PAYG meter blank after power cut?

​@Old Smokie you’ve mentioned that you’ve been told we won’t pay for the electrician, however I’ve told you that we would look into this, if the electrician confirmed the fault is with the meter, as written in a job report. If the fault is not with the meter, and you have the meter removed and a new one installed by another supplier, and the fault remains, you’ll then need to pay for the electrician on top of the cost of the removal. What I’ve previously told you about being reimbursed for the remaining credit on the meter is true as well.

Ultimately, it’s up to you as to how you proceed - we can only try and help give you an idea of what we believe to be the best option for you. 

I am the landlord of a property and my tenants and surrounding houses had a power cut on the 31st of June. Once power was back on their white inside meter box was completely blank. Tried blue and any other buttons but completely dead and blank.

I contacted OVO on the phone about this but they aren’t coming to repair or replace this they are just fitting a smart meter so they can read and see credit and usage though that. Smart meter isn’t being fitted until 23rd  July. This is a long time not seeing what credit you have or are using.

My tenants and I think this should be replaced how do I go about this as telephone conversation don’t seem to get me anywhere. Help please to resolve this matter 

Thanks

Hey ​@Ruby,

Welcome to the community 🎉

It's always a great idea to use the search function to see if your question has already been answered before posting. Chances are, someone else has been in a similar situation! I’ve put together a few helpful articles below that you might find useful.

Just a quick note: unless your tenants are on a pay-as-you-go plan and can't top up or on the priority services register, this situation wouldn't be categorised as an emergency appointment. The supply will keep running until the meters can be replaced at the next available appointment. Feel free to check out the articles below for more information and similar experiences!

I hope this helps! 

Yes I realise that but OVO aren’t coming out to replace the electric meter they are only coming out to fit smart meters instead and I want the main unit fixed aswell Thanks

Hey ​@Ruby,

I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused. You mentioned that the electricity meter has a blank display after a power cut, and that you've scheduled an appointment for July 23rd to replace it. That should definitely help get everything back to normal for your tenants! Is there anything else going on that we might need to consider?

Sorry for the confusion. On the 23rd they are only coming to fit smart meters for Gas and electric there aren’t coming to fix the main electric meter box. Hope that makes sense.

Hey ​@Ruby,

I’m a still bit unsure about what you mean by fixing the "main electric box," but I'm happy to figure it out with you! 

The electricity meter is that small white box in your photo with the blank display. When the engineer comes to install the smart meter, they’ll take that box off and replace it with a working one, making sure everything is up and running smoothly. 

Is there anything else outside of the white meter box that you’re hoping to get fixed? I've included another article below that has a similar photo and some diagrams. It might help you point out any other issues you’re concerned about. Let me know what you think!

I’ll also tag the lovely ​@Lukepeniket_OVO to swing by and take a look at the setup when he has the chance and he’ll give us advice from his position as an engineer 😊

Hello,

Hopefully a nice and simple one =] The Key Meter is faulty after the powercut (which happens all the time) which will be replaced by electric and gas smart meters, standard dual job which should take about 2 hours start to finish (power being off for 45 minutes). 

If you believe there is a fault with the cutout to the left of the key meter call 105 and itll direct you to your local Distribution Network Operator, DNO. Is the power on to the property?

Cheers

Thank you both for your help. I have also done a live chat with OVO  and my mistake I thought the smart meters being fitted were going to be separate  from this rather than replacing it. Thank you both for your help.

My understanding is my tenants, as they can’t see the balance left if it runs out it goes into disconnect mode but they will still have power until the new meter is fitted then the balance will show what to pay to make it up to date. Hopefully that is correct ?
Thankyou for your help 

you are correct, the meter has gone into non-disconnect mode so they wont go off supply. The engineer when swapping to a new smart meter will probably put a standard balance of a couple of pounds on the new meter which the account holder can then contact OVO paygo to work out exactly how much should be on the new meter =] does that make sense?