Smart PAYG meter - switch provider

alibean121

Hi - I inherited smart meters in my new home both gas and electric in PAYG mode supplied by boost (an arm of OVO that only do prepayment)

I have a strong desire to move to monthly payment. Prepayment is more expensive for me, the admin support of boost is shocking. I also have a disability that means crawling around on the floor putting in codes on the meter when it hasn't processed the top-up appropriately is not ideal. As boost are prepayment only, there is a process for an internal move to OVO to facilitate this. A request was made for me nearly 3 months ago and I still haven't heard anything. At the time I was advised service timeframe was 21 days.

My question is, can I just bypass boost completely and apply to another provider even though the meter is in PAYG mode? If I apply for a DD tariff would it just swap over to a credit meter on transfer? I've been trying to contact boost for the past week and they will only deal with customers who are off supply so I really don't think they're going to get round to processing this anytime soon. I don't want to cause a big administrative mess but I would really appreciate knowing my power will stay on even if I am having a bad day mobility wise and can't top-up.

Other than racing down to my laptop first thing in the morning to get onto the online chat before they close to new enquiries for the day, any ideas appreciated.

Jyana

Octopus are still taking new customers on, but only if you phone them, and if you find a referral code anywhere they will still take that too I believe for £50 each of your bills. They should be able to change you to a credit account easily enough if it is a smart meter, though obviously they will need to check if they can communicate with it when you call them. Other than them, you may have a bit more trouble with other companies as they are a bit reluctant to take on new customers while the current situation is on going. 

macman

Are you on the Priority Services Register as disabled? If not, get that done as a priority and then say that you cannot top up manually due to your disability and so need a priority switch to credit meters.

alibean121

macman said:

Are you on the Priority Services Register as disabled? If not, get that done as a priority and then say that you cannot top up manually due to your disability and so need a priority switch to credit meters.

Many thanks - yes I am on the priority services register. I've given it a try, managed to get through to them today and have asked them to prioritise this as I'm struggling to top up. They've said they'll do it today but I'm pretty sceptical.

alibean121

Hi all - thanks for the previous advice. I clearly was correct to be skeptical of boost, they have not actioned anything and I've had a fruitless 90 minutes on the phone to them to chase up.

I decided to ring Octopus who have advised my smart meters are SMETS1 meters so if I went over to them with the meters in PAYG mode, this would be very unwise as they cannot communicate properly with the meter to switch them out of this mode. There is a significant risk of going off supply. This explanation sounds reasonable to my ears but wanted to check with people here who know a lot more about these things if this sounds correct. If it is relevant, I can view my energy usage via Loop or Bright and both meters communicate fine with these external services. I did check on the Citizen's Advice smart meter checker and it does agree I have SMETS1 meters.

I've tracked down executive contact details and am going to try to get an executive complaint team at boost on the case but any other ideas welcome.

[Deleted User]

There is a difference between "a SMETS1 meter" and "a SMETS1 meter that has been adopted and enrolled into the DCC network".

As the other services you name can read the data, then I would suggests your meters fall into the second category.  I think that should mean Octopus could communicate correctly.

alibean121

Deleted_User said:

There is a difference between "a SMETS1 meter" and "a SMETS1 meter that has been adopted and enrolled into the DCC network".

As the other services you name can read the data, then I would suggests your meters fall into the second category.  I think that should mean Octopus could communicate correctly.

Ok yes. I've used https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/meters and it says:

"It's working in smart mode because you have a first generation (SMETS1) meter that’s on the smart meter data network. The network connects your smart meter to energy suppliers."

"You can switch to most suppliers and your meter will still work in smart mode"

If you think I should ring Octopus back and maybe get another agent, that's easily done. I really don't want to end up off supply while it's minus 6 outside though.

bristolleedsfan

alibean121 said:

Deleted_User said:

There is a difference between "a SMETS1 meter" and "a SMETS1 meter that has been adopted and enrolled into the DCC network".

As the other services you name can read the data, then I would suggests your meters fall into the second category.  I think that should mean Octopus could communicate correctly.

Ok yes. I've used https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/meters and it says:

"It's working in smart mode because you have a first generation (SMETS1) meter that’s on the smart meter data network. The network connects your smart meter to energy suppliers."

"You can switch to most suppliers and your meter will still work in smart mode"

If you think I should ring Octopus back and maybe get another agent, that's easily done. I really don't want to end up off supply while it's minus 6 outside though.

I think the problem is Octopus do not have an app for Smart PAYG, ideally you need Boost to guarantee they would switch your meter to credit mode before switch completes ...

alibean121

I really don’t care who I’m supplied by - it’s the PAYG aspect I want rid of. I’m trying to understand if Octopus (or Eon who were my previous supplier and emailed recently saying Come back to Eon or similar) can just do that quickly after a swap. If I need to go to the pay point to top up one time, it’s not a big deal.