Smart meter taken by previous tenant and on “smart prepayment”

MissMollyJones

I moved into my house about 18 months ago and the previous tenant had taken the smart meter with them (or a previous tenant - I don’t know who).  It is a prepayment smart meter with EDF. 

I contacted EDF for a replacement smart meter and they refused to send one out and said I didn’t need it? How are the meters sending accurate readings without a smart meter if I’m on smart meter repayment? 

Many thanks for your help

HampshireH

If the former tenant took the smart meter you would be in a very difficult situation with no supply.

I think you mean the I'm house device. You don't need this

If you want a meter reading read the actual meter. It's more accurate. You can top up online / via app if you're prepayment.

You'll probably see your usage there too.


Just make sure you've registered your own account and have your own cards

mmmmikey

Morning @MissMollyJones :-)

So just to explain that last post a bit further....

The smart meter itself is the bit of the system that replaces the old-fashioned meter. It will either be in a box that's accessible from outside the house or close to your consumer unit (commonly called a fuse box). 

The bit you're referring to is the In House Display (or IHD) which is a portable easy to read display. This connects wirelessly to the meter and can be put anywhere in the house you want as long as it's close enough to pick up the signal.

The smart meter sends the meter readings to the supplier as well as the IHD so you don't need an IHD for the smart meter to work.

Where the IHD gets lost or broken, the suppliers don't normally replace them, although some suppliers allow you to buy a replacement. The IHD is linked to the smart meter so you can't use one off eBay or someone else's. 

Hope this makes sense, but if not just ask...

MissMollyJones

Oh thank you - that is really helpful

I have of course been on the app and paying regularly but I’ve just logged on to the app and it’s showing a 0.00 balance on both which I know is incorrect so I had a panic

400ixl

As above, if they had taken the smart meter, you would have no electricity. The display that people have is not the smart meter, it is just a display, the smart meter itself supplies the reading.

Most providers do not replace them if they are more than 12 months old.

You can use your smart phone / tablet as a replacement if you want to see the information. One such app which is free is the Bright app which you will be able to install from your phones app store.

Mobtr

If you are on Pay as you go (PAYG) then you should really have an in house display (IHD) unless it’s a SMETS1 which energy suppliers no longer have stocks of.  

I would contact EDF again and just explain the previous tenant took it with them and although you can monitor your usage online, having an IHD would make things easier and hopefully they should send one out to you 

EssexHebridean

It does sound like you have some sort of problem there, but not having an IHD isn’t what is causing it. You should I think be able to get your credit level displayed on the actual meter itself too though - by a button-push sequence if it’s not on the first screen - how does that compare with what the app is telling you? (Google will be your friend for the button press sequence for your particular brand of meter). 

mmmmikey

.....so again just to explain if you're still getting your head around this....

If you're on a prepayment / PAYG tariff and you have an In House Display (IHD), you can use the IHD to top up your account instead of the app which is more convenient for some people who aren't confident in using, or don't have, a mobile phone.

However you do it, what you're doing is the modern day equivalent of putting 50p in the meter, and the smart meter itself will have a record of how much you've got left of whatever you put into it. Unfortunately the smart meter displays are all different so you need to find the instructions for your specific meter to work out which buttons to press.

elsien

When you find the meter, if you get stuck on working out what  it is showing and how it works, post a picture on here and people will help. 

Qyburn

MissMollyJones said:

I moved into my house about 18 months ago and the previous tenant had taken the smart meter with them (or a previous tenant - I don’t know who).  It is a prepayment smart meter with EDF. 

Try raising with the Landlord. Unless the smart meter was installed during thecpreceding tenancy, the absence of the display unit (IHD) should have been picked up by their e d of tenancy inspection/inventory.