My smart meter couldn't be installed because the traditional meter is too old and has asbestos fuses - what should I do now?

Hi @andycornerpost, welcome to the forum!

Are ScottishPower Energy Networks the distribution network operator for your address?
Maybe the best bet is to get in touch with OVO first and see if they know what is going on.
You can contact the team on Facebook, Twitter and the Help centre has online chat!

Hi - I’ve been told that my house has a pre-1937 fused neutral cutout (which has asbestos). According to my sparky, this needs to be replaced within 28 days or it’s in breach of HSE rules. I reported it to Ovo 2 weeks ago now, and still no sign of any appointment to fix it. 

Has anyone else had any luck getting Ovo to deal with one of these?

I’ve moved your post here, @killicrankie, there is some handy info above. You’ll need to contact your DNO for help with this. If you need help finding out who your DNO is, check out this topic!

Thanks! 

Hi @killicrankie - I agree with @Amy_OVO.

The incomer fuses and isolation block are the property of your Distribution Network Operator (DNO). It’s their responsibility to bring them up to the correct specification.

If there’s no other “faults” on your side of the existing meter, then there shouldn’t be any cost incurred by you.

Good advice here, it is the DNO that will need to visit to upgrade the cut out.

In some cases it might need to be an urgent DNO visit. But the DNO won’t know this until they’re told by the supplier. So it’s good to have the supplier visit to perform a ‘site survey’ job, (or just book in a free smart meter appointment if you don’t have one of these already), and the engineer can assess the cut out whilst they’re there, notifying the DNO of the job’s urgency. 

Disclaimer: some circumstances will mean that smart meter appointment can’t proceed until the DNO visit. In this case, we’d simply re-book the appointment after the DNO visit. 

Hope this help,
Tim

Hi all,

Thanks for your useful comments on this. I already spoke to the DNO a good couple of weeks ago and they told me that the request had to be raised by my supplier, in this case Ovo, using a B11 flow.

After requesting this and follow on conversations with Tim today on the phone (many thanks!), it turns out Ovo can’t raise the request without a site visit themselves. 

Anyhow, it’s all booked in now with Ovo, then hopefully I can book in the DNO, then Ovo again, then I’m all up to date. Simple!

@Transparent this is a quality bit of resource, I’d like to make this it’s own topic - any objections?

Sure - that’s fine by me.

And I’d also like to know who is @killicrankie’s DNO. (Please fill out your Forum Profile!) We know that their approach differs across the country. Indeed, Kaluza had to comply with stipulations (and additional costs!) from two of them when installing the V2G chargers.

So if this is a separate Topic, we can start to build up a picture of which DNO’s require specific action to be taken, and which are more accommodating to enquiries from customers.

Hi @Transparent,

That’s useful information. I was aware of the regulation that this should’ve been replaced by 2013 (we missed that my a little!) and of the 28 day timescales for the work, but it’s good to know that it’s not immediately dangerous.

My DNO is UK Power Networks, covering London.

It does seem strange to slow the process down by going through the supplier. It’s now 17 days and counting since reporting to Ovo, though this is partly due to the pandemic, it would be great if the Ovo customer support guys were more aware of regs on this and didn’t just say “call back in 2 weeks”.

It also seems to slow the process down by Ovo requiring that their engineer inspect the issue. I wonder if it would be useful to allow customers to nominate a qualified and registered electrician to communicate the observed fault to the supplier (or DNO), saving everyone time on this.

I agree with you @killicrankie. It should possible for a DNO to receive an email with a photo of a customer’s meter board and automatically take it forward from there. Any network engineer would see the dual fuse-housing and assign the required B11 code to a job-sheet.

In fact the DNO will benefit financially from doing so. They are operating under a pricing constraint called RIIO-ED1. Ofgem requires them to make efficiency savings to hit agreed targets.. Being able to receive and act on such a report directly from the public can be logged as a credit towards those targets.

That’s a brilliant idea @Transparent . That would be the quickest way in getting this resolved.

In fact, if the DNO won’t do this, it would also make sense if OVO could do this instead of booking an engineer to visit.

I’ve moved your comment to a new topic here, @Transparent - I’ll need your help to edit to so it stands alone without users having to see this thread for context!

Hi, I’ve been trying to get a smart meter installed for best part of 2 years now.

The initial ovo engineer who visited commented that I had asbestos based fuses and that this will need to be replaced before a smart meter could be installed. he said that ovo would contact the ODN which is UK Power Networks..

However it’s been passed between the two companies and nothing has moved forward for pretty much the 2 years. I want OVO to own this. As a paying customer, they should be sorting this out.

I logged a request in to the UK Power Networks site to replace the fuse, however it explicitly mentions on the application

“Supplier Request - If you have been referred to us by your electricity supplier, for example they have been unable to change your meter because of an issue with our equipment, you will need to go back to your supplier.

They will need to send a data flow known as a D0135 to us, this has to be sent by the supplier and they cannot request that you contact us to arrange these works. This is to ensure that the correct party is billed for the work.”

OVO appear to passing the buck here and nothing is moving. Any suggestions?

Picture attached of my antiquated fuse

That looks so vintage! It would be a shame to chuck that all out…

When my fuse needed replacing, OVO organised all of that. I wonder why they asked you to do that? Is the fuse still functional, or is it past its life expectancy? 

It is vintage!

The OVO engineer said he is not qualified to touch asbestos based fuses. I can’t blame him for that!

To be honest, just about all asbestos stuff is well past it’s life expectancy at this point.

The more of the stuff we’re able to get rid of, the better!

I can confirm the main fuse is the property of your DNO though and OVO can’t replace it for that reason. I think I’ll ask @Jess_OVO to stop by on this one though, as it’s probably about time your fuses actually got replaced.

Good question here, @ovo_lego and one that’s been asked before:

Why are asbestos backboards an issue?

In some properties, meter backboards were fitted which were made out of asbestos. There are a number of safety issues with asbestos backboards, and if damaged, can pose a serious risk to the occupants of the property. We're unable to remove or fit meters onto asbestos backboards, as there is a high chance that the asbestos would be disturbed and release dangerous particles into the air. Therefore, any job in which an asbestos backboard is present will be aborted by our engineers.

Who’s responsible for replacing a meter backboard?

As you can see on our great guide, the meter backboard is maintained by your Distribution Network Operator (DNO). The DNO should contact you to schedule in the necessary work based on it’s urgency, see the timeframes for each category below:

Unfortunately we cannot speed any of these up - as they are decided by the DNO, although if you’re still waiting to hear from them it might be worth contacting them directly to check when the maintenance work will be scheduled.

You can find out more about DNO’s (including their contact details) on our DNO guide.

I’ve had the meter board replaced - How do I re-book a smart meter exchange?

Great news! You can usually re-book a smart meter appointment on your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS). If you’re unable to do this here, reach out to our Support Team (they may need to log that the asbestos has been removed before booking).

You’ll soon be able to enjoy the benefits of a smart meter!

@ovo_lego in your case it sounds like the DNO are implying they haven’t received the report (data flow known as a D0135) from us. Our Support Team should be able to get another OVO team to check and make sure that has been sent. 

Sigh…. same old reply….

You are neglecting to read the part where UK Power Networks state:

“Supplier Request - If you have been referred to us by your electricity supplier, for example they have been unable to change your meter because of an issue with our equipment, you will need to go back to your supplier.

They will need to send a data flow known as a D0135 to us, this has to be sent by the supplier and they cannot request that you contact us to arrange these works. This is to ensure that the correct party is billed for the work.”

What do I need to do to confirm whether OVO has sent in the D0135 has been sent to UK Power networks that will allow this work to be booked in and charged back to OVO accordingly?

Thanks.

Actually, there are some DNOs that will accept a request like this directly from the customer, but it’s difficult to know for sure as their policies keep changing and it’s a case of playing whack-a-mole to try and keep up.

Please check with OVO’s support team that the D0135 request has been sent to UK Power Networks. If it’s not been submitted, you can ask OVO to send it again.

So I messaged in to OVO customer services, the statement was

“This is sent to the DNO within 4-6 weeks of the appointment being aborted” I’d assume the D0135 form. However when I asked if there is confirmation of when this was sent, the online chat(bot?) said that there is no confirmation or note of when this is sent out to the DNO.

A decent customer service system should have all the necessary details logged in there. I have a feeling I will (again) be passed around again for some time yet...

There is a bot running on the live chat when you first connect, however once it says it’s passing you to an agent, a human steps in after that and the bot leaves the conversation completely.

The bot itself doesn’t understand the term D0135 so you weren’t talking to it at that point. If you think this is getting stuck, you may want to check out https://ovoenergy.com/feedback .

I’m so sorry to hear of the difficulty you’ve had when trying to establish the status of your D0135 form, @ovo_lego.

As advised this should be sent out within 6 weeks of the failed appointment, so its disappointing to hear you’ve experienced such a delay. I’d like the opportunity to follow this up on your account so I’ve arranged for us to collect some account details via a Private Message here. To access and respond to this message head to the menu in the top righthand corner of any forum page.

I hope we can help get this resolved.

My meter is now obsolete but OVO can not change it as the backboard is asbestos contacted 

network distributor and completed an application for the board to be changed but have been advised by them this is the homeowner responsibility but my housing association have told me it’s my suppliers responsibility.any suggestions have been waiting over a month for OVO to get back to me