Smart Meters

niktheguru

Here is a picture (I hope) 
 It's in a cupboard downstairs in the hall (we live upstairs) which you can see, gets used as a dumping ground. 

This looks like a smets1 British gas set up. Although your wan isn't working (the connection to British gas) it says your han is working (the connection between the meter and the in home device (that you put in a cupboard)
Can you try bringing the in home device down to this cupboard and turning it on. It may not show anything on the home page but if you go into the menu there will be a settings or meter reading option which will be able to connect with the meter and give you a reading.

I doubt they'll be able to fix your actual meter display remotely, you may need the meter swapped.

murphydavid

Quaedam360
Just a thought. Is this of any help
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/your-energy-meter/find-out-if-your-energy-meter-is-faulty/#:~:text=Contact the Citizens Advice Consumer,your meter and need advice.

Quaedam360

@Gerry1
Thank you for your reply; your remarks are taken as you state you mean them.  I appreciate your taking the time to reply.
I don't know what TL;DR is?

• The smart meter may not be phoning home successfully, but it should still be possible to take the meter readings from the In Home Device, the portable shiny toy.  Try moving it close to the electricity meter on the wall to see whether you can get any meter readings.  There's probably a signal strength indicator: the more bars the better.

 I have never had a monitor or an IHD or a unit that lets me know my usage.  The call I made which brought about the engineer visit  in November 2019 was a request for a monitor specifically because I knew i needed to watch costs carefully after my income lowered.  I already had a smart meter.  No Home Device.  I still have no means of identifying device usage and therefore where my costs can be cut.

I believe I am on the Priority Services Register already -which is why I'm so flabbergasted at having had no follow-up from the incomplete task by the engineer in November 2019 - especially since at this point my meter was left not signalling.

• Being devil's advocate for a moment, if your bills were estimated they will have told you: there will be an E or similar next to the relevant meter readings on the bills, as opposed to Actual, Customer, Smart, Meter reader or whatever.
• 
  
• The first I knew of my bills being estimates was 24th May when I called to check where the engineer was.    I do not have paper bills (BG encouraged this of course), so I simply pay by DD and it's taken care of;  I've never been behind in paying and as had been working up to this point, was not in difficulty with them.  My smart meter sent in my usage, I paid.  I had no clue that some engineer would walk away leaving things in a worse state than when he arrived.

For clarity - I have had a smart meter since 2011.  It worked fine until the engineer came to give me a monitor.  The monitor he brought would not communicate with my meter as the meter was outdated.  He took that monitor away and told me he would return with a new meter and a monitor.   At that point my old meter HAD been working fine (sending readings in) since 2011 and I was up-to-date with all bills.  When the next bill point came after that engineer visit, the meter was not sending signals (according to Agent x of BG on 24th May), and my bills have been estimated ever since.

Nobody at BG ever contacted me to ask why the meter may have stopped sending or to alert me to the fact that my readings had ceased to register.  I would have thought that, as used to be the case, this would have been checked on or communicated to me somehow at least after 12 months.  I would have thought that, because I had said to BG that I needed to be careful of my usage, they should have at least followed up the monitor request.

1.  I did not get the help I asked for  in the form of a working monitor,
2.  My old meter was left not fully working (sending), where it had been perfectly functional before, while the engineer supposedly ordered the new meter/monitor combo for installation upon his return,
3.  No follow-up was made on the incomplete job, either to inform of progress or lack thereof, for the space of 16 months, and 
4. Far from being able to control my usage, I have had the little control I did have taken away for that space of time..

Sixteen months of estimating my bills when I had specifically requested the means to be careful of them seems lax at best and negligent at worst.   

I will call BG tomorrow and give my reading.  I am honestly scared of what I may hear.

carl.waring

TL;DR = summary. (If you haven’t got time to read the whole thing here is a summary“)

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tl%3Bdr

Gerry1

@Quaedam360 Wow, it gets confusing when two or people's threads get entangled !

Quaedam360 said:

@Gerry1
I believe I am on the Priority Services Register already -which is why I'm so flabbergasted at having had no follow-up from the incomplete task by the engineer in November 2019 - especially since at this point my meter was left not signalling.

Don't make assumptions.  Call 0800 072 8625 to join the Priority Services Register.  They will send a meter reader quarterly if necessary.

Quaedam360 said:

• The first I knew of my bills being estimates was 24th May when I called to check where the engineer was.    I do not have paper bills (BG encouraged this of course), so I simply pay by DD and it's taken care of;
  

Set up an online account and you'll be able to view and download your invoices.  They will show whether the bills are estimates or actual readings. You can also request a paper bill.

Quaedam360 said:

I will call BG tomorrow and give my reading.  I am honestly scared of what I may hear.

I can't remember whether you have been able to read the meter on the wall  (your post is very similar to @critchley's) but if so you can do it tonight, just set up your online account and submit the reading there.  If the bill is unaffordable you can ask for a payment plan.  You could also consider making a formal complaint and if necessary taking it to the Ombudsman.  But don't make it TL;DR !

London_Millenial

I moved into a rental property about 5 months ago. After a lot of wrangling with the landlord to get the bills changed to our name, we found out we have a smart meter but no in-home display.

I got in touch with our provider, E.ON about this and initially they said they didn't have any in stock. So I got in touch a couple of months later and now have said that they're not providing replacements full stop.

Is there anything I can do? At the moment our electricity bill is really high and we'd like to know what's using all that power.

[Deleted User]

London_Millenial said:

I moved into a rental property about 5 months ago. After a lot of wrangling with the landlord to get the bills changed to our name, we found out we have a smart meter but no in-home display.

I got in touch with our provider, E.ON about this and initially they said they didn't have any in stock. So I got in touch a couple of months later and now have said that they're not providing replacements full stop.

Is there anything I can do? At the moment our electricity bill is really high and we'd like to know what's using all that power.

You can buy an IHD/CAD from Hildebrand.

https://shop.glowmarkt.com/products/display-and-cad-combined-for-smart-meter-customers

Hildebrand is a Registered DCC User so, with your permission, they can connect their IHD/CAD to your smart meter communications hub.

London_Millenial

Thanks for your reply. That company doesn't have any stock in at the moment. Can anyone else recommend any IHDs that are relatively well priced? I'm pretty surprised that E.ON won't even offer the option to buy one of theirs.

Also - oh knowledgeable forum - how can I check if I have SMETS1 or 2?

QrizB

London_Millenial said:

Thanks for your reply. That company doesn't have any stock in at the moment. Can anyone else recommend any IHDs that are relatively well priced?

If you don't mind a bit of a gamble, there are IHDs for sale on eBay at bargain-basement prices. You will then have to ask E.ON to pair it to your smart meter (something they can do, but a relatively unusual request so CS might need it explaining to them).

Bubba_Shaboo

QrizB said:

London_Millenial said:

Thanks for your reply. That company doesn't have any stock in at the moment. Can anyone else recommend any IHDs that are relatively well priced?

If you don't mind a bit of a gamble, there are IHDs for sale on eBay at bargain-basement prices. You will then have to ask E.ON to pair it to your smart meter (something they can do, but a relatively unusual request so CS might need it explaining to them).

In this scenario would the pairing be achieved remotely or would an engineer be required to attend?