Ovo Energy has agreed to pay more than £10m after Ofgem found that inadequate monitoring of vulnerable customers with prepayment meters (PPMs) could have exposed them to a 'clear risk of harm'. The energy regulator for Great Britain said Ovo failed to adequately monitor its PPM customers, including those on the priority services register, breaching rules designed to protect vulnerable customers.
The settlement package includes a £7m payment to Ofgem's voluntary redress fund and a £3.4m package of credit and debt relief for some of the most vulnerable customers. Additionally, Ovo is paying £1.1m to customers in the Scottish Highlands and islands after compliance work found some rural customers lacked appropriate access to engineer support for more than two years, from January 2022 to April 2024.
During the investigation, Ovo took some action to support vulnerable customers, including welfare visits to people disconnected for over 72 hours who had not responded to communications. However, in some cases, customers who had run out of credit were not contacted by the supplier.
Cathryn Scott, Ofgem's director of market oversight and enforcement, said: 'It is clear that Ovo fell short in its support of vulnerable PPM customers, and it's right that they've taken action to improve their processes.' She added that while prepayment meters can be a positive choice, strong monitoring must be in place to protect vulnerable consumers.
Ovo accepted that some historic processes fell short and apologised, stating it had significantly improved policies, systems, and training since 2024. This settlement follows a £2.7m fine in January for failing to pass on government support payments for winter energy bills during the energy cost crisis.
