Can I be forced to have a smart meter?

Spoonie_Turtle

^ the guide confuses certification date with certification period.

The certification date is the date it was certified.
The certification period is how long the certification lasts.

But the guide conflates the certification date with 'best before date' / 'end of shelf life' which is the wrong way round.  Also inaccurate, as some older meters have been recertified, so the cert date isn't just when they were manufactured.

(Although if holdouts read the article, see they're well past the certification date on their meter, maybe that could be useful … although they're more likely to turn round and say 'well it's been past its date for years now so I don't see why they suddenly want to change it' based on this inaccurate information.)

Edit: and the section about no more estimated readings could do with an advisory to check bills and make sure they are using actual readings, because if the smart meter stops communicating they won't tell you that and will just use estimates still.

Equitriangle

Don't give any energy company your bank details. Simply refuse to pay direct debit. 

Equitriangle

Don't give any energy company your bank details. Simply refuse to pay direct debit. 

Netexporter

Equitriangle said:

Don't give any energy company your bank details. Simply refuse to pay direct debit. 

Sound advice, if you want to pay the maximum for your energy.

pseudodox

To avoid revealing your bank details you would have to pay in cash, by postal order or in kind.  Even paying Albert Herring style you would have to put your account & sort code on the cow.

DD is one of the safest transactions as it is backed by Bank Guarantees which put the customer first.  And why pay over the odds by cheque or bank transfer?  Risks with a cheque including going AWOL in the postal system, getting stolen somewhere along the way, incurring postage costs & a delay before it clears your account & shows up as safely received.

Bad advice on a money saving forum.

Ridersbolt

Every time I look at the best deals for electricity, smart meters are a deal breaker. Is it legal/moral that they can insist on having one installed? When I changed to a Sainsbury Energy a few years ago, they said the deal included having a smart meter installed. Emails, letters and finally a phone call telling me to book my installation. I told them I wasn't having one and cited all the wrong readings and subsequent large bills. I advise my readings ever month without fail. After a long argument, they have since left me alone.

I have wanted to switch to a fixed deal using Martin's information but they are including having a smart meter installed. Fed up with being held to ransom. Is it fair?

GingerTim

Ridersbolt said:

Every time I look at the best deals for electricity, smart meters are a deal breaker. Is it legal/moral that they can insist on having one installed? When I changed to a Sainsbury Energy a few years ago, they said the deal included having a smart meter installed. Emails, letters and finally a phone call telling me to book my installation. I told them I wasn't having one and cited all the wrong readings and subsequent large bills. I advise my readings ever month without fail. After a long argument, they have since left me alone.

I have wanted to switch to a fixed deal using Martin's information but they are including having a smart meter installed. Fed up with being held to ransom. Is it fair?

Yes, it is - in fact the suppliers are required by government/OFGEM to quicken the pace if the rollout, so expect more and more of the most advantageous tariffs to require a smart meter.

powerful_Rogue

Ridersbolt said:

Every time I look at the best deals for electricity, smart meters are a deal breaker. Is it legal/moral that they can insist on having one installed? When I changed to a Sainsbury Energy a few years ago, they said the deal included having a smart meter installed. Emails, letters and finally a phone call telling me to book my installation. I told them I wasn't having one and cited all the wrong readings and subsequent large bills. I advise my readings ever month without fail. After a long argument, they have since left me alone.

I have wanted to switch to a fixed deal using Martin's information but they are including having a smart meter installed. Fed up with being held to ransom. Is it fair?

Of course it is. That's the contract you agreed to. I believe they can switch you to the SVT if you fail to get the smart meter installed.

EssexHebridean

Ridersbolt said:

Every time I look at the best deals for electricity, smart meters are a deal breaker. Is it legal/moral that they can insist on having one installed? When I changed to a Sainsbury Energy a few years ago, they said the deal included having a smart meter installed. Emails, letters and finally a phone call telling me to book my installation. I told them I wasn't having one and cited all the wrong readings and subsequent large bills. I advise my readings ever month without fail. After a long argument, they have since left me alone.

I have wanted to switch to a fixed deal using Martin's information but they are including having a smart meter installed. Fed up with being held to ransom. Is it fair?

For a fixed tariff a supplier can put (within reason) whatever conditions they like on it. For a standard variable tariff they can't - that has to be available to all, currently, whether people have smart meters installed yet, or not.  

I'm not sure what you mean by "cited all the wrong readings and subsequent large bills" - as you say you currently provide readings each month. I assume perhaps you didn't use to do that though and so were getting billed based on estimates? This is something which is far less likely to be an issue with a smart meter as of course the meter and comms hub then deal with the readings for you. All you need to do is check against the  bill that the correct readings are being used, and check every few months that the readings showing on the meter match what is being sent. Of course if you still want to take regular readings for your own records you can - I still do - you just skip the step of sending them to the supplier. 

Two things to be aware of - a smart meter is now the best way of getting access to the very lowest prices for energy, and at some stage your existing meters will reach end of life and need replacing - when that happens, the replacements will be smart meters as that is the current version being installed. 

Ridersbolt

Thanks for the advice.  My comment re incorrect bills, was regarding the 10% of smart meters that currently go wrong. Also this week in the MSE newsletter, I read the letter Martin received regarding smart meters. When they need repair after 12 months guarantee, is the cost of repair or replacement paid for by the consumer?