Meter Certification

tricky47

I have been advised by Octopus Energy that my electric meter is past its certification date and will have to be replaced with a smart meter, is this compulsory by law or can i ignore it?

p00hsticks

Yes it is compulsory - the meter doesn't belong to you and the energy company have a legal obligation to ensure that it is accurate. 

FlorayG

There's a lot of this being reported lately. If the meter is past it's 'best by' date then yes, they have to replace it however if you really, really want to you CAN refuse a smart meter and insist on a standard one. I can't see any reason why you would, though - all the billing problems people report with smart meters is because of installation, not the type of meter ( I got erroneously charged £724 for a month when mine was installed last month but fixed that with a single 'phone call) so if you have a regular meter you are still just as likely or no to get a 'wrong' bill.
The reason the bills go awry is because the new meter is set back to zero, so you MUST take a reading just before they disconnect the old one

powerful_Rogue

FlorayG said:

There's a lot of this being reported lately. If the meter is past it's 'best by' date then yes, they have to replace it however if you really, really want to you CAN refuse a smart meter and insist on a standard one. I can't see any reason why you would, though - all the billing problems people report with smart meters is because of installation, not the type of meter ( I got erroneously charged £724 for a month when mine was installed last month but fixed that with a single 'phone call) so if you have a regular meter you are still just as likely or no to get a 'wrong' bill.
The reason the bills go awry is because the new meter is set back to zero, so you MUST take a reading just before they disconnect the old one

No you can't. You can ask for a non smart meter, but the fact they aren't produced anymore and companies don't hold stock of them, it will be replace with a smart meter.

This would be best for the energy board so have asked for it to be moved.

Keep_pedalling

There are no sensible reasons not to have one, and for a lot of us having access to smart tariffs saves a lot of money.

You don’t own the meter it belongs to the supplier.

MattMattMattUK

Keep_pedalling said:

There are no sensible reasons not to have one, and for a lot of us having access to smart tariffs saves a lot of money.

You don’t own the meter it belongs to the supplier.

But what about all the conspiracy theories, are they not "sensible reasons"?

DE_612183

If you have a smart meter you can get free electricity on Christmas Day....https://www.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/1989317/free-electricity-on-christmas-day

TELLIT01

It intrigues me as to why the utility companies have never been in touch with me about certification dates on meters until smart meters appeared.  We have lived in the same house for 36 years and never previously been told our meter may not be accurate.  Total coincidence of course.

Keep_pedalling

TELLIT01 said:

It intrigues me as to why the utility companies have never been in touch with me about certification dates on meters until smart meters appeared.  We have lived in the same house for 36 years and never previously been told our meter may not be accurate.  Total coincidence of course.

It’s because they never had targets to get meters changed out before. That does not mean it is a bad thing,meters that exceeded their certification period should always have been replaced. 

DE_612183

TELLIT01 said:

It intrigues me as to why the utility companies have never been in touch with me about certification dates on meters until smart meters appeared.  We have lived in the same house for 36 years and never previously been told our meter may not be accurate.  Total coincidence of course.

Check the certification tab / date on your meter - I'd be surprised if it's older than 1988...

EssexHebridean

TELLIT01 said:

It intrigues me as to why the utility companies have never been in touch with me about certification dates on meters until smart meters appeared.  We have lived in the same house for 36 years and never previously been told our meter may not be accurate.  Total coincidence of course.

How strange - we had to have our electric meter in our old property replaced for exactly that reason. It was replaced with the most up to date version at the time, namely a digital type (which was incidentally far easier to read than it's predecessor!), in much the same way that meters being replaced now will be replaced with the most up to date tech available now - SMETS2 meters.  

Perhaps you are fortunate to have one of the few meters which is certified for a longer period of time than the usual, lucky you!