Energy company to pay back £8.9million after overcharging customers and issuing inaccurate statements

30 January 2020, 11:19

Energy company Ovo Energy is said to have known about the issue, but did not tell regulators Ofgem.

Ovo, the UK's largest independent energy supplier, is to be fined nearly £9million by regulators.

Ovo, a 10-year-old company, will be fined after they sent inaccurate statements and overcharged customers for their energy usage.

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Some customers have even claimed they didn't receive energy bills at all.

The fees will mean vulnerable customers are paid back, however, they will not be refusing customers who were overcharged by less than £10.

Regulators Ofgem said: "Ovo explained that it did not believe it was an efficient use of resources to process 120,000 small value refunds.

"These monies did not belong to Ovo but to the customers impacted by Ovo's mistake."

BBC reported that while Ovo did not know about the issues, they did not tell Ofgem.

Anthony Pygram, head of enforcement at Ofgem, said: "Ovo Energy billed a number of its customers incorrectly and issued them with inaccurate information.

"The supplier did not prioritise putting these issues right whilst its business was expanding."

In a statement, the energy company said: "Ovo Energy holds itself to high standards, but we have not always got it right."

Ofgem said that Ovo's failure to use accurate documents has resulted in "some customers making decisions to switch or remain with Ovo based on inaccurate information".

They say that these customers may have "suffered detriment in missed savings opportunities".

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