Smart meter fraud?

Sirius_Minor

I was forced to have smart meters installed on 11/6/26 after company applied for a warrant on 1/6/26. I did not object because I found that my meters were manufactured in 2005 & with a 20 year life span, so accepted "progress".

If it wasn't for the IHD, this would not have been noticed.

Rate 1 52.550p

Rate 2 25.580p

1st 2 Kwh at Rate 1

11/6/26 Rate 2 took effect after 2.25Kwh This changeover happen from 11/6-8/7

Yesterday it changed at 2.51Kwh.

So felt it best to contact to Co & get answers.

A total waste of 29 minutes on the phone & the guy still didn't get the message.

While talking to him, the changeover happened at 2.75Kwh.

Every customer of theirs pay this same rate for the 1st 2Kwh.

With over 760,000 customers that's a nice £37,304,904 annual bonus (@25%).

Woodstok2000

Who is your supplier and what tariff are you on? Utilita (and maybe others) offer a zero standing charge tariff where you pay significantly higher rates for the first 2 kwh of energy. That would explain the switch.

If you are complaining about the additional 0.5-0.75 kwh you need to look at your bill and not the ihd. The ihd is reliable for the amount of energy used, but does not always accurately show how much you are being billed for it.

MeteredOut

As above, you can't trust the IHD - it will be delayed.

I'll bet you the extra 13p you thought you'd be paying each day that the bill will only have the higher rate for the first two kWh. Deal?

(even if the supplier was doing this, it would not be fraud).

Sirius_Minor

Every one pays a standing charge, even Utilita customers.

The difference between the 2 rates is 26.97p, that is the standing charge.

I don't get bills, as pre-payment.

Currently £325 electric & £315 gas in credit.

As for accurately being billed, the meter, IHD & online account all show the same balance, so don't see your point.

Also the switch should occur no later than 2.01Kwh.

Ildhund

The IHD is a useful guide to what's going on, but it can't be used for the sort of detailed calculations you're expecting it to perform. I think I'm right in saying that, with regard to the active tariff and when it changes, the IHD reports what's in the meter's Tariff Switching Table (TST), which is a timetable giving the times that the tariff rate changes. It can't - so far as I'm aware - report a rate change when a specific consumption threshold has been reached. So your supplier (I suppose it's Utilita?) will have estimated the time at which you normally pass 2kWh and put that into the meter's TST. Can you see the balance of your credit on the IHD? With any luck, this will be accurate, so you should be able to spot the time when it suddenly starts falling more slowly as the 2kWh threshold is passed..

It's less than a month since your new meter was installed, so probably not everything will be in place yet (it can take six weeks). You may eventually be able to see some details of how your account is performing online. In any case, Utilita have been offering this type of PAYG zero-standing-charge for many years. I think we'd have heard if they were systematically defrauding their customers by charging more than the 2kWh at the higher rate.

debitcardmayhem

Do you have a utilita smart display or just a regular IHD?

Sirius_Minor

Thanks Iilhund, a nice clear understanding answer.

However with just my wife & I in a 1 bed flat, know how much we use.

Normally we use anywhere from £2.35-£2.45 per day in electricity & seeing it hit £3 per day is "alarming"

After receiving an e-mail from Bulb years ago, "Dear Sirius, we noticed you haven't topped up your gas meter in 4 months", I haven't trusted utility companies.

Until June I've used Martins tip about storing energy.

That benefit is now lost.

Sirius_Minor

@debitcardmayhem

Utilita provided both on installation, so I'm assuming it's a smart display.

QrizB

Normally we use anywhere from £2.35-£2.45 per day in electricity & seeing it hit £3 per day is "alarming"

Energy prices rose for many customers on variable tariffs on the 1st of July; did your tariff increase then too?

That might have added 10% or more to your electricity bill.

As for accurately being billed, the meter, IHD & online account all show the same balance, so don't see your point.

Does your online account tell you how much electricity you used each day, and how much you were charged for it?

Sirius_Minor

1/4/26

Rate 1 51.150p

Rate 2 24.180p

1/7/26

Rate 1 52.550p

Rate 2 25.580p

This is not about price change, it's about when the rate changes from 1 to 2.

Your 10% would make rate 1 56.265p.

Yes, online A/c does display but so far, it's always been a day behind.

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82064766#Comment_82064766

Dont use the IHD for cost calculations, use it to measure consumption. If your consumption hasn't changed, and your rates haven't changed (much) your billing will not change (much) regardless of what the IHD says.