf bu because of advanced dementia that cannot happen.

My neighbour has full Power of Attorney for her mother but OVO Energy say that Power of Attorney doesn't apply to them and they must communicate with her directly. My neighbours Solicitor has tried to intervene but they will not speak to him!

Has anyone managed to get sense out of OVO Energy?

From personal experience with companies Citizens Advice would be worth contacting.

Ofgem is probably another one to be on the list of contacts.

It seems John Nicolson MP has been having a run in with them recently
https://www.thenational.scot/news/23741273.snp-mp-fumes-ovo-energy-receiving-thuggish-letter/

Some of the replies on his Twitter account are interesting if you have access.

Bill

Do you have good evidence of what the bill should be?

.

It might be worth browsing here: **LINK**

https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/office/562033/ovo-energy-ltd

… to make sure that refusal to speak is not coming from some jobsworth :

It appears to me that there is one named solicitor at OVO responsible for such matters.

MichaelG.

.

https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/organisation/branchpeople/562033/ovo-energy-ltd?AreaOfPractice=COM

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 24/08/2023 17:33:08

According to OFCOM

Ofcom requires all telecoms providers in the UK to offer third party bill management. This allows a customer to nominate a friend or relative to help manage their account. The third party can receive copies of bills and can pay the bills, but does not become liable for them.

The customer should contact their telecoms provider to set this up.

How is a lasting power of attorney different from third party bill management?

An LPA gives the attorney the same power to manage the account as the account holder.

I'd be very surprised if the same doesn't apply to electricity suppliers. If you have good evidence of what the bill should be I'd get the solicitor to send a copy of the POA and a cheque for what you think it should be and tell them the ball is in their court. Send it by 'signed for' then they can't deny having received it, and send a copy to OFGEM

For what it’s worth:

**LINK**

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/my-account-140/managing-an-ovo-account-via-power-of-attorney-poa-how-can-i-speak-to-someone-to-resolve-smart-meter-issues-causing-estimated-bills-9862

MichaelG.

I read Alistair's posting with some amazement and then followed up Googling OVO. Without looking far it appears they have finanicial problems and and very poor customer services. I think this was the same with SSE, who is now a part owner of OVO. Following the trail I had a quick look at the Guardian. Yesterday they had a report almost identical about E.ON harassing a person in final care and ignoring Power of Attorney.

I am about to give Power of Attorney to a couple close relatives.

"There is something rotten in the state of Denmark".

JA

Edited By JA on 24/08/2023 17:56:48

sometime back I had similar problem OFCOM intervened and got it sorted but it was painful

H

I've done ok with one of my rellys by saying she's blind and disabled

"She's blind and disabled so can you initiate your procedures for dealing with these customers please."

wait 2 seconds...

"...or you can deal with me to sort this out."

No issues so far... yet

--------------------

There's always trigger words in official systems. Gay. Blind. Disabled whatever

To get up the housing waiting list I would become a battered partner of my gay lover

The taxman is the same, Is it a workshop... or a hobby room

Is a 0.5 acre grassy space with trees called Framley park, or Framley Gardens or Framley Nature reserve, it matters to the council

Edited By Ady1 on 24/08/2023 19:30:26

Alistair, it looks to me like your neighbour has already discharged her [or rather her mother's] obligations to OVO. A letter to OVO re-stating your neighbour's position is the only further action I'd advise her to take.

If OVO insists on transacting business henceforth directly with her mother, your neighbour might like to tell OVO that they are perfectly free to do so.

We had a similar situation with a supplier in the case of my father, who has severe dementia and whom we have POA for. The company alleged there was a sum of several hundred pounds outstanding on his account. We told them there wasn't [and indeed there wasn't].

The company insisted on dealing with my father directly. We said they were free to do so, but that whether they dealt with us or our father they would never get a penny because of our certainty, on the one hand, that the bill was wrong and because of our father's incapacity on the other. Within three days we got a letter saying the matter was closed.

Another piece of advice I'd give your neighbour. Don't ring OVO - ever; write to them instead. There are several advantages to this, which I will leave it to others to identify. I have not rung a utilities company for any reason connected with billing on my own or another's behalf for around four years. My life is appreciably the better for it.

Good advice, and also, if the letter is a complaint, start the letter with a heading containing the word COMPLAINT.

Regulated companies have to report the number of complaints received but letters, no matter what they say, don't count as complaints unless the word complaint is used. Means that large numbers of customers can be dissatisfied and the regulator doesn't do anything about it.

I advise writing a COMPLAINT letter to OVO saying that, despite having had the situation explained several times, they are still not managing a customer with dementia appropriately. Ask OVO to explain in writing what they are doing to fix their mistakes. Tell them that OFGEN have been informed. Copy the letter to OFGEN and ask them to investigate.

Sounds as if OVO are in financial poo - many energy retailers have gone bankrupt over the last 18 months. Could be the firm has horrible staff shortages because everyone who can has jumped ship.

Dave

Your neighbour is not alone Alistair - from the Guardian. It does seem the company is in trouble.

When my late dad's cognitive abilities began to decline he had the foresight and trust to give me Power of Attorney. I took charge of all of his financial affairs for seven years and never heard a whisper of protest from the many organisations I had to deal with. I simply don't believe that OVO are somehow exempt. Challenge them. As others have said,Citizens Advice is a good port of call.

Rob.

As I said before, send letters 'signed for' and screen grab the Post Office thing saying it's delivered. I've had dealings with a government department where they claimed not to have received a letter, but when I pointed to the Post Office receipt thing the letter suddenly turned up.

They're not. OVO even set out the options for Alistair's neighbour themselves very clearly.

It sounds very much like Alistair's neighbour is being led a merry dance by the OVO employee on the phone because he or she is too lazy or callous to handle the matter in good faith.

Get the neighbour to write [signed for, as Duncan says] to OVO HQ, citing the page I've linked to, and, as Dave says, make a formal complaint, either separately or as part of the same communication.

OVO are useless at customer service it took me close to a year to sort out an issue with my mother’s electricity account and to get them to acknowledge an LPA. Phoning is useless in the main, although it was part of the process to get the complaint escalated to their “special” team. It took countless emails and the threat of legal action to get resolution but she did get compensation for the distress caused. The only way to success is in my experience patience and persistence, be very persistent and don’t be fobbed off! The basic operators have no clue, you need to get escalated and get a dedicated point of contact to make progress.

Paul.

I know where you're coming from Bill, but perhaps the lad or lass on the phone doesn't actually have the power to make a difference. They are given scripts and if they don't recite the company mantra they're on the dole. I know people who do this sort of work and they are not personally lazy or callous. They just need to make ends meet and do what they're told to do. The callousness comes from above and the laziness from suffocation of individual initiative - why bother if no one is listening.

Robin.

Edited By Robin Graham on 25/08/2023 01:14:26

Edited By Robin Graham on 25/08/2023 01:18:05

Thank You All for the extensive advice which I have passed on to my neighbour. Some things she has already tried with no helpful resolution but, the very helpful responses have given her a larger stock of arrows to try when firing at fortress OVO Energy!

Latest update is OVO has just taken over her mum's account at the end of July, it was formerly with SSE, Now she is being told that she has not been a customer for long enough therefore the account cannot be discussed by anyone! until the system generates a "Profile!" You couldn't really make it up could you!