Good Energy and Ovo Energy to refund 18,000 households after overcharging them - here's what you need to know

We explain who will receive these latest payments and what went wrong below. If you need help with your energy bills, see our What to do if you're struggling to pay your energy bills guide. 

Around 18,000 households will be refunded and offered compensation on top

In total, Good Energy and Ovo Energy will pay £2.7 million in refunds and compensation directly to affected customers. Payments will include a refund of the amount overcharged, plus some compensation. Here's how much households will get: 

• Good Energy will pay an average of £109 to around 7,000 customers. 

• Ovo Energy will pay an average of £181 to around 11,000 customers.  

A further £1.25 million will be paid into Ofgem's "voluntary redress fund", which supports charities to deliver energy-related projects, such as helping vulnerable energy consumers. 

Earlier this week Good Energy paid a collective £18,000 in compensation to 350 customers after failing to send final bills on time.

How you will get your money

Energy regulator Ofgem said those customers affected will be automatically refunded the overpayments and that most people should already have received these, typically as credit to their energy accounts, though some who've since switched may get the money by cheque or directly into their bank account. 

Good Energy told us that most affected customers have already received a refund and goodwill payment and that it will contact the remaining affected customers, including those no longer supplied by Good Energy, by the end of June. It adds that it will ask how those who've switched would like to be paid, but this will likely be directly to bank accounts. 

A spokesperson for Ovo Energy also confirmed that refunds and compensation have already been paid to affected customers. We've asked for details of when and how these were paid and we will update this story when we know more.

You do not need to do anything to claim this money, though if you've not heard from your supplier and think you might be impacted you can get in touch to check. 

Here's what went wrong 

According to the regulator, Good Energy overcharged 6,966 customers a total of £391,650 between January 2019 and October 2022, after failing to correctly adjust tariffs under the Price Cap and Energy Price Guarantee when these users had changed their payment method. Specifically, Good Energy says the the issue related to an "accidental flaw" in its processes where it didn't pass on discounts for paying by direct debit. 

Similarly, Ovo Energy charged 10,987 customers a total of £1,492,917 more than than Energy Price Guarantee between October 2022 and March 2023.

Earlier this week, Ofgem's director for strategy confirmed in an interview with MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis that the Energy Price Cap "will drop considerably" from 1 July.