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Hello, 

I wondered if someone could help me out. Excluding University, this is the first time I have lived away from home and it’s been around 5 months, so please excuse my naivety around this topic.

When we moved into our building, we were unsure of how to access our meter, eventually we were told the readings were taken every month and placed on a communal notice bored - we do not have the code to access this ourselves. It is worth noting our full flat is powered by electricity, there is no gas. We have also been told we’re unable to have a smart meter by the estate agents.

This is partly our fault for not chasing this up, but for 3 months the meter readings were not posted, so OVO charged us an estimate. When a meter reading for November was finally put up, we uploaded this and our bill and past bills went up by a lot (November would make sense that it went up, as we began using the heating as it was getting too cold to not use it). We asked OVO why our past bills were effected and this is when they told us the past months were estimated off this meter reading as we hadn’t updated the other months (mistake by us as again, we weren’t sure the importance of this as we are still learning.) 

However, after posting a meter reading recently, it went up by an extortionate amount, working out in one week we’d spent around £12 a day - which is impossible as me and my flatmate are out 8 hours a day Monday-Friday at work. This is further impossible as during this time we were being extra careful with our electricity. This means we are quite a bit in debt in our OVO account.

Today, a contractor from OVO is going to come to check if our meter reading is faulty as the individual my flatmate spoke to on the phone agreed these figures didn't seem right. However, after talking to the management of the building they told me they are not allowed to give the code to the meters to tenants. The man on the phone suggested I asked OVO to get in contact with them so they could pass it on that way. I rang OVO, but was told this wasn’t possible as the contractors are third party. 

So basically, its a dead end. Does anyone have any suggestions? We’re really stuck here, and again I apologise if I've gotten anything wrong - I’ve only been out for the past few months and I’m still learning. 

 

Any help would be massively appreciated. :)

 

 

 

Hey @sophwillox 

 

How did you get on yesterday? Have you been able to make any progress?

Hi @Abby_OVO 

 

My flatmate managed to find proof we did have someone coming out, so OVO are going to pay £30 into our account. 

 

OVO also told us we’re eligible for a smart meter, however we need to ask permission from our landlord for this (and something tells me they will refuse). So hopefully once we get a smart meter, (and if we can) we can make sure our readings are correct 

… we need to ask permission from our landlord for this (and something tells me they will refuse).

 

The landlord can’t unreasonably refuse permission according to Ofgem, who set the rules.

 

@Firedog Thank you, my flatmate did speak to them on the phone regarding this and they responded with quite an attitude, even when she outright told them what they’re doing isnt legal 

Since you’re paying the bill, you have full power over the supply/supplies. Landlords can only refuse that permission if they have a VERY good reason. They can’t just refuse because they don’t like them.

Here’s a few examples of reasons you can override and bypass because they’re not valid:

  • I don’t like them/I just don’t want them in my property
  • They don’t work
  • They’re not “smart”
  • They mess with people’s health (we’ve countered this one on the Forum MANY times)
  • They don’t work if you change supplier (SMETS2 works with all suppliers)
  • They cost me money to install (they’re free - the supplier covers the job cost)
  • They spy on me (they don’t - and it’s your decision anyway, not the landlord)
  • They’re unreliable (no more so than any other legacy meter)

If you get any others, let us know and we’ll try to advise.

Thanks for your help @Blastoise186 

We’re going to email them and ask for permission, will refer to this depending on what they say. Fingers crossed this will sort out our issues. 

 

Thanks again. :) 

Hey @sophwillox 

 

Let us know how you get on. 

 

You shouldn’t really need their permission at all unless there are something like terms in your tenancy agreement that prevent you from making certain changes, but we also know that it can be easier if they do know about it - just make sure they know it’s your right as the legally responsible party.

 

Keep us updated with things.🙂

@Abby_OVO Thank you Abby, will do. 

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