MSE News: Faulty smart meters to be tackled and automatic compensation paid for problems

QrizB

SJ01 said:

My complaint is that I had a smart meter fitted several years ago and then kept changing energy suppliers.

We're you supplied with an in-home display at the time it was fitted?

SJ01 said:

I am now with EDF and asked for a monitor so I could see how much we are spending on electricity and gas. EDF supplied one but it won’t work and they now say it isn’t compatible with the old smart meters.

If your meter is one of the original SMETS1 ones, they're not generally compatible with the current SMETS2 in-home displays.

SJ01 said:

This is frustrating, this is the only reason I had a smart meters fitted so we could keep tabs on our usage. Anything we can do about this anyone.

EDFs's app should show you a daily breakdown of your energy use, but won't give live data.

Cannyscot

Having had a smart meter for many years with constant temporary fixes then complaints to Octopus and Ofgem where resolution taking many months to fix only for it to work for a day or an hour after they say it is working or engineer has just left!
I see a huge hole in the government scheme that will not resolve the issue as follows:-

Will the £40 only be paid once then provider happy to lose that as they no longer need to worry about an inoperative smart meter?

The problem with most smart meters is a government decision to have two different systems of signal messaging from the meter and until that changes then the meters in the north of the UK and rural areas will still be afflicted by the same issues caused by that decision.

The energy companies state that the signalling issue is outwith their control therefore they can't be held responsible meaning stalemate, this is what needs to be fixed as after their consultation and £40 fine, which energy companies already pay more for the inconvenience and are happy to suck up rather than fix the problem, nothing will have changed.

MattMattMattUK

Cannyscot said:

Having had a smart meter for many years with constant temporary fixes then complaints to Octopus and Ofgem where resolution taking many months to fix only for it to work for a day or an hour after they say it is working or engineer has just left!
I see a huge hole in the government scheme that will not resolve the issue as follows:-

Will the £40 only be paid once then provider happy to lose that as they no longer need to worry about an inoperative smart meter?

No one knows the specific details, but it will not be up to the energy supplier.

Cannyscot said:

The problem with most smart meters is a government decision to have two different systems of signal messaging from the meter and until that changes then the meters in the north of the UK and rural areas will still be afflicted by the same issues caused by that decision.

That is not the actual cause of the problem, both systems are reasonable for the locations chosen, the mobile network option works well for the area that is, the radio option of for areas where mobile coverage is much more limited. There are issues with the overall implementation, the inability to add an aerial to the comms unit for better signal, the inability for them to use a wifi connected module for meter readings (the Octopus Mini already uses wifi to integrate, but they are specifically forbidden from using that data for billing purposes). 

Cannyscot said:

The energy companies state that the signalling issue is outwith their control therefore they can't be held responsible meaning stalemate, this is what needs to be fixed as after their consultation and £40 fine, which energy companies already pay more for the inconvenience and are happy to suck up rather than fix the problem, nothing will have changed.

The energy suppliers are correct, they have zero control over the DCC, they have zero control over any the radio or mobile network connections, they have zero control over what equipment they are required to install. It is not about sucking up the cost, they have no choice, hence why they object to being made responsible for a £40 compensation payment when they can do nothing to rectify the cause. 

tin143

Upsetgrandma said:

MSE_Petar said:

Faulty smart meters are to be tackled as part of a new industry review, the Government has announced. It's also been confirmed that you'll be able to get automatic compensation from your energy supplier for certain smart meter problems starting early next year.

Read the full story:
'Faulty smart meters to be tackled and automatic compensation paid for problems'

If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.

I've had a faulty smart meter for over 3 months.  The meter was installed by E-On but my account is now with EDF.  I sent numerous emails to them and phoned them several times - their customer service is appalling.  I made an official complaint and it was ignored.  I eventually spoke to a very helpful lady who got it sorted for me and gave me £30 in compensation.  As soon as I can move to Octopus (49 days before end of contract I believe) I will.

I wouldn't be too sure about Octopus sorting it for you! Our smart meter (installed by British Gas years ago) has been faulty since January and I have sent Octopus all details, photos etc and apart from an email saying they will look into it, nothing has happened in the last 3 months. It's becoming annoying especially since they offer some perks which are only available with smart meter. Obviously my IHD unit doesn't work either but not too sad about thatbecause I was always getting paranoid when I switched on the kettle!

Chrysalis

I would love to say I am happy about this.

But why would you devise a system that pays compensation for a meter that stops communicating, but then do nothing about a meter that stops working altogether?

The only answer I could think of that was rational was that you are doing the minimal possible to pacify someone who has influence on public opinion, because if the intention was to actually increase protection for the consumer rather than to deal with a political nuisance, the compensation would cover "any" fault.

90 days is also a very long time 1/4 of a year, plenty of time to be overcharged based on estimated readings, the legislation needs to add a strong financial incentive in the form of all energy is zero rated for the period of time there is no meter readings.  I also think the compensation amount is too low, its half of the amount for final bill issues, and a broken meter is a far more bigger issue than a late final bill.

bartman

After years of my gas meter only connecting to the home area network intermittently, my complaints to e-on have finally resulted in an engineer coming out who did what was required. I suspect that once I made it known to e-on that I was aware that dual band meters were available, things were put in motion. The problem was a common one - the gas meter was outside the front of the house, too far away from the comms box on the electricity meter. A new gas meter was fitted, a new comms box on the electricity meter, and now not only is e-on getting the readings but also the IHD is working (although I think the e-on one is inferior to others I have seen) 

StatusQuo2025

I don't know if I am typical, but I was pushed reluctantly into getting a smart meter (all electric in our flats) when Octopus told me mine was so old it had to go.  They installed it October 2024, but it remained dumb until the top communication unit was renewed this April - 6 months, and I could not send in separate day and night readings as it only saved the total, without splitting it.  Of course, when they finally fixed it and it started working, I put all the total kwh into the night readings as that only seemed fair as it was not my fault it wasnt working properly. 
Then we had a problem as to which was day rate and which was night.  On my antique meter that they took out, it was marked economy on one window, and normal on the other, and sending the readings in, night was always 1 and day was 2.  This of course is the other way round on the new smart meters, but it took me switching suppliers to finally realise what was what.  As we have night storage heaters, this was very important.
The important discovery I made with the hand held device, was that when the clocks went forward in Spring, the night rate then runs from 1.30 am to 8.30 am, the night storage heater switches on at 12.30 midnight and runs for an hour at day rate, before the night rate cuts in.  Without the HDU this would never have been clear, so I am glad I have it.  During cold weather, until the clocks go back again, I shall be turning off the night storage heating unit when I go to bed, and switch it on again sometime during the night to make sure it is only charging at the correct night rate.  I don't know if this affects anyone else, but if so I hope this observation helps them.

mmmmikey

StatusQuo2025 said:

I don't know if I am typical, but I was pushed reluctantly into getting a smart meter (all electric in our flats) when Octopus told me mine was so old it had to go.  They installed it October 2024, but it remained dumb until the top communication unit was renewed this April - 6 months, and I could not send in separate day and night readings as it only saved the total, without splitting it.  Of course, when they finally fixed it and it started working, I put all the total kwh into the night readings as that only seemed fair as it was not my fault it wasnt working properly. 
Then we had a problem as to which was day rate and which was night.  On my antique meter that they took out, it was marked economy on one window, and normal on the other, and sending the readings in, night was always 1 and day was 2.  This of course is the other way round on the new smart meters, but it took me switching suppliers to finally realise what was what.  As we have night storage heaters, this was very important.
The important discovery I made with the hand held device, was that when the clocks went forward in Spring, the night rate then runs from 1.30 am to 8.30 am, the night storage heater switches on at 12.30 midnight and runs for an hour at day rate, before the night rate cuts in.  Without the HDU this would never have been clear, so I am glad I have it.  During cold weather, until the clocks go back again, I shall be turning off the night storage heating unit when I go to bed, and switch it on again sometime during the night to make sure it is only charging at the correct night rate.  I don't know if this affects anyone else, but if so I hope this observation helps them.

Thanks for posting this, it's great to have some balanced feedback - and welcome to the forum 

Ildhund

StatusQuo2025 said:
... when the clocks went forward in Spring, the night rate then runs from 1.30 am to 8.30 am, the night storage heater switches on at 12.30 midnight and runs for an hour at day rate, before the night rate cuts in.  

This sounds very unlikely, unless something other than the electricity meter is switching the storage heaters' charge circuit on and off. It's normal for a smart meter in a situation like yours to do two things simultaneously: change the register from peak to offpeak and switch power on to the heating equipment (space- and water heaters, perhaps). This will usually involve an hour's shift twice a year. There is one other thing to note: the transit from peak to offpeak won't happen precisely at the advertised time, but a few (usually <10) minutes later. If you have timers for the storage heaters and perhaps for an immersion heater as well, you ought to check that they too are aligned to the meter's offpeak times.

If you'd like us to try and unravel what appears to be a mystery, please provide some photos of the meter and the backboard it's mounted on, and of any controls you have for the heating equipment. Please make sure the markings on the meter are legible, and if necessary touch a button to light up the display before taking the photo.  

brianhes

Clearly the rules around comms signals need sorting. Must be over 3 years the meters been installed the system has never worked properly, technician visits have been made with little effect. The radio network as implemented is clearly inadequate, the EDF energy hub indicates that a batch of data gets through every few days in the early hours, recently eleven days data didn't make it. Apparently this behaviour counts as the smart meter is working fine. The IHD has never worked, but I assume it's down to the meters comms problem.
The civil servants who devised the specification should have understood there would be the need for alternatives, as even a 99% coverage system clearly does cover everyone. I am aware of other non-functioning systems in the general area.