A Guardian reader from Edinburgh wrote to the paper's Consumer Champions column after her autistic son was repeatedly harassed by OVO Energy over a supposed debt, despite having no account with the company and being supplied by Scottish Gas instead. Years of letters addressed to "The Occupier," phone calls, and even a home visit by an OVO agent failed to resolve the issue, leaving him afraid that bailiffs would eventually force entry into his flat. The case highlights how errors in the national energy database can cause prolonged, distressing harassment for consumers who have no actual relationship with the company chasing them.

OVO traced the problem to an address error on the national database, which had wrongly linked gas and electricity meters from another property to the son's flat. It corrected the gas registration, but the electricity meter was owned by a different supplier that had ignored multiple requests to fix the record. After the Guardian intervened, OVO suspended the demands and issued a deadlock letter allowing a complaint to the Energy Ombudsman, which found the electricity meter belonged to a neighbouring address but had been mistakenly billed to the son. OVO was ordered to pay £150 compensation, and the demands have now stopped.