Meter Expired

Spoonie_Turtle

SAC2334 said:

LOL , well its been big surefire  saving for you for every day for the last 380 days on the trot .you switched same time as me early last January .Its not at all "concerning " and I don t see why you should be "concerned " .  .end of the day its no problem to return to flexible if it go s tits up .
Energy forum is not an advice forum its a discussion forum based on money saving .

I thought that's exactly what it was, a forum for advice on how to save money, that also happens to branch out to advice on how to solve common problems (which of course saves the cost of seeking advice from a professional in situations where it would be unnecessary).

Bunney225

powerful_Rogue said:

Bunney225 said:

Hi I have avoided having a Smart Meter for many years. My energy company Utility Warehouse is now telling me that my their meter has now ‘expired’ and needs replacing. I am sure they will use this to install a smart meter. Is there anything I can do?

Any help advice appreciated.

Slight correction to your original post.

Thanks - the letter did refer to ‘my’ meter but yes I understand what you are saying.

Bunney225

Thanks everyone, I work in Welfare and have seen so many people go from managing their electricity account then having a smart meter fitted and huge problems occurring then a battle with the company to prove either the meter wasn’t working or the credit had not been transferred. I only have electricity and use heating oil as live rurally. I will look into it.

MultiFuelBurner

Spoonie_Turtle said:

SAC2334 said:

LOL , well its been big surefire  saving for you for every day for the last 380 days on the trot .you switched same time as me early last January .Its not at all "concerning " and I don t see why you should be "concerned " .  .end of the day its no problem to return to flexible if it go s tits up .
Energy forum is not an advice forum its a discussion forum based on money saving .

I thought that's exactly what it was, a forum for advice on how to save money, that also happens to branch out to advice on how to solve common problems (which of course saves the cost of seeking advice from a professional in situations where it would be unnecessary).

This is definitely what I believe the forum is for as well and it seems SAC has removed their flippant comment that followed.

I suspect you may have ruined a referral attempt.

MultiFuelBurner

Bunney225 said:

Thanks everyone, I work in Welfare and have seen so many people go from managing their electricity account then having a smart meter fitted and huge problems occurring then a battle with the company to prove either the meter wasn’t working or the credit had not been transferred. I only have electricity and use heating oil as live rurally. I will look into it.

Working in welfare you may have a certain view of opinion from the people you are dealing with and many do not understand energy use and meters at all. We see it on this board all the time.

Generally transfers from old dumb meters to smart meters go without a hitch as long as the customer notes down and ideally takes pictures of meter readings just as a backup to someone keying in a mistake.

CouldntResist

Bunney225 said:

Thanks everyone, I work in Welfare and have seen so many people go from managing their electricity account then having a smart meter fitted and huge problems occurring then a battle with the company to prove either the meter wasn’t working or the credit had not been transferred. I only have electricity and use heating oil as live rurally. I will look into it.

What does changing the meter type have to do with credit being transferred? Why are people who move to a smart meter no longer able to manage their account, they still show the readings?

QrizB

CouldntResist said:

What does changing the meter type have to do with credit being transferred?

I read that comment as relating to prepayment meters, where the credit is recorded on the old meter.

This isn't a problem for customers with credit accounts.

MultiFuelBurner

CouldntResist said:

Bunney225 said:

Thanks everyone, I work in Welfare and have seen so many people go from managing their electricity account then having a smart meter fitted and huge problems occurring then a battle with the company to prove either the meter wasn’t working or the credit had not been transferred. I only have electricity and use heating oil as live rurally. I will look into it.

What does changing the meter type have to do with credit being transferred? Why are people who move to a smart meter no longer able to manage their account, they still show the readings?

Many people have never bothered, as can be seen on this forum.

Bit until energy become very expensive and started taking 10% or more of basic income earners.

Nothing like this is covered in the educational system and should be imo. Simple household management.

Steep learning curve for many, have you seen the amount of my bill is estimated and always has been posts. Followed by I own or they owe me £xxxxx

CouldntResist

QrizB said:

CouldntResist said:

What does changing the meter type have to do with credit being transferred?

I read that comment as relating to prepayment meters, where the credit is recorded on the old meter.

This isn't a problem for customers with credit accounts.

Yup, accept that, so not really a smart meter problem, but a credit meter swap problem

EssexHebridean

Bunney225 said:

Thanks everyone, I work in Welfare and have seen so many people go from managing their electricity account then having a smart meter fitted and huge problems occurring then a battle with the company to prove either the meter wasn’t working or the credit had not been transferred. I only have electricity and use heating oil as live rurally. I will look into it.

In a lot of cases it may well relate to the fact that for a long time people have been told that effectively once you have a smart meter fitted then you never need to have anything more to do with your energy meters ever again - the smart meters will do it all. That has certainly been the inference of a lot of the advertising - and there are many of us on here who feel that was entirely the wrong approach - I for one certainly suspect it's caused a lot of issues through  misunderstanding. As for the wretched "Einstein" ads where it is strongly hinted that the IHD is in fact the "smart meter" - don't even get us started! 

On here the suggestion is generally that regardless of meter type, there are a few things that most folk should do at least monthly:
- read the meters if it is possible to do so *
- keep records of those readings for our own records
- if older style meters, or SMs for whatever reason not sending readings, then give readings to the supplier(s)
- Check bills - for accuracy, and to establish whether if SMs are fitted, those are sending readings. 
- * if someone is physically unable to read their meters then they may well be eligible to be on the priority service register - and those who qualify should be regardless of whether they can read the meters or not. 

SMs used properly do have a lot of advantages - the possibility of lower cost tariffs, the ability to see the household energy use often in real time but even if not, within 24 hours or so) and if using an IHD, the ability to see when things are "not as they should be" - the hob or oven left on for example are going to show up pretty fast. And worst case scenario of a SM not pairing properly with it's IHD and/or not sending readings - you're no worse off than you were before, as things stand. 

Does that help to explain things a bit?