UK - Energy - suppliers, costs, grants, meters etc

Sly Saint

Sly Saint

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
UK - Rise in energy firms remotely switching homes to prepay meters

something to be aware of if you are thinking about getting a smart meter

A rising number of households are having their energy smart meters remotely switched to prepayment meters, the energy regulator has said.

Energy firms can use the technology to swap customers who are in debt to the more costly plan without needing their permission.

It can leave customers, who need to top up, at risk of running out of energy.

Ofgem said it had received reports of "vulnerable customers being left without power for days or even weeks".

Once a smart meter is installed, it is a much simpler process for a supplier to swap the customer into prepay mode at the push of a button, rather than having to apply for a warrant and install a physical box.

Ofgem's rules state that energy companies must speak to customers before moving them on to a prepayment meter, but the regulator said it was concerned this was not always happening.

'Disconnection by the backdoor'
Suppliers may put customers on prepayment meters if they struggle to keep up with bills, because it helps them control how much and how often they pay for energy.

But prepayment customers, who need to top up, can choose to "self-disconnect" when costs got too high, particularly during the winter months. They also face higher standing charges for electricity.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63554879
 
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That is 'unfortunate', for me.

I received one for my old address (which has received 2, one before I moved and one afterwards). The postcode I am currently in has also received 2 (one before, and one after I moved in), but because I am in the process of starting a universal credit claim (being held up by the DWP as I need a home visit, to verify my ID of all things), I will not get the second one for this area, as I 'currently' am not on a qualifying benefit.

£25, that's almost enough for a turkey sandwich, with a cocktail stick through it, in the places the people making the rules eat.
 
Now energy companies make you pay to have your faulty smart meter repaired: Customers left in the dark as devices go dumb

Households are routinely being told they must pay to have faulty or broken smart meters replaced — despite energy providers promising the devices would help them save money.

In some cases, they are being quoted £50 just to replace the display unit that shows how much gas and electricity they are consuming in pounds and pence.

Money Mail’s postbag has been flooded with letters from scores of readers who, try as they may, simply cannot persuade their energy supplier to fix faulty smart meters.

Millions of the devices have now been rolled out to homes across the country. But 3.2 million homes have smart meters that don’t function as they should, with some left in limbo for months, with no way of knowing how much gas and electricity they are using — until a bill lands.

Ofgem says suppliers must replace faulty meters free of charge if they break within 12 months — after that, the energy watchdog says suppliers are free to decide any charges
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Now energy companies make you pay to have your faulty smart meter repaired: Customers left in the dark as devices go dumb (msn.com)
 
I don't get it—the device in the picture isn't a smart meter, it's an in-home display.

The smart meter itself usually shows readings and the main meter definitely does, so unless people are unable to access either of these, how on God's green earth can they can have "no way of knowing how much gas and electricity they are using"? Some people do have difficulty accessing their meters, of course, but the article is trying to make it sound as if it's a nationwide problem.

Then again, I suppose manufactured indignation is mostly what the Mail exists for. :rolleyes:
 
Kitty said:
I don't get it—the device in the picture isn't a smart meter, it's an in-home display.

The smart meter itself usually shows readings and the main meter definitely does, so unless people are unable to access either of these, how on God's green earth can they can have "no way of knowing how much gas and electricity they are using"? Some people do have difficulty accessing their meters, of course, but the article is trying to make it sound as if it's a nationwide problem.

Then again, I suppose manufactured indignation is mostly what the Mail exists for. :rolleyes:
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I think this potentia1 1ong term cost wi11 affect peop1e on a 1ow income that have smart meters forced on them instead of a standard pre-payment meter. I certain1y never rea1ised you cou1d face extra costs after 12 months if the smart meter deve1ops a fau1t.

A1though it's not an issue for me as there's no mobi1e signa1 in my home and this is required for a smart meter to work, so they won't fit one in my house (at 1east with the current versions).
 
Simbindi said:
I certain1y never rea1ised you cou1d face extra costs after 12 months if the smart meter deve1ops a fau1t.
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They don't mean the smart meter, though. They're not the responsibility of householders, any more than traditional meters are.

The article shows an in-home display, a small gadget that if it were on public sale, you wouldn't expect to pay more than £20 for on Amazon. You don't need one in order to use a smart meter; some people like them, others (like me) keep them at the back of a drawer. If I want data I download the readings from the supplier's website, which gives me more info in a much more useful format.
 
Kitty said:
They don't mean the smart meter, though. They're not the responsibility of householders, any more than traditional meters are.

The article shows an in-home display, a small gadget that if it were on public sale, you wouldn't expect to pay more than £20 for on Amazon. You don't need one in order to use a smart meter; some people like them, others (like me) keep them at the back of a drawer. If I want data I download the readings from the supplier's website, which gives me more info in a much more useful format.
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I don't know anything about smart meters, but I do know my standard prepayment meter can show how much credit I have in pounds and pence as we11 as units (you can scro11 through credit, standing charge, unit rates, units used etc.). EDF shows on1y very basic information on my on1ine account, just the amount of the top ups, not even where they were made. It doesn't show the top ups that have been made via the government vouchers. I have no idea what information it wou1d give for a smart meter. However, the who1e push for smart meters by supp1iers and the government is to show rea1 time use, to he1p peop1e make efficiency savings. So if the energy supp1ier won't rep1ace a fau1ty or broken disp1ay unit prompt1y and for free, it's hard1y being 'fit for purpose'.
 
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We have put off a smart meter for the past 5 years - largely as the first few iterations were too hackable.
The default " send info" on smart meters is generally every 30mins and this provides patterns of use - this has already been used in research looking into dementia.
Does anyone know if the security side has been improved- with carbon tax and internet of things looming closer they will soon become mandatory.
 
Amw66 said:
We have put off a smart meter for the past 5 years - largely as the first few iterations were too hackable.
The default " send info" on smart meters is generally every 30mins and this provides patterns of use - this has already been used in research looking into dementia.
Does anyone know if the security side has been improved- with carbon tax and internet of things looming closer they will soon become mandatory.
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Sorry, I can't answer your question.

We've put off getting a smart meter too. I only found out that smart meters sent info every 30 mins or every hour quite recently, but I also found out that, allegedly, this feature can be altered at installation if installers are asked to (I'm not sure if it is possible for customers to change it) to send info once a day, which is an improvement, but definitely still too intrusive as far as I'm concerned. I would want to set it for once every three months if/when I'm forced to get one. But I suppose once a month would be just about acceptable.

One thing I am sure of is that I read that energy suppliers are raking it in, selling all this data to other businesses. Somehow I doubt that customers can prevent that.

We've never had a water meter, and we were aware that we might actually benefit economically from one of these but the same fears about security arise with one of those. But our water company is going to install a water meter in the next few weeks, and the meter is going to be on the street, so anyone who can get into the meter (and I assume that will be everyone wanting to know if the house is occupied) will know if we are likely to be home or not.

Why do these companies wanting to install meters never mention anything about security in their leaflets and letters? It can only be because the security aspect is a big issue they don't want to discuss.
 
Arnie Pye said:
One thing I am sure of is that I read that energy suppliers are raking it in, selling all this data to other businesses. Somehow I doubt that customers can prevent that.
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I've signed up to a (paid) service called Incogni, to prevent this type of thing. This is what they say:
"Our mission is to help you take back
control of your data privacy!

Data brokers collect your personal information and sell it to other companies with just a few clicks of the mouse.
We want to help you take back your data just as easily.

We deal with data brokers on your behalf so that you don’t have to spend hundreds of hours jumping through hoops.
"

Here's their website if you're curious - https://incogni.com/about-us
 
Amw66 said:
The default " send info" on smart meters is generally every 30mins and this provides patterns of use
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Yes, most of them are set up like this.

Some people do find it useful, as it enables them to work out whether there are things draining power when they shouldn't be, and how efficient "always on" appliances such as fridges are. It also means folk can also take part in the power-saving schemes where they're offered money to cut their useage during peak times.

I think this is a really interesting model for reducing UK dependence on imports, and potentially making certain renewables (such as wind and solar) a bit more viable. Enough people can cut their usage during peak demand by cooking their main meal at a slightly different time, changing the times they run washing machines, dishwashers, etc, to make a real difference. There was very little use of coal-powered plants last year, and we've only got Ratcliffe-on-Soar left now anyway; the French nuclear's back online, so we can import, but I reckon anything that makes people more conscious of their consumption, usage patterns, and overall dependence on power is quite useful from an environmental point of view.

As for privacy: I'm disabled and buy everything via the public internet, so in my case that ship's long sailed.
 
JemPD said:
Interesting @josepdelafuente has your experience with them been worthwhile do you think.

my ruddy mobile number has been spoofed & its such a hassle to change my number when it could happen again the next day, it drives me crazy the way there seems to be no stopping the data purchase/theft & being pwned etc
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I think so. Before I signed up I was getting 2 - 3 bulls**t phone calls (weird scammy advertising and fake HMRC messages) every day, now it's more like 2 - 3 per week.

Also the Incogni list of data brokers is around 50, and so far only 30 of them have complied with the request to erase my data. As I understand it, Incogni will repeatedly contact the ones that don't comply straight away and keep making the requests until they do.. so I should get even less as time goes on..
 
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