British Gas - smart meters buried in T&Cs

Geranium44

I switched to BG at the start of the year - moving away at the expiry of my excelllent Octopus Energy. I've received an email from BG today asking me to book a smart meter installation. I hadn't noticed this requirement to have smart meters fitted but have found reference to it only now in the welcome email - my bad. I'm being offered a call for  an alternative BG tariff if I choose not to have these meters installed - I don't want them fitted. Anyone else aware of this BG tactic of luring sign-up without declaring the need for smart meters? Should I switch? The 12 month heating cover (which I didn't want) looks like will come with possible early cancellation charges #confused.
Any thoughts welcomed - thanks.

Verdigris

If you ever went back to Octopus you won't get the full benefits of their tariffs without smart meters.

Gerry1

Book a slot within 49 days of the expiration of your fixed term, e.g. 1.00pm on 25 December.

And then postpone it at the last minute. 

Swipe

The problem is it's getting harder and harder to find a cheap tariff without the smart meter clause these days. I've just had to cave in to having one with EDF or pay an extra £300+ a year as E7 tariffs with a really cheap off peak rate are almost now impossible to find.

bagand96

Your choices are:

- Stay on your current tariff and agree to smart meter installation.
- Refuse smart meter installation and accept that BG are within their rights to move you to an alternative tariff. 

- Switch away from BG (you might be subject to exit fees)

@Gerry1 has a suggestion that might work in trying to stall the installation and hope BG don’t notice that’s what you’re doing. 

It’s going to become harder and harder to avoid smart meters, whether you like it or not. 

[Deleted User]

Geranium44 said:

I switched to BG at the start of the year - moving away at the expiry of my excelllent Octopus Energy. I've received an email from BG today asking me to book a smart meter installation. I hadn't noticed this requirement to have smart meters fitted but have found reference to it only now in the welcome email - my bad. I'm being offered a call for  an alternative BG tariff if I choose not to have these meters installed - I don't want them fitted. Anyone else aware of this BG tactic of luring sign-up without declaring the need for smart meters? Should I switch? The 12 month heating cover (which I didn't want) looks like will come with possible early cancellation charges #confused.
Any thoughts welcomed - thanks.

Whether is energy or a secondhand car, all contracts come with terms and conditions. There is nothing underhand going on here: if you take out a contract without looking at the terms and conditions, you can hardly blame the other party for something that you missed. Ofgem and BEIS want people to accept smart meters, and as the rollout is well past the 50% mark, the present system of encouraging take up by offering the cheapest tariffs to those with smart meters would appear to be working. Last year, BEIS agreed that when meters are deemed end-of -life suppliers can fit smart meters as they already have a legal right to enter your property so I would suggest that resistance is futile.

We are also beginning to see trials of smart energy price comparison tools which will help consumers select the cheapest tariff on not only kWhs/year but when the energy is actually consumed. For these tools to be effective, there needs to be a record of actual usage. 

brewerdave

bagand96 said:

It’s going to become harder and harder to avoid smart meters, whether you like it or not. 

Many of the smaller suppliers are still not actively chasing/installing smarts. Also ,if you have separate suppliers for gas and leccy they don't seem very enthusiastic !!

[Deleted User]

brewerdave said:

bagand96 said:

It’s going to become harder and harder to avoid smart meters, whether you like it or not. 

Many of the smaller suppliers are still not actively chasing/installing smarts. Also ,if you have separate suppliers for gas and leccy they don't seem very enthusiastic !!

Whether they like it or not, smaller suppliers end up with smart meter assets when people switch to them which they are obligated to support. Interestingly, the legal obligation to fit smart meters ends in June 2021 so the Government is having to rush through legislation to extend the rollout to 2025. The policy document issue by BEIS in November last year states, inter alia, the following:

Quote: a) specify targets for the number of smart meter installations that each energy supplier will be required to make in each year for the first two years of the new four-year regulatory framework. This will specify targets for the two years covered by the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2023. These targets will be based on the linear profile, from each energy supplier’s known percentage coverage at the end of June 2021 (or the end of June in each subsequent year), to the end of the framework period at the end of June 2025 (and towards market-wide coverage). Unquote

it is already well documented that one supplier that was fitting SMETS1 meters has been brought back into line having been threatened with a new customer ban.

brewerdave

[Deleted User] said:

brewerdave said:

bagand96 said:

It’s going to become harder and harder to avoid smart meters, whether you like it or not. 

Many of the smaller suppliers are still not actively chasing/installing smarts. Also ,if you have separate suppliers for gas and leccy they don't seem very enthusiastic !!

Whether they like it or not, smaller suppliers end up with smart meter assets when people switch to them which they are obligated to support. Interestingly, the legal obligation to fit smart meters ends in June 2021 so the Government is having to rush through legislation to extend the rollout to 2025. The policy document issue by BEIS in November last year states, inter alia, the following:

No doubt, ,perfectly correct - but in the real world the likes of Zog, Neon Reef, Gulf etc IME are not showing any interest in installing ,and when I asked Zog directly in Feb. re smart meter reads , I was told that they still aren't able to use them !!