Ovo Energy fined £8.9m by Ofgem for overcharging customers

The energy sector regulator Ofgem has fined Ovo Energy £8.9m after thousands of customers were given incorrect information and overcharged.

Ovo Energy was accused of sending inaccurate annual statements to more than 500,000 customers between July 2015 and February 2018 due to IT issues.

These breaches occurred while Ovo did not put enough attention on ensuring its processes and governance were capable of complying with Ofgem’s rules. Ovo has since put in place measures to make sure this doesn’t happen again, including investments in technology and implementing appropriate compliance procedures.

Ovo Energy has accepted that, for a period of over five years, failings in its IT systems and compliance processes resulted in too many customers receiving inaccurate or incomplete information.

Anthony Pygram, Director of Conduct and 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. Our enforcement action sends a strong message that suppliers must get basic services right for all their customers. Ovo Energy has accepted the breaches and put processes in place to comply with the rules in future.”