My smart meter installation was aborted due to asbestos - What should I do next?

The level of misadvice  and lack of support from Ovo is truly shocking

I had to arrange a smart meter due to the RTS switchover. I asked if this could be in dumb mode. I was told it could but then told not. I was offered the princely sum of £10 for the wrong advice which I declined, but the complaint was closed anyway

An engineer came to fit the meter but said he couldn't do it as he suspected as bestie in the backboard

Ovo said they would 're-book with asbestos trained engineers, but didn't show up for the new date 

They then told me I had to contact the DNO to arrange an asbestos trained engineer

DNO told me this was rubbish. They don't do these visits and ovo are continually giving out this wrong advice. They said our meter was previously changed in 2006 with no issues, so why would there be this time?

They said it should be ovo's responsibility to do these checks, but because they deliberately chose not to renew their licence for asbestos trained engineers, this is why they are trying to wiggle out of it

I called ovo today who said I had to pay for an engineer of my choice at my expense

Ovo told me a month ago that they would leave extra detailed notes for their engineer to visit

I am now approaching the cut off date. They are a shambolic, couldn't care less company

Hey ​@Dcoop !

Please show us your current meters. I’ll grab ​@Lukepeniket_OVO as he can usually help get these ones unstuck.

JSYK, Smart Meters won’t be fitted in “Dumb Mode” just because you ask - especially when replacing RTS. They need to run fully-functional from the start.

You have some time yet - the final cut-off is September 2025.

I was told by the DNO that the cut off is the end of June.

June 2025 is the public deadline that most folks know about.

However, there’s a secret deadline of September 2025 that’s not as well known about - it’s intended for cases like yours and that’s when the signal is actually being shut down.

It should not be relied on just because one wants to be lazy however...

Hi ​@Dcoop. Thanks for your post and welcome to the OVO Forum.

I’m sorry to hear of what’s happened here, I’d be left feeling very frustrated in your shoes here - I hope it can be sorted soon 🤞.

Make sure that you’ve requested a complaint be raised about this. The complaint may need to be escalated internally if a fix can’t be put in place immediately, and the complaint will need to remain open until it’s resolved, eg when the new meter is on the wall. With asbestos it can be quite complex - we have some asbestos trained engineers, however I imagine they can’t work in some scenarios. 

If you send over some meter photos hopefully ​@Lukepeniket_OVO can give his informed opinion.

When I tried to ask OVO on what basis they alleged suspected asbestos they said they couldn't tell.me. It would have been the engineers who visited who raised this and they don't have access to them, which seems complete hogwash. They are Ovo's own engineers. If I am being asked to fork out for an asbestos check I need to know that it is justified and On what grounds. As I said earlier my meter was replaced in 2006 with no issues and any asbestos would have been detected then if there were any

I did raise a complaint but it was closed without my agreement and only 're-opened when I have a Trust pilot review

​@Dcoop I’m sorry to hear this.

I have worked complaints for OVO in the past and just to let you know - a complaint can’t be closed as resolved without your permission - a resolution that suits you must be offered. 

Regarding the engineer’s job report - these are available to view unless the engineer hasn’t sent it (this is incredibly rare). Hopefully your complaints handler will be able to view the job report and find out exactly what went wrong (there should be photographs attached to it by the engineer). 

Let us know how you get on now that the complaint has been reopened again, fingers crossed it’s handled correctly going forward.

hey ​@Dcoop, hope you have had some movement? if not please DM me account number / Photos of the meter. thank you!!