Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday’s ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.
K.P. writes: I own a second home which was rented out. The tenant moved out and the house sat empty until three months later, when I decided to use it as a weekend home.
Since then, gas and electricity has typically cost about £200 a month, but Ovo insists I owe more than £3,700. This appears to cover the three months when the house was empty.
I have meter readings and have asked Ovo repeatedly to calculate the true amounts but they have not done so. This is driving me nuts!
Tony Hetherington replies: You sent me copies of the bills issued by Ovo, demanding £3,757 in all, which would be a staggering amount for just three months of gas and electricity.
Promise: Ovo’s claims on service rang hollow
But you also sent me the meter readings you received from the solicitors and estate agents who handled the return of the property to you, and those readings should have been the starting point for your own bills. The figures were way out of line with the demands you actually received.
When I contacted Ovo, its staff had second thoughts. They got in touch with you and said the tenant had carried out the meter readings while he was living in the house, and had given very low readings for his bills. It was those low readings that Ovo used as your starting point, and which generated a huge bill for you.
After juggling some figures, Ovo decided you did not owe £3,757. Instead, Ovo owed you £675, with a further £100 on top to say sorry for everything that had gone wrong. You and I both breathed a sigh of relief. Everything had been sorted out.
Except it hadn’t. A few days later, Ovo told you it wanted to collect £994 from your bank every month as a direct debit. And then a bill arrived, showing you owed Ovo £2,152. This was not just madness, it was madness on stilts. Ovo blamed its own set-up, saying its billing system was ‘live’, and ‘the more you provide meter readings, the more accurate the recommended direct debit will be’. You should install smart meters, you were told. But for now, the only outcome would be a direct debit at a slightly lower figure of £815, and this could only be reduced further once you had consented to pay the £815.
These debits were produced by an automated system. In direct contrast, Ovo admitted it had manually calculated that a more likely figure was, in fact, £252 a month. But it could not override its system.
This craziness could not continue, and even Ovo acknowledged this. When I pressed again for answers, it sent you the £675 it had earlier agreed was the credit balance on your account. It sent the extra £100 apology. And it juggled again with its latest demand, deciding you did not owe £2,152. Instead, you owed £25.
So we breathed another sigh of relief. Everything was fine. Except it wasn’t. Ovo’s app suddenly asked you to set up a direct debit, this time for £816 a month. You have now dumped Ovo.
There is only so much madness one utility customer can take. But there seems to be no limit to the madness that utility companies in general can inflict on their customers.
Upset at email to my late wife
C.F. writes: My wife died two years ago. We both banked at Santander, and all monies in her accounts were transferred to me by the bank’s bereavement unit.
I have now received an email asking my dead wife to attend a branch with proof of her identity.
Upset: After losing a family member, there are few things more upsetting than receiving letters and messages sent to them by companies
Tony Hetherington replies: After losing a family member, there are few things more upsetting than receiving letters and messages sent to them by companies that have already been informed of their passing.
When Santander’s email arrived, you contacted the bank but nobody could explain what had gone wrong or even tell you which of your late wife’s accounts was involved. You were told someone would get back to you, but you heard nothing more.
Santander told me: ‘We are very sorry for our error in sending this email. When we are notified of a customer’s death, all communications from us to them should be switched off and we are investigating why this did not happen in this instance.’
I can tell you that the cause of the problem was that someone tried to log in to your late wife’s online account. The account was, of course, already closed. There is no way to tell whether that attempt was deliberate, but the bank wanted to see your wife as a security measure. Santander recognises the distress this caused, and has backed up its apology with £200 which you are donating to charity.
If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email [email protected]. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
