Victoria Coren Mitchell accuses Ovo of ‘wrongly’ taking money from her account
The writer and TV presenter described ‘reaching the end of the road’ with the major energy supplier.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Victoria Coren Mitchell has accused Ovo Energy of “wrongly” taking thousands of pounds from her bank account and suggested she will take legal action against the supplier.
The writer and TV presenter described “reaching the end of the road” with Ovo, calling it the “most terrible service provider” she had encountered.
In a post on X, she claimed the supplier had taken “thousands of pounds” from her bank account that “they were not owed”, and that it had “driven her to despair”.
She wrote: “Nothing but legal action will do for them now.”
In a poll of more than 30,000 users on the social media site, she then asked whether rival Octopus Energy offered a better service.
In response to her post on X, Ovo Energy said: “We’re sorry about your recent experience with us. One of our senior complaint handlers has reached out via email to address this situation for you as a matter of urgency. We hope we can fully resolve this for you quickly.”
Ovo Energy was founded in 2009 and has since expanded to supply more than 4.5 million homes across England, Scotland and Wales.
It is among the big six energy companies in the UK.
In August last year, Ofgem ordered Ovo to improve its customer service following “serious concerns” about its unresolved complaints and waiting times.
The regulator opened compliance proceedings with Ovo after the Energy Ombudsman and Citizens Advice Scotland contacted the regulator regarding the supplier’s handling and resolution of complaints.
Ofgem said it had set Ovo “clear expectations and improvement targets” to address all outstanding complaints and reduce the time it takes for issues to be resolved.
In December, Turner Prize-winning artist Sir Grayson Perry took to X to criticise EDF, saying the energy firm tried to raise his monthly electricity bill from £300 to £39,000.
Other customers, including journalist Jon Sopel, reacted with similar stories.
EDF said “unusual” direct debit changes could occur when incorrect meter readings were recorded on its system.
An Ovo spokesperson said: “We’re always striving to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. Our teams work extremely hard to provide help and support, and will continue to review lessons learned.”