OVO Energy

Citizens Advice rating

Domestic energy supplier. Products & services: Gas, Electricity.

Updated: 2 August 2026

Company Overview

Industry: Domestic energy supply (gas and electricity)
Parent company: OVO Group Ltd (E.ON acquisition agreed May 2026, pending CMA approval)
Regulator: Ofgem
Ombudsman: Energy Ombudsman
Customers: Around 4 million (2026)
Founded: 2009
Legal entity: OVO Energy Ltd (Companies House no. 06890795)

1,725Complaints received per 100,000 customers
91.8%Complaints resolved within 8 weeks
3.30out of 5Citizens Advice star rating

What customers complain about

Customers complaining to OVO Energy most often raise issues with customer service, payments, smart billing and meter reading, debt and debt-related disconnections, and general billing. OVO's own quarterly data shows complaint volumes of roughly 1,500 to 1,725 per 100,000 customers, with about two-thirds resolved by the next working day and around 90% within eight weeks. Citizens Advice rated OVO 3.30 out of 5 for customer service in January–March 2026, ranking it 8th, and scored its complaints handling 2.5 out of 5 (39.5 complaints per 10,000 customers). OVO has faced repeated Ofgem enforcement, including a £2.37m penalty in September 2024 for complaint-handling failures, a £2.77m Warm Home Discount redress package in January 2026, and an £11.5m prepayment-meter settlement in June 2026. Complaints unresolved after eight weeks, or issued a deadlock letter, can go free to the Energy Ombudsman.

Complaint categories

1
Customer service
General service and communication problems are the leading complaint driver OVO reports.
OVO's own complaints performance page lists Customer Service among its top five complaint categories (reporting period October 2024–September 2025).
2
Payment issues
Disputes over payments, direct debits and account balances.
Listed by OVO as a top complaint category (Oct 2024–Sep 2025).
3
Smart billing and meter reading issues
Problems with smart meter readings feeding into bills.
Listed by OVO as a top complaint category (Oct 2024–Sep 2025).
4
Debt and debt-related disconnections
Complaints connected to debt handling and disconnection risk, including for prepayment customers.
Listed by OVO as a top complaint category (Oct 2024–Sep 2025); echoed by Ofgem's June 2026 prepayment-meter settlement.
5
General billing and meter reading issues
Billing accuracy and meter reading problems beyond smart meters.
Listed by OVO as a top complaint category (Oct 2024–Sep 2025).

Latest statistics

1,725Complaints received per 100,000 customersQ1 2026 (OVO's own published data)
91.8%Complaints resolved within 8 weeksQ1 2026 (OVO's own published data)
3.30out of 5Citizens Advice star ratingJanuary–March 2026 (ranked 8th)

Two provenance streams. OVO's own Ofgem-required quarterly complaints performance data (ovoenergy.com/our-complaints-performance) and the independent Citizens Advice supplier star rating. Figures are period-specific and change each quarter; verify the latest before citing.

Contact methods

Complaint journey

1
Raise your complaint with OVO
What happens
Contact the complaints team by phone (0330 303 5063 for Pay Monthly, 0330 175 9669 for Pay As You Go), email (complaints@ovoenergy.com), the ovoenergy.com/feedback form or by post. Give your account number, address and contact details and as much detail about the problem as you can.
2
Get a case number and handler
What happens
OVO says you should be given a complaint case number and the name of a complaint handler so you can track progress.
3
Resolution or 8-week window
What happens
OVO states about 75% of complaints are resolved by the next working day and it aims to resolve the rest within eight weeks.
4
Deadlock or eight weeks
What happens
If OVO cannot resolve the complaint, it issues a 'deadlock' letter. If the complaint is unresolved after eight weeks, or you receive a deadlock letter, you can go to the Energy Ombudsman.
5
Energy Ombudsman
What happens
The Energy Ombudsman reviews how OVO handled your complaint and can direct OVO to put things right. Its decisions are binding on OVO if you accept them, and the service is free.

Response times

OVO says about 75% of complaints are resolved by the end of the next working day, and it aims to resolve the remainder within eight weeks. Its own published quarterly data for Q1 2026 shows 66.5% of complaints resolved by the next working day and 91.8% within eight weeks (from a low of about 89% and up to roughly 71% next-working-day across the preceding four quarters). Citizens Advice reported that in January–March 2026 OVO answered 98.5% of emails within two days and had an average call wait of 1 minute 33 seconds. If a complaint is not resolved within eight weeks, or OVO issues a deadlock letter, you can escalate free to the Energy Ombudsman.

If your complaint isn’t resolved

If OVO Energy can’t put things right, you can escalate — free of charge — to an independent body:

Energy Ombudsman

Recent news

3 June 2026
Ofgem announced OVO had agreed an £11.5m settlement over failings in monitoring and supporting prepayment-meter and Priority Services Register customers, including £7m to the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress fund, £3.4m in customer credit/debt relief and £1.1m for Highlands and Islands customers.
Read more
11 May 2026
E.ON announced an agreement to acquire OVO, combining E.ON's 5.6 million and OVO's roughly 4 million customers into around 9.6 million households; completion was expected in the second half of 2026 subject to CMA and other regulatory approval.
Read more
22 January 2026
Ofgem ordered OVO to pay £2,765,200 in redress after it paid Warm Home Discount rebates to 11,646 customers around 19 months late, past the 31 March 2024 statutory deadline. Payments included £150 per affected customer, a further £150 for medically vulnerable customers and £100 per self-disconnection instance.
Read more
17 September 2024
Ofgem required OVO to pay £2.37m over complaint-handling failures affecting 1,395 customers, including delays of up to 18 months and slow action on Energy Ombudsman decisions. £378,512 went directly to affected customers and £2m to the voluntary redress fund.
Read more

Earlier cases

29 January 2020
Historic: Ofgem announced OVO would pay £8.9m into a voluntary redress fund over communications and billing failures between July 2015 and February 2018. Over 500,000 customers received inaccurate or incomplete annual statements, and thousands of prepayment customers were charged at the wrong rate; OVO also refunded affected customers.
Read more

Know your rights

Gas and Electricity (Consumer Complaints Handling Standards) Regulations / Ofgem complaint-handling rules
As a licensed supplier OVO must acknowledge and try to resolve complaints promptly and tell you about the Energy Ombudsman once eight weeks pass or a deadlock is reached. Ofgem's 2024 penalty was for breaching these standards. This is general information, not legal advice.
Consumer Rights Act 2015
Energy supply is a service that must be provided with reasonable care and skill; where billing or service falls short you can seek a repeat performance or a price reduction. Not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a complaint to OVO Energy?

Contact OVO's complaints team on 0330 303 5063 (Pay Monthly) or 0330 175 9669 (Pay As You Go), by email at complaints@ovoenergy.com, via the ovoenergy.com/feedback form, or by post to OVO Energy Ltd, Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6EZ. Have your account number ready; you should be given a case number and a complaint handler.

How long does OVO take to resolve a complaint?

OVO says about 75% of complaints are resolved by the next working day and it aims to resolve the rest within eight weeks. Its own Q1 2026 data showed 66.5% resolved by the next working day and 91.8% within eight weeks.

When can I go to the Energy Ombudsman about OVO?

You can contact the Energy Ombudsman (0330 440 1624) free of charge once your complaint has been unresolved for eight weeks, or as soon as OVO issues you a deadlock letter. The Ombudsman's decision is binding on OVO if you accept it.

Does OVO publish its complaint figures?

Yes. As Ofgem requires, OVO publishes quarterly complaints performance data at ovoenergy.com/our-complaints-performance, including complaints per 100,000 customers and the share resolved by the next working day and within eight weeks.

Has OVO been penalised over complaints?

Yes. In September 2024 Ofgem required OVO to pay £2.37m over complaint-handling failures affecting 1,395 customers, including delays of up to 18 months and slow action on Energy Ombudsman decisions.

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