Can I revert from smart meters back to traditional meters if my landlord requests?

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.

@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.

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.