Smart Meter

[MichaelZZ]

I am being pestered by my energy supplier (Ovo) to have my electricity meter replaced with a smart meter.  They have now told me, without asking, that they have made an appointment for this to be installed in a fortnight's time.

I am perfectly happy with my present arrangements whereby I send monthly gas and electric meter readings each month and pay my combined bill by monthly direct debit.

I have heard stories about problems with smart meters and I would be obliged if someone could answer the following questions:

Can I refuse to have a smart meter fitted or is it a legal requirement?

Do I need two smart meters, one for gas and one for electricity?

How easy will it be to change supplier in the future?

If I can change supplier, do I have to go through the disruption of having their smart meter fitted?

 

 

[Quenched]

Moving to direct debt instead of the pre payment meter, was a terrible decision for us, because Utility Warehouse sold us or promoted it as £80 a month, and promised they would if needs be adjust the payments to suite usage, and get all the information they need from the smart meter.

 

But they didn't adjust payments, so we ran up a huge bill of £988, which we didn't know about until they done an annual review.

 

I have since found out recently that Utility Warehouse are known for doing this. 

 

At least with a pre payment meter it was impossible to run up a debt, we used to take the key fob thing to the shop, load it up with £40 or something, and put it back in the meter, and bingo we had more credit. So easy and simple to do. 

[barry1010]

So you had a smart meter where you could check how much you owed at any time just by looking at your in home display. You didn't bother.

You could also have got this information from your app, online or by looking at the meters.

[barry1010]

You had a smart meter when you was with Octopus, before you switched to UW, Quenched

[Quenched]

barry1010, 

Sorry no it was Octopus that kept pushing the smart meter onto us while we were on a pre payment meter, then we went to direct debt after following their advice. 

 

But then the real problems came a year after joining Utility Warehouse. 

 

My point was it was a big mistake of allowing a smart meter to replace our pre payment meter which we we're coping with fine. 

 

But the seeds we're sown towards problems for us financially when we opted to listen to an energy providers advice and get a smart meter and change to direct debt. 

 

For us this was our biggest regret, although we might pay a little more for energy via a pre payment meter, at least we never ran up a huge debt that way. 

[barry1010]

So you were mistaken when you said this on the 5th January?

"We are actually using the same smart meter from when we were with Octopus, it shows you daily usage, weekly, monthly, but I rarely look at it as its so easy to get obsessed with looking at it, it will just drive us crazy. Its not healthy to get obsessed with usage I don't think.  But in hindsight we should have at least checked it monthly."

[Quenched]

barry1010, 

 

We were with Octopus, actually EDF before that, but I'm trying not to confuse the issue further. 

 

Basically we were with Octopus but on a key meter as I like to call them, we had a plastic key fob that inserted into the meter, so we used to charge that with money at the shop, and just come back, and slide it into the meter and it topped it up. 

 

But, then Octopus kept badgering us by emails to set a date to install a smart meter, but we kept telling them we are happy with the key meter set up, but after about 6 months, we gave in, mainly by their advice our electricity would be cheaper via direct debt, so in the end we buckled and gave in. 

 

But after a while of having a smart meter we found the energy prices went up and up and up.

 

Then we met a Utility Warehouse guy in a local supermarket where he had his stall, and he even came to our house, and cut a long story short he bragged that he could do our electricity for £80 a month, and use the same smart meter to adjust payments accordingly to usage.

 

But a whole year went by at £80 and foolishly we didn't question it, we were riding high on the fact we got cheaper electricity, and even bragging to friends and family that they should join Utility Warehouse.

 

But then the annual review email came in December 2024, and it stated that we have been under paying, and we now have run up a debt of £988.

 

Well what a lovely Christmas we had, but it didn't finish there because I took out a complaint against on them, based on that they didn't keep their promise of adjusting payments accordingly to usage, and in the end they ommited £500 from the £988.

 

But obviously we are still left with paying off the £488, which will take ages.

 

Hence we regret ever getting rid of the key meter, and choosing the smart meter and of course direct debt way of paying our electricity. 

 

Hope that clears everything up. And apologies if I didn't explain it well previously. 

[barry1010]

I understand it very well.  You've had £500 worth of free electricity because you didn't bother to read your meter and check the bills were accurate.

The cost of electricity has rocketed beyond all expectation - that would have happened whether you had the smart meter or stuck with your prepayment meter.   Yes, UW were at fault but you've been well compensated.  

When my old dumb meter when haywire at the beginning of the COVID lockdowns it took me 18 months to sort out, I had to get the Ombudsman involved but I am still hundreds of pounds out of pocket.  I check my smart meter regularly and will quickly know if there is a problem with my meter or my billing. 

[Quenched]

barry1010, 

I've already explained that Utility Warehouse said they would amend our payments to go with our usage, but also bragged how they keep costs down by adding more utility bills. 

 

So we had no reason to question why the payments stayed the same. 

 

Its not the customers job to be doing what the supplier supposed to be doing and gaining info from the smart meter, what's the point of it otherwise?

 

They obviously knew they were wrong otherwise they wouldn't have shaved £500 from the debt.

 

I told the guy that came to our house that the last thing we want is to run up a debt, and guess what thats what exactly happened in sensational style. 

 

Can you believe just before Christmas being landed a bill of £988?

 

Its no pleasant I can tell you. 

 

I asked at the time will my usage be monitored so you can adjust payments, and they said yes no problem, we take that from our smart meter. 

 

Then I said but hold on it's an Octopus smart meter, but they said that doesn't matter. 

[Canary42]

//// I am being pestered by my energy supplier ////

So what. I am being pestered to get a larger penis, I just bin the e-mails.

[Quenched]

Canary42, 

Its much more to it than that, the emails were asking me to book an installation appointment, plus tonnes of phone calls, in the end it got too much to bare. 

 

But in hindsight we should have just ignored it all. 

 

Like I said we didn't have a problem with our key meter, but the problems started with a smart meter. 

 

My advice to anyone who hasn't still got a smart meter is resist at all costs. 

 

Another thing that I noticed whether its coincidence or not but the minute we had a smart meter and started paying via direct debit was when the actual electricity started going through the roof in terms of price.