Should I fix in? & do I have to get a smart meter if so?

Now that's one that I wasn't aware of.

Is that in primary/secondary legislation or in the Standard Conditions of Supply?

Oops .. you have said where to look.

It’s in the Acts somewhere, can’t remember where else I’ve seen it.

But I’m not a Lawyer, so unless you want to pay me several thousand pounds to try and dig up the exact clause, I’d rather not spend hundreds of hours trying to find it.

@Blastoise186 your point about the meter being the property of the supplier and therefore it’s up to the supplier to choose what equipment is installed kind of stops customers saying they don’t want smart meters…

I would also be interested to know what reasons people have for not wanting one. 

Indeed. Long story short, OVO has no choice but to replace expired meters if they haven’t been Recertified - and even then, Recertification cannot extend the service life forever.

As the Customer, you’re not the one buying the meters, so it makes sense you have no say over what’s on the wall. Since the Supplier (or in some cases a Meter Asset Provider acting on behalf of the Supplier) is the one doing the purchasing, they’re the ones who get to pick.

While the Electricity Act and Gas Act do permit you to supply your own meter, let me say this.

Don’t do that.

If you want to avoid 500 Years of Red Tape, your best bet is to just accept the meter provided by your Supplier regardless of whether it’s Smart or not. Especially if your only goal is just to dodge Smart Meters - in which case it really isn’t worth the red tape.

@juliamc We have yet to see any genuinely valid reasons tbh. It’s usually down to either:

• The “health scares” as in they fry your brain and zombify you - if that was true, we’d all be zombies by now from a bazillion other sources
• Your supplier can cut you off anytime - they actually can’t because it’s not that simple
• They overcharge you - when it’s actually your fault for not doing readings ever before
• They “don’t work” - when it’s actually not the case
• Some other silly reason that we’ve shot down many times

The only genuinely valid reasons like no Polyphase or THTC Support are rapidly vanishing as coverage has been added to remove tons of blockers...

@Blastoise186 I think there’s just very little conversation about smart meters these days (not here on the forum obvs). The old myths are still around and nobody in everyday life is correcting them. I have asked someone who doesn’t have a SM what their reasons are:  ‘Which’ doesn’t think much of them (actually Which says many positive things about them); too many bad reviews; too many things go wrong; billing errors; not compatible across suppliers; can’t see what the benefit would be.

I know this is all nonsense, but this is an example of the impression people have !!!!

Whilst it’s not really on the main topic here it is interesting, and explains why you can’t simply choose to keep an old meter indefinitely.

tt didn't take that long to find and read them.
I won’t link them. they are easy enough to find if you want to.

The Electricity Act 1989 - Schedule 7 refers to meters that are charged against being 'appropriate'.
(ie. certified, ‘Type’ certification is allowed).

The Gas Act 1986 - Section 17 refers to gas meters that are charged against having to be 'Stamped'.
(ie. independently tested/examined and certified).

So the readings from a meter that is out of certification should not be charged against, meaning that any old meter should should be replaced before it’s certification expires.

The Electricity Act states that if a customer was to refuse to allow a replacement of an already ‘expired’ electricity meter then "... the supplier may refuse to give or may discontinue the supply."

The Gas Act goes further - it is a summary offence to supply gas through an ‘unstamped’ gas meter, attracting a fine not exceeding Level 3 on the Standard Scale (currently up to £1,000)
From my reading of the subsequent clauses then if it is the customer who is refusing/preventing the replacement of an ‘expired’ gas meter it would be the customer who is regarded as commiting that offence and so liable for the fine.

Hi @Jazz,

It seems that our forum volunteers have already given some good advice here.

Unfortunately, you would need to agree to have a smart meter fitted for our fixed tariffs.

You’d be able to find the terms and conditions here (specifically under the smart meter section):

https://www.ovoenergy.com/1-year-fixed-loyalty-terms/v2

https://www.ovoenergy.com/2-year-fixed-terms

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Hi. We're on variable rolling tariff but thinking with costs going up to get fixed contract but it states having to have smart meter installed - which we don't want. Happy to submit meter readings. Any ideas how to do this? 

Hi ​@Naz84 ,

Sorry, but there isn’t a way to bypass that requirement. If the tariff you want requires a Smart Meter, you have to oblige or you’ll get booted off of it. Any reason why you don’t want to upgrade?

I’m currently decompressing/off-gassing from two scuba dives today so this is all I can post tonight. I’ll return in the morning if I feel up to it.

Why don’t you want a smart meter? It’s so much easier than having to give readings and keeps your usage up to date. I personally wouldn’t do fixed rate as I would find that too expensive OVO have been amazing with fluctuations in my payments with winter and summer consumption.