I certainly get the bi-annual thing but reading it two weeks after it has been installed just seemed a bit strange. I submitted a reading anyway. 

Hi @hughie501,

It seems our forum volunteer has already given some good advice here.

Even if you’ve got a smart meter installed, we are required to carry out certain checks on your meter every 1 - 2 years. We use ‘Morrisons Data Services’ to carry out these checks so you if you’re concerned you can ask the visiting meter reader for some ID to confirm this. These checks are done at random so it may be a coincidence that it happened a couple weeks after your smart meter was fitted.

Smart meter installed Aug 24, since then I've had 2 visits from a meter reader from Morrisons data services? 

Part of the reason I was keen to upgrade to a smart meter was that I don't live full time in the property and regular manual meter readings were difficult and visits by meter readers never coincided with my time at the house. 

Both visits from the meter reader in the last year were missed appointments, I thought now I had a smart meter this nonsense would go away? 

I'm also an Octopus customer at another property with a smart meter, prior to Octopus it was Scottish Power, for this property we've never had a visit from a meter reader in the last 10 years or so. 

Is it OVO policy that even if you have a smart meter you'll get 2 visits each year from a meter reader - seems ridiculous to me?

This is to be expected per industry rules - OVO isn’t the only supplier that does it.

Even with Smart Meters, you’ll get a visit from a meter reader every so often to check everything is working as intended as well as grab a verification reading.

Morning ​@Infiltrator, I hope you’re well.

​@Blastoise186 is correct here - MDS are contracted by us to read all customers’ meters on an adhoc basis, which helps us ensure that we’re billing our customers correctly to actual usage. Apologies if it’s caused any annoyance or alarm, but it’s something that the business currently has no plans of stopping.

If the first was missed and you didn’t contact them then that would explain why they came back again.

I assume that MDS will keep trying until they can actually get access to the meter, or at least until you do contact them.

Their number is on the card that they leave.

See also:

What to expect when we visit to read your meter

Thanks for the replies, I’ll try to contact them to see if we can arrange a reading when I’m next at the house.

Tried to contact them, only option is to submit a reading, I’m guessing we’ll just carry on and submit a manual reading each time we miss their visit. 

My 84 year mother had an unplanned visit from an OVO engineer on Friday. He said her outside meters haven't been working! However I know readings go in every month!  Im not happy that my vulnerable mother had this visit without it being known to us. Do you think this is a legitimate visit or not pls! Safeguarding is an issue for me if it is. 

This does sound a little strange. It is unusual for an engineer to call at a domestic premises without an appointment. You should always check I.D. of all callers especially if they have just turned up. Calling the utility to check should be done before allowing anyone in or access to your meter or other equipment.