Broken EDF Electrical Smart Mater Since October

mini_lidi

I am after some advice, we noticed our smart meter wasn’t sending readings back in October. We contacted them and they booked an engineer in for December, which they failed to attend. 

We contacted them and they apologised, raised a credit of £40 and then said we would be contacted with another appointment. 

Few weeks later, still no contact we complained and still no further. Due to my wife working part time we can only have an appointment Thursday or Friday. 

It’s been like this last 3 months and we contact them again recently and been told no appointments on these days now till March. 

How can I escalate this? Our bills have jumped from £30 a month to £65 due to estimates instead of readings. 

Swipe

Send in monthly manual readings so your bills are accurate.

MattMattMattUK

mini_lidi said:

I am after some advice, we noticed our smart meter wasn’t sending readings back in October. We contacted them and they booked an engineer in for December, which they failed to attend. 

We contacted them and they apologised, raised a credit of £40 and then said we would be contacted with another appointment. 

Few weeks later, still no contact we complained and still no further. Due to my wife working part time we can only have an appointment Thursday or Friday. 

It’s been like this last 3 months and we contact them again recently and been told no appointments on these days now till March. 

How can I escalate this? 

You cannot really, the issue is down to your limited availability. 

mini_lidi said:

Our bills have jumped from £30 a month to £65 due to estimates instead of readings. 

You could submit meter readings every month, which would mean you are only billed for actual usage, either of those seems incredibly low though.

mini_lidi

Swipe said:

Send in monthly manual readings so your bills are accurate.

Thanks for the reply. There is no power to the meter at all so unable to get any readings from it. 

QrizB

mini_lidi said:

Swipe said:

Send in monthly manual readings so your bills are accurate.

Thanks for the reply. There is no power to the meter at all so unable to get any readings from it. 

That's a different fault to "not sending readings" and suggests that you'll need a meter replacement, not just some Comms hub tweaks.

EDF are obliged by their licence conditions to install a working meter. In your position I'd raise a complaint, but I'd also be prepared to accept an appointment on any day of the week.

Do you have a neighbour you trust with a key?

MattMattMattUK

In addition to Qriz's comment, if you have told them that the meter is not transmitting but is actually not working then that is going to be part of the problem. A non-transmitting meter is a low priority, a non-functioning meter would be treated differently. 

gpman

mini_lidi said:

I am after some advice, we noticed our smart meter wasn’t sending readings back in October. We contacted them and they booked an engineer in for December, which they failed to attend. 

We contacted them and they apologised, raised a credit of £40 and then said we would be contacted with another appointment. 

Few weeks later, still no contact we complained and still no further. Due to my wife working part time we can only have an appointment Thursday or Friday. 

It’s been like this last 3 months and we contact them again recently and been told no appointments on these days now till March. 

How can I escalate this? Our bills have jumped from £30 a month to £65 due to estimates instead of readings. 

If you wish to escalate matters, you need to follow the suppliers complaint procedure, details of which are available from the EDF website or as described on the last page of your statement. If sounds like you have already started this process.

But as others have said, if there are no engineers in your area available to attend, then there is not a lot the supplier nor an independent adjudicator can do to assist you. Your situation is not helped by you being very restrictive on the days you would allow any engineer to attend. 

Friendly warning: If the supplier is not able to obtain meter readings for an extended period, they may eventually elect to get a court warrant to gain access to the meter. If successful in that application, you will not be able to restrict on what day the warrant may be executed. (not to mention the cost of that)

Why not provide the supplier with your own regular meter readings until this is resolved? Not only will that probably avoid the risk of a court warrant, but should also address an issue of increased monthly payments (unless your meter readings justify such an increase). If you provide regular meter readings, and they are in accordance with the usage EDF expects, you won't usually even be required to prove them via a photograph. Meter readings can be easily provided via your online EDF account.

In my experience, EDF will usually revert any increased monthly payment demand if you politely challenge them
But you won't get far in any challenge if the supplier is having to rely on estimated readings to bill you.

mini_lidi

Thanks all. 

Will contact them again to make them aware that there is no power to the meter and it’s not just not submitting readings and go from there. 

debitcardmayhem

@gpman op already said meter not working. not just xmitting  … 3 posts above 

gpman

debitcardmayhem said:

@gpman op already said meter not working. not just xmitting  … 3 posts above 

Indeed. After my posting a reply to the opening post, I see this appears to be a developing story ...