British Gas wants to fix my gas meter that works fine.

QrizB

Not every meter needs changing every 10 to 20 years, theres a site you can look up your Make, Model and it will tell you how long before obsolete,

That UK Gov website only covers electricity meters, while the OP seems to be talking about a gas meter.

AFAIK there aren't any ToU gas tariffs so it's unlikely that you'd be losing out by not having a smart gas meter.

Octopus Tracker, as noted by DCM above, is a smart gas tariff that tracks the wholesale price day by day. I've been on Tracker for years and it's saved me hundreds.

Well charging my EV @ 7P is saving me a fortune … Long live the smart meters.

Agreed, but (again) OP is currently talking about a gas meter and I'm not aware of any recent-model vehicles that you can charge from gas!

Had the OP mentioned their electricity meter yet? They might like to get them both changed to smart meters at once, and really benefit from the cheaper tariff options that will unlock?

WiserMiser

Agreed, Octopus Tracker is a sort of ToU tariff; I was thinking of peak and off peak hours, which doesn't apply to gas... (AFAIK).

rufford155

To make things clearer their wording is something like "….we need to change your smart meter because it is not sending us readings…"

There's no surprise there since we don't have a smart meter !!!! And never had one.

I will try to post the exact wording when I get my next text or email.

They have never mentioned a contract and I don't believe I have ever seen one, let alone signed one.

The only documents I have on file are T&C's for the boiler service and T&C's for BG Membership - a scheme that offers certain benefits.

Neither of these say anything about meters or any commitment to have them changed.

They have never said "MUST" be replaced or "end of life" or mentioned any legal requirement.

They have never been to our house to inspect the meters (except for the boiler service engineer).

My understanding remains that they cannot force me to have a smart meter.

For info, I switched to my tariff via the MSE energy club and got a cashback - the tariff does not demand a smart meter.

QrizB

They have never mentioned a contract and I don't believe I have ever seen one, let alone signed one.

If you have a gas supply from BG, you've agreed to their Terms and Conditions. That's your contract.

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/energy/gas-and-electricity/supply-terms-and-conditions.html

Contract term 20 is where you've agreed to give BG access to the meter.

Heedtheadvice

It could be you are not aware of the Ts&Cs ( yours maybe slightly different from that link above but not significantly different depending upon when the contract to supply you with gas started) but you must have agreed to them and under current (and for many a year) laws not just by default.

Utility companies have legal rights to enter premises under certain circumstances or via a court warrant. For example they may have reasons to believe that your meter is not reading correctly and have the right to check or replace it. ( as well as duties to you and more if you are on the Priority Services Register mentioned earlier in the thread, to your benefit)

I could be also be that they wish to just change it to a smart meter to meet their obligation placed on them by government. You as an individual currently do not have to accept one for that reason - whilst you have a choice but at some time that may change when everyone who accepts has one and then the refuseniks would have one thrust upon their premises!

If it is deemed that that their meter has to be changed it will only be replaced by a smart one.

Although you feel pressurised and spammed or trolled why not just accept the request?

After years of resisting a smart meter because of the earlier SMETS1 troubles, I requested to get a smart meter for both Electricity and Gas. Installed commissioned (in under two hours) connected to my supplier and tariff changed at my request and working seamlessly in under two days.

Really pleased! Also on the PSR

Having writ all that I do sympathise that you find BG being unreasonable and OTT if you are being bombarded. As well as the suggestions throughout this thread to tackle the issue if you feel strongly raise a formal complaint with BG. If they do not respond to your satisfaction you can then raise their poor customer care with the Ombudsman. It would be easier though just to accept the new meter...

rufford155

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860568#Comment_81860568

I really don't see how I can be deemed to be bound by any contract that has not been provided in writing.

I have twice taken up a fixed tariff with them nut never had any T&C's or contract.

I did have one from my previous supplier (Scottish Power).

QrizB

I really don't see how I can be deemed to be bound by any contract that has not been provided in writing.

Your poor understanding of contract law is your problem, not BGs.

I have twice taken up a fixed tariff with them nut never had any T&C's or contract.

I guarantee that, as part of taking a fixed tariff with BG, you agreed to be bound by their T&C.

rufford155

I will now explain the last phone call I had from them as best as I can recall.

Caller: Your smart meter is not sending us gas readings so needs to be replaced.

Me : It will not send you readings because it is not a smart meter.

Caller : Well, it's not working anyway.

Me: Really? Your own fitter inspected it 2 weeks ago and said it was fine and I send readings myself every month.

Caller : Right, but your electric meter is old and needs replacing.

Me : It is not old. It is a modern meter installed when we moved in only 7 years ago.

Caller : But they should both still be replaced.

Me : Can I please speak to your highest level supervisor.

Supervisor : Yes, can I help you ?

Me : I have told your callers over and over again that I do not want a smart meter. If you don't stop phoning me about this I will be contacting the ombudsman and writing to complain to my MP because it is harassment of an 80-year old pensioner.

They have thankfully stopped phoning but are now resorting to frequent sms messages.

It's perfectly obvious that the callers are just sales people who are on commission to achieve a quota of smart meters.

I class them as scam calls because they try anything to get your agreement with complete disregard for the true facts.

Bigphil1474

OP, you do realise that British Gas offer half price electricity every Sunday and also do ad-hoc half price sessions, which you can only get with a smart meter? We save as much electric use as we can for those times, and probably save a good 10% off our bill.

Other than it being smart, changing meter literally makes no difference to you in a negative way. We've switched to smart meters at 2 different properties and it was dead easy. The smart meters also help in measuring energy use across the network, which helps us all. There's no scam involved.

Swipe

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81861859#Comment_81861859

If you don't want to be "harressed", just block the number they are texting from.