Smart meter failed

SMP1

Hi all. 
I have been on E7 via a smart meter for 3 years. This has been fine and saved us a fortune as we have an electric car - so charge it overnight.

At the end of last year it failed - stopped recording. I advised my supplier - Utility Warehouse. Since then I have been on estimated bills whilst they try to book a meter replacement. I keep chasing them - but they can't get a slot for a replacement. 

How long do I give them before I throw my teddy out of the pram? Estimated bills would normally be Ok - but we retired at the end of the year so try and fit as many short breaks in as possible - so we might be using less electricity! I have tried googling to find any rules as to how long they have to give me a new meter - but can't find anything. Would a different supplier be any better - my fear is that throwing a different supplier in the mix would really mess things up if they can't supply a new meter either. 

The only upside to this is that we can charge the car whenever we want - because the supplier doesn't have a clue what we're doing! 

Any thoughts please? 

Thank you. 

Keep_pedalling

I would wait until you get the meter changed out, so keep complaining. Once sorted you should be able to fined better EV tariffs than E7.

QrizB

Keep_pedalling said:

I would wait until you get the meter changed out, so keep complaining. Once sorted you should be able to fined better EV tariffs than E7.

IIRC Utility Warehouse have a 5p rate off-peak on E7, which is hard to beat even with an EV tariff. What an EV tariff will give you is a much lower daytime rate.

Keep_pedalling

QrizB said:

Keep_pedalling said:

I would wait until you get the meter changed out, so keep complaining. Once sorted you should be able to fined better EV tariffs than E7.

IIRC Utility Warehouse have a 5p rate off-peak on E7, which is hard to beat even with an EV tariff. What an EV tariff will give you is a much lower daytime rate.

Do you have to take a whole bundle of services to get that rate? I just ran a dummy quote with them for E7 and all I got was an estimated annual cost with no clue to what the peak and off peak prices were. I also tried their EV tariff which did at least give the off peak rate but to get that down to to the level I am currently paying needed me to sign up for 3 other services which I have no interest in doing. 

They also don’t offer SEG payments for export. 

Olinda99

also what do you mean by 'not working' and 'not recording'

You may find that the internal registers are recording usage and that when the meter is changed that you are charged for the daytime charging you have done

dunstonh

At the end of last year it failed - stopped recording. I advised my supplier - Utility Warehouse. Since then I have been on estimated bills whilst they try to book a meter replacement. I keep chasing them - but they can't get a slot for a replacement. 

Are you referring to the meter or the in-house display?
Is the meter still recording use but just not transmitting?

matelodave

Meters have inbuilt memories that can store up to 13 months worth of half hourly data and even though the meter display (ie on the actual meter), In Home Device (the pretty thingy in your lounge) may not be working, or its not sending data to the supplier, that inbuilt memory may well be racking up your consumption data which may get downloaded when they recover the meter,  so be a bit wary of taking the mickey.

I haven't yet heard of any incidents where suppliers have managed to come after customers, but the facility may be there if they want to and I'm sure that when they get the hang of it they will be trying to recover lost monies.

If you cant get them to sort it out then launch an official complaint which will allow you to go to the ombudsman after eight weeks. Phoning, texting and even writing letters becomes a pointless exercise but an official complaint which can be escalated is not what most suppliers want as it costs them money.

Bendo

If the battery is dead it can't record any usage.

It's is been 5 months and they haven't sorted it complain as they are in breach of the  SLC fit failing to provide a working meter.  5 months + is quite clearly not a reasonable time from to fix / replace.

matelodave

Bendo said:

If the battery is dead it can't record any usage.

It's is been 5 months and they haven't sorted it complain as they are in breach of the  SLC fit failing to provide a working meter.  5 months + is quite clearly not a reasonable time from to fix / replace.

Its an electricity meter so it doesn't need a battery as its powered from the incoming mains supply

Bendo

Doh. For some reason I assumed it was about a gas meter. Should have spent 2 seconds looking at the op really.

lohr500

Keep_pedalling said:

QrizB said:

Keep_pedalling said:

I would wait until you get the meter changed out, so keep complaining. Once sorted you should be able to fined better EV tariffs than E7.

IIRC Utility Warehouse have a 5p rate off-peak on E7, which is hard to beat even with an EV tariff. What an EV tariff will give you is a much lower daytime rate.

Do you have to take a whole bundle of services to get that rate? I just ran a dummy quote with them for E7 and all I got was an estimated annual cost with no clue to what the peak and off peak prices were. I also tried their EV tariff which did at least give the off peak rate but to get that down to to the level I am currently paying needed me to sign up for 3 other services which I have no interest in doing. 

They also don’t offer SEG payments for export. 

In our region (Yorkshire) their E7 off-peak is 5.5p without having to take out any other services. Peak is expensive at 39.3p and the s/c is 58.2p.

I took out a mobile SIM contract with UW as well back in October/November last year to get a 4.9p off-peak rate, fixed for 12 months. The SIM was expensive, but when combined with our very high 18,000kWh usage p.a., 99.5% of which is now off-peak, it made complete sense. I couldn't care less what their peak rate is as we use next to nothing on peak.

Have you looked at E-On Next Drive V7? They offer 6.5p for 7 hours off-peak if I recall correctly and have a good SEG rate.