TONY HETHERINGTON: Ovo saga is enough to make anyone cry!

Tony Hetherington is the Financial Mail on Sunday’s top researcher, taking on readers’ corners, uncovering the truth that lies behind closed doors and delivering victories for those left out of pocket. Below you can read how you can contact him.

DM writes: In 2021 I moved into my apartment. Utility supplier SSE discovered that the gas meter was in its database as Pay As You Go, but I could see that it was a normal credit meter.

I provided photos of the meter and was told the confusion would be resolved and my two-year dual-fuel contract would come into effect.

Well, almost two years later I still haven’t gotten a gas bill. Last year I even got the Ombudsman involved and they made a ruling, but the SSE ignored it and the Ombudsman failed to track it down.

Tony Hetherington replies: You kept a diary of all your contacts with SSE – part of the enormous Ovo energy empire – and with the Ombudsman. It spans 17 pages of typed notes and reads like the script for a movie in which the victim slowly goes mad.

The story starts with a touch of humor. When you moved here, you discovered that the gas meter was mounted on a wall, three meters above the ground. The idea that someone would climb a ladder every time a Pay As You Go (PAYG) top-up card needed to be inserted was ridiculous. Ovo agreed, promised to put things right and set up a direct debit for £75 a month.

Five months later Ovo complained that you weren’t paying for your PAYG gas, and you discovered it was only £45, not £75. You explained again, and Ovo said an engineer would have to inspect the meter. No engineer came, but you received a letter addressed to ‘The Occupier’ stating that your PAYG costs were increasing.

You complained to the Ombudsman, who said you should receive an apology, a payment of £100 and a visit from the engineer. You had already lived in your apartment for nine months. Three months later, not a single decision of the Ombudsman had been implemented. You read the meter and sent the readings to Ovo, who immediately charged you the expensive PAYG rates and not the agreed dual-fuel rates.

Thirteen months after you moved in, Ovo wrote to ask if everything was OK, as you had not refilled the gas meter. With a lot of help, you prepared a Customer Service Manual and sent it to Ovo. Your Ovo manual states: ‘If a customer presents a problem that requires a solution, at no time should you go out of your way to find one. More importantly, make sure you never read account notes, never pass information to another team and absolutely never involve a line manager. You need to keep sending automated mail to the customer to make sure they are fully aware that their problem is being 100 percent ignored.” Brilliant!

More weeks and months passed. Then suddenly Ovo said it would remove your meter and install a smart meter. But bad news: it would be a smart PAYG meter. An engineer arrived in January this year. He looked at the existing meter and left, saying it had the wrong serial number. In March, the Ombudsman refused to make a new complaint because it was merely a repeat of your original complaint, even though Ovo had ignored the Ombudsman’s decision.

Ovo has since responded to a letter by sending you an email asking for your name and address, both of which were included in your letter. You called Ovo customer service and were asked if your address in Cardiff was in Scotland, Wales or England. The speaker was in South Africa.

I have contacted the Ombudsman and Ovo. Ombudsman Services said it had pursued Ovo ‘several times’, previously highlighting its lack of powers. And Ovo said the £100 had been credited to your petrol bill, although this was pointless as you should have been on PAYG. It admitted that everything else was “unacceptable.”

Finally, Ovo used the correct rate and charged you €332, which you paid. It has apologized and sent you €200. And you have decided that you will switch to a new supplier at the end of your two-year contract. Who can blame you.

Your tax refund is the result of a PPI claim

MC writes: Unexpectedly, I have received a letter from HM Revenue & Customs stating that I am owed a refund of £220.

However, it says my refund will be sent to a company called Phillipson Hardwick Advisory Limited, which I have never had anything to do with.

Confusion: HMRC says PPI refund will be sent to Phillipson Hardwick Advisory Limited

Tony Hetherington replies: I was assured by the tax authorities that HMRC was happy that Phillipson Hardwick was in fact your agent in claiming a refund, but refused to provide any evidence as that would have breached the company’s right to confidentiality.

So I asked Kamran Pervaze, who runs the Manchester-based tax consultancy firm, if he could help. I also explained that although the tax authorities said the refund was tax charged on £1,102 of savings income, you had denied having any such income.

He told me that you had done business with a general insurance company which had given you a PPI refund plus interest of £1,102. Tax was charged on the interest and the claims company put you in touch online with Phillipson Hardwick who provided me with a copy of your signed consent authorizing the company to recover your tax.

I must say that the signature is the same as the one on your letter to me. Phillipson Hardwick has now contacted you to let you know that the refund has been received and the balance after charges will be transferred to you.

If you believe you have been a victim of financial misconduct, please write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Due to the large number of questions, personal answers cannot be given. Only send copies of original documents. Unfortunately, these cannot be returned.