Reasons to give for refusing a smart meter

Swipe

I thought people these days couldn't get one installed for love nor money due to chip shortages

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said:

However I asked because last month I received my bill and paid leaving £63 because I knew 20 days later I would get £66 from the Government to cover this and I didn't think the energy companies would care

You are asking a lot of a supplier’s billing system. It is just an accounts package managed by a computer. The computer re-acted because you elected to confuse it by deliberately underpaying on your bill. Surely, a more logical approach would have been to wait until your account was in credit.

Energy suppliers are not social services. They are businesses which run on a very modest profit margin set by Ofgem for its capped tariff. If the CEO of BG is to be believed, we could well see more suppliers go to the wall this Winter.

Not only that - the example mentioned of someone being put onto PAYG was "admittedly because of debt".

What do some of these people expect?!

[Deleted User]

Swipe said:

I thought people these days couldn't get one installed for love nor money due to chip shortages

My daughter had SMETS2 meters fitted last Monday. It all depends on the supplier and its smart meter procurement team. Some suppliers have had more success in getting hold of meters than others.

stewie_griffin

ariarnia said:

or you could ask the smart meter be installed and made dumb (not sending info) but from what ive read some will and some wont do this. 

IIRC this will only work if a 1 rate meter is required as Smart functionality is needed for 2 or more rates.

SAC2334

Glass1970 said:

Hi all,
We're on that dreaded THTC tariff no-one knows about and I know time is running out and SSE will be wanting to change us over and I suspect they will use the opportunity to force a smart meter on us.
I don't really fancy one because of what I've heard about energy companies all to readily switching them into pre-payment modes.
I know I'll be told I'll be getting a new meter soon but I'd prefer a non-smart meter.
Does anyone know if these still exist or are they all smart meters now. And if so I think I'll need to quote the rule book to them so they don't force a smart meter on us. Can anyone tell me what I should say?
Thanks.

Getting a smart meter installed is the first step in getting away from being a hostage of SSE paying the highest rates in the UK. Why on earth do you not want one ? Do you like the THTC rates ? 
My friend up in Aberdeenshire does nt like the 25p/kwh heating rates and 41 p kwh standard rates .
Suppliers won t or can t take on the THTC meter which needs the Radioteleswitch to control when the meter is on .SSE control that and there is no set time or length of time its on
.All attempts to change suppliers fail with a THTC meter . Total Heat Total Control means  its controlled by SSE which other suppliers can t or won t be able to do 
 .

Last thing I heard from SSE was that when (if ) the RadioTeleswitch  ends which controls the THTC meter all that SSE are planning is to just set the current meter into an Economy 8 meter from March next year if RT end s

wild666

I've said in a few posts a friend has had requests to have a smart meters fitted many times and they have used the end of life wording more than once and he just tells them to prove the meters are faulty at their expense. It's being going on for about 5 years and they just drop the requests to have them installed. 
He has bills going back 40 plus years and his monthly readings are roughly the same now as they were 40 years ago his fridge is 39 years old and his freezer 45 years old and his washing machine is 28 years old he keeps replacing the broken parts with compatible parts when the genuine parts aren't available. 
He pays the bills on receipt of the bill and has always done so, it might be dearer but that's what he's always done. The only internet he has is on his phone and rarely uses a tenth of the monthly allowance, the phone is his one luxury item.

[Deleted User]

wild666 said:

I've said in a few posts a friend has had requests to have a smart meters fitted many times and they have used the end of life wording more than once and he just tells them to prove the meters are faulty at their expense. It's being going on for about 5 years and they just drop the requests to have them installed. 
He has bills going back 40 plus years and his monthly readings are roughly the same now as they were 40 years ago his fridge is 39 years old and his freezer 45 years old and his washing machine is 28 years old he keeps replacing the broken parts with compatible parts when the genuine parts aren't available. 
He pays the bills on receipt of the bill and has always done so, it might be dearer but that's what he's always done. The only internet he has is on his phone and rarely uses a tenth of the monthly allowance, the phone is his one luxury item.

They don't have to prove the meters are faulty though.  All they have to be is past the end of their certification.  They could now, at any time, decide to fit them without your friend's permission.

Just because they haven't in that case is nothing more than they have other places to go first.

In the OPs case, 'doing nothing' would not seem to be a very good option if the heating suddenly stopped working.

Swipe

[Deleted User] said:

In the OPs case, 'doing nothing' would not seem to be a very good option if the heating suddenly stopped working.

And then be stuck on a 6 month waiting list to get a new (smart) meter fitted

[Deleted User]

Glass1970 said:

Hi all,
We're on that dreaded THTC tariff no-one knows about and I know time is running out and SSE will be wanting to change us over and I suspect they will use the opportunity to force a smart meter on us.
I don't really fancy one because of what I've heard about energy companies all to readily switching them into pre-payment modes.
I know I'll be told I'll be getting a new meter soon but I'd prefer a non-smart meter.
Does anyone know if these still exist or are they all smart meters now. And if so I think I'll need to quote the rule book to them so they don't force a smart meter on us. Can anyone tell me what I should say?
Thanks.

If they truly do have the legal right to install a smart meter against your will, and the will to exercise that right then there's little you can do - short of going off-grid.

Most people don't have the cash to test this in the courts. So quite frankly - the energy companies will be aware that they can coerce people into giving permission for this. Lets just say they have a vested interest in letting people believe that they have legal rights when really they don't. 

I think the best thing to do is write to them (recorded delivery), tell them you do not want a smart meter and ask them to tell you what the process will be if you don't give your permission. Ask them what the process will be (and who will cover the costs) if you refuse a smart meter and instead instruct them to move their faulty equipment from your home. Ask them to confirm that the only way to avoid having a smart meter (that you categorically do not want for your own personal reasons) is to be disconnected from the National Grid. 

Get them to put it all in writing. They won't be so keen to lie or mislead you in writing so ask very specific questions. 

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User said:

Glass1970 said:

Hi all,
We're on that dreaded THTC tariff no-one knows about and I know time is running out and SSE will be wanting to change us over and I suspect they will use the opportunity to force a smart meter on us.
I don't really fancy one because of what I've heard about energy companies all to readily switching them into pre-payment modes.
I know I'll be told I'll be getting a new meter soon but I'd prefer a non-smart meter.
Does anyone know if these still exist or are they all smart meters now. And if so I think I'll need to quote the rule book to them so they don't force a smart meter on us. Can anyone tell me what I should say?
Thanks.

If they truly do have the legal right to install a smart meter against your will, and the will to exercise that right then there's little you can do - short of going off-grid.

Most people don't have the cash to test this in the courts. So quite frankly - the energy companies will be aware that they can coerce people into giving permission for this. Lets just say they have a vested interest in letting people believe that they have legal rights when really they don't. 

I think the best thing to do is write to them (recorded delivery), tell them you do not want a smart meter and ask them to tell you what the process will be if you don't give your permission. Ask them what the process will be (and who will cover the costs) if you refuse a smart meter and instead instruct them to move their faulty equipment from your home. Ask them to confirm that the only way to avoid having a smart meter (that you categorically do not want for your own personal reasons) is to be disconnected from the National Grid. 

Get them to put it all in writing. They won't be so keen to lie or mislead you in writing so ask very specific questions. 

It's section 39 of the electricity supply standard licence conditions (IIRC).