Hi there @fraserlennon .

Unfortunately, this is not possible unless there’s a very specific reason. I don’t think OVO or any other supplier would revert the meters back if it’s purely because the landlord doesn’t like them and I’d be curious as to what they mean by “practical reasons”. It’s usually a one-way upgrade and there’s no going back. There is a very, very small list of exceptional circumstances and you’d be welcome to ask OVO if your case qualifies, but I don’t think it would based on what you’ve described. Even if it was allowed, it would be very expensive as you’d have to pay at least £106 for the Meter Exchange fee of the electric meter alone.

There’s also a previous answer that I posted a while ago, in case that helps.

Your landlord will not be able to override this, but perhaps if they could explain more about why they want the downgrade, I might be able to reassure them that the Smart Meters you’ve got now will sort things out.

It’s actually better for your landlord to keep the Smart Meters anyway - not least because it makes things easier when tenants change. If you were to go onto Pay As You Go for example and then moved out, the landlord could have your meters switched back to Pay Monthly without a Meter Exchange so it’s a lot easier.

It’s probably also worth mentioning that the meters belong to OVO and not to the landlord, even if the tenancy agreement states otherwise - tenancy agreements and inventory lists cannot claim ownership of Smart Meters and In-Home Displays.

Hopefully this helps, but we’ll be happy to help if your landlord still isn’t convinced.

Hi @fraserlennon and welcome to the OVO online community.

Great question to ask here about the possibility of replacing your smart meters due to a landlord’s request. Our community volunteer, @Blastoise186 has hit the nail on the head with this advice:

As the bill-payer it was up to you to decide that you wanted smart meters installed and as these meters are technically still owned by the supplier, we wouldn’t offer to remove them, even upon a landlord’s request. It’s worth assuring your landlord that having smart meters offers some great benefits for them. It removes the chance of usage or meter reading disputes when there’s a change of tenancy, as we should receive the readings automatically.

Hope this advice is helpful - let us know if you need any more help! 

@Blastoise186 @Jess_OVO 

Thanks very much for these helpful answers. Is anyone able to elaborate on the “very, very small list of exceptional circumstances” that qualify for reverting meters?

Thanks,

Fraser

No worries.

And sure thing. As far as I’m aware, these are the only circumstances I can think of which might allow a downgrade/revert:

• Emergency Meter Exchange due to a faulty meter - and only usually if the engineer who attends doesn’t have a suitable Smart Meter with them that they can fit. The Support Team would usually then be in touch later on to arrange a MEX to get you back onto Smart Meters if needed
• Upgrading to a Three-Phase Supply - but technically speaking this might not apply once OVO starts to fully roll out Three-Phase S2 Smart Meters (coming soon!)
• Replacing an existing meter setup where it’s impossible to fit Smart Meters - such as for THTC Meters and certain other Complex Meters where no suitable Smart Meter upgrade exists yet and the removed meter was NOT a Smart Meter
• Very specific edge cases - which would likely be on a case-by-case basis at OVO’s discretion

This isn’t the official list and I suspect Jess can probably get hold of a more accurate and official version than I can. But I’m pretty confident about most of it. With that said though, @Lukepeniket_OVO might know a bit more than I do. :)

I know this might sound obvious but I kinda have to mention it anyway because I feel the need to cover all bases. Attempting to deliberately break the meters purely to force an EMEX so you can force a downgrade is a really, really bad idea and I would strongly recommend against attempting it. Not only because that would be considered illegal tampering, but also for the huge safety risk that it carries. I’m pretty confident that you wouldn’t do that, but I wanted to mention it anyway for anyone else who reads this.

Oh, and just in case your landlord asks why you’re refusing the request, please feel free to point them towards this thread. While my answers can’t technically be seen as the “official” response from OVO, it’s usually close enough - but there’s also Jess’s response that may help to clarify.

If they’re unsure about anything else, they’ll be more than welcome to ask for help on the forum anytime. We keep the doors open for everyone, even if they’re not with OVO.

> It’s probably also worth mentioning that the meters belong to OVO

This is the key point. The meter belongs to the electricity supplier, and it’s used to provide a service to the tenant. It is none of the landlord's business, and it is not their choice. 

Yeah, I’m a tenant myself actually and I asked my landlord for permission to do a Smart Meter upgrade three years ago when I first moved in. They almost immediately granted it on the basis that my landlord considers such upgrades to come within “normal maintenance” for the electricity supply and that they believe it’s the tenants choice. The only condition my landlord applied was for the engineer to do the upgrade during reasonable daylight hours. Which was actually pretty easy to comply with - since SSE and OVO only usually do MEX jobs during the day anyway! XD

Back then, I didn’t even know about this forum - and I definitely didn’t know any of this stuff! But I suspect that another reason my landlord gave approval was because they knew they couldn’t block the upgrade anyway. But they did say thanks for asking first - and I always think it’s a good idea to give your landlord a heads up when these things happen. I’ve even gone as far as giving my landlord the entire ECOES record for my supply too. Just because I can.  And yes, it’s really detailed - so much so there’s even an owl in the background for some reason. 

But yup. It’s ultimately down to whoever pays the bill to decide these things. The only way the landlord can block an upgrade is by holding control of the supply - usually when the property is between tenants on a Deemed Contract - but as soon as a new tenant moves in, control of the supply is passed to that tenant. Sure, the landlord could hold the account permanently in their name instead. But I don’t recommend that because it’s a really risky move to do.

Is it possible to have a meter changed to a non-smart meter?  We do not want a smart meter

Hi @MAG1036 ,

Sorry but downgrading is not supported. Once a Smart Meter is installed, there is no going back under any circumstances.

We have a standard meter currently installed.  We do not want to change this to a smart meter.

If the meter needs to be replaced for any reason, it will now be a Smart Meter that gets installed. Stocks of the older types of non-smart have been depleted to basically zero at this point.

Why do you not want one? I’m just curious more than anything else.

We have moved into a property/rental but only have a 6 month tenancy. Can we still get a smart meter installed? 

Long story short version, yup. That's fine. :)

Thank you!

Ask your landlord before requesting a smart meter. They're unlikely to refuse but you shouldn't be making this sort of change without their permission.