time for your meter safety inspection

Spoonie_Turtle

peter999 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

peter999 said:

GingerTim said:

peter999 said:

GingerTim said:

peter999 said:

GingerTim said:

peter999 said:

Dolor said:

peter999 said:

Or Scottish Power finding excuses to fit Smart Meter !

I had same email few days ago from Scottish Power:
"It's time for your meter safety inspection
Your meter is due a visual safety inspection"

They say it will be "inspected" by Morrison Data Services who read the meters, so nothing technical, more like just an excuse
and a private company working on their behalf in their interests.


Few weeks ago I had 3 emails in a week out of blue from Scottish Power saying they need to fit Smart Meter/new meter:
"Your electricity meter needs to be replaced
We need to upgrade your meter"


We've already seen dodgy behaviour of energy suppliers in force fitting new meters.

There is nothing dodgy going on here. When Ofgem dropped the requirement for suppliers to read meters a few years ago, it insisted that suppliers put in place formal meter safety checks under HSE legislation.

All meters have a certified life and suppliers are required under The Gas and Electricity Acts to replace end-of-life meters to ensure accurate billing. The Government agreed in 2019 that, in such circumstances, suppliers could fit smart meters WITHOUT the consumer’s approval.

Of course meters never had "a certified life", they were never routinely changed, NEVER !!

Now they have decided they need changing because they want to fit Smart Meters.

So it is dodgy and being used as an excuse.

Incorrect.

Prove it !

Meters have always had a certification period. That you aren't aware of this doesn't make it 'dodgy and an excuse'.

Same for safety inspections of meters - since you've never seen if, of course it doesn't happen.

So there you should not be any really old meters in use, is that correct ?

Really old meters should have been routinely changed in the past, before smart meters, is that correct ?

Since I have seen meter readers in action over decades, I can judge for myself

See for yourself, a few meters have certification periods of 30-40 years, most shorter than that. You can even check your model: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1126202/schedule-4-december-2022.pdf

So there you should not be any really old meters in use, is that correct ?

Really old meters should have been routinely changed in the past, before smart meters, is that correct ?

1. Incorrect/depends what you mean by 'really old'.  Refurbished 'really old' electricity meters can have been recertified, so some from e.g. at least the 1970s (we've seen examples in this forum) are still in use.

2. Depends, many had their certification periods extended while in use.

Bit of Googled history for you (knowledgeable regulars, please correct where necessary): certification of electricity meters has been compulsory since 1899.  In reality, the date for all meters in use to be certified was extended until 1958.  https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1952/jun/12/electricity-supply-meters-bill

Certification periods expiring has been a concept in law since at least 1967 (see explanatory note in https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1975/56/pdfs/uksi_19750056_en.pdf )

Good stuff !

So we can say meters were not routinely changed.

Can we really?  Where's your evidence to back up that assertion?  (Anecdotal evidence limited to your experience is not evidence for wider practice.)

My gut feeling - and note I have no evidence whatsoever to back this up, just a hypothesis based - is that people likely made less of a song and dance about it when meters were being changed to mechanical or non-smart digital meters.  My gut feeling is that it's probably only since smart meters that people are up in arms about having their meter replaced at the end of its life.

You may also note that everything in my comment referred to electricity meters.  Gas meters don't seem to have certification periods like electricity meters, and rely upon human inspection (does the annual gas safety inspection include checking the meter?  Or is it left to meter readers?) to determine when they need replacing.  With smart meters their life is currently limited to when the battery runs out.

ArbitraryRandom

peter999 said:

QrizB said:

peter999 said:

Really old meters should have been routinely changed in the past, before smart meters, is that correct ?

Yes.

I moved into my first house in 1997. It had an analogue spinning disc electricity meter. During my nine years in that house, it was exchanged for an electronic meter.

I moved to my next (and current) house in 2006. It always had an electronic electricity meter but a few years after moving in it was exchanged for a new electronic meter of a different model.

Both of these meter exchanges were unprompted by me, but happened at my supplier's request.

A couple of years ago I requested a smart meter. This replaced the second of the electronic meters.

Did you ever ask why they wanted to change meters ?

My Electric & Gas meters have never been changed in nearly 30 years !

Meters at my parents house have never been changed in 50+ years !
 
I am sure if we all check we will find plenty of houses where meters have never been changed in many decades, could it be 50%, 60%, 70% or 80% in 50 to 100+ year old houses ?

Then that's great news - because if you and your parents' meters are ACTUALLY out of certification, then you can't be billed for your use! 

You should immediately check which model it is and compare it to the list you've been provided to confirm, so you can contact your supplier and inform them that they owe you a refund. 

Which, if you think about it, is exactly why the energy companies (in the real world ) routinely either replace or recertify meters when their certification expires.  

imeach

peter999 said:

imeach said:

peter999 said:

imeach said:

peter999 said:

Or Scottish Power finding excuses to fit Smart Meter !

I had same email few days ago from Scottish Power:
"It's time for your meter safety inspection
Your meter is due a visual safety inspection"

They say it will be "inspected" by Morrison Data Services who read the meters, so nothing technical, more like just an excuse
and a private company working on their behalf in their interests.


Few weeks ago I had 3 emails in a week out of blue from Scottish Power saying they need to fit Smart Meter/new meter:
"Your electricity meter needs to be replaced
We need to upgrade your meter"


We've already seen dodgy behaviour of energy suppliers in force fitting new meters.

Meter readers from whatever company (and Morrison Data Services are the biggest) carry out a 'visual safety inspection'  every time, the reading is just to prove they have been and (stupidly I believe) isn't always used for billing.

Where have you got this from ?

I have never seen a meter reader (someone who reads a a meter) carry out a "visual safety inspection" or anything like it, NEVER !!

I have got this from what I do for a living.
So as someone else said, were all the meter readers you have seen over decades blind, as they must have visually seen the eter to take a reading??

They only took the reading, nothing else !

My Gas Meter is almost inaccessible behind shelf & near ceiling, you need to use mirror & torch to read it.

My Electric Meter is high up.

They didn't spend any time looking, checking anything else, NEVER !!

As SAC said, it really doesn't take long to see, or smell if something is untoward, the readings just confirm our visit

Spoonie_Turtle

Just looked through my supplier's T&Cs out of curiosity prompted by another thread.  They do actually explicitly include allowing access for safety inspections and replacing meters:

"You agree to give us or our agents access to the Premises and the Metering Equipment at reasonable times for the following purposes:

To take a meter reading;

To carry out a safety inspection;

To install, replace, test or reposition the Metering Equipment;

To disconnect the supply;

To reconnect the supply; and/or

To install a Smart Meter."

The enforcement of this is provided for in the part that says they can end their contract with you (boot you off their supply?  Fire you as a customer?) if you materially breach the terms.

silverwhistle

GingerTim said:

pete

Meters have always had a certification period. That you aren't aware of this doesn't make it 'dodgy and an excuse'. 

Same for safety inspections of meters - since you've never seen if, of course it doesn't happen.

My first substantive job at the electricity board back in 1977/8 was as supervisor of the recertification section at a district office. I don't think peter999 has similar experience, although he seems very confident in his incorrect announcements.

imeach

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Just looked through my supplier's T&Cs out of curiosity prompted by another thread.  They do actually explicitly include allowing access for safety inspections and replacing meters:

"You agree to give us or our agents access to the Premises and the Metering Equipment at reasonable times for the following purposes:

To take a meter reading;

To carry out a safety inspection;

To install, replace, test or reposition the Metering Equipment;

To disconnect the supply;

To reconnect the supply; and/or

To install a Smart Meter."

The enforcement of this is provided for in the part that says they can end their contract with you (boot you off their supply?  Fire you as a customer?) if you materially breach the terms.

This is probably in every suppliers t's and C's
I just wish more people realised and then actually let the meter reader in instead of the usual "I provide my own readings" or "I have a smart meter" or worse