I was surprised to find that Ovo have had me in ‘billing suspension’ for months without telling me. So even though I was diligently giving them monthly meter readings, these weren’t being processed and my direct debit payment (£92 per month) was beginning to build up into a surplus. When querying this, I discover that they had seemingly forgotten about me and in actual fact believe I owe them lots of money: what’s the point in giving monthly meter readings myself if they just ignore them?

They’re now claiming that in a little under 3 months, I’ve used 12984 kWh gas at 3.31p/kWh for a charge of £429.77. The typical annual consumption figure for gas is 16,500 kWh. So in under 3 months, in the mildest winter for years, they’re claiming I’ve used close to a year’s gas. Kindly, they’re offering to check my meter but I have to pay a £140 charge if they don’t determine that it’s broken. This would all be irritating enough if it wasn’t for the ‘billing suspension’ issue and when this oversight is combined with the wildly publicised IT problems that Ovo have, I’m not really sure why I should trust any figures I receive from them.