Smart meter reading issue

[thewinehasgonetomyhead]

Hello
There was a thread started about this a while ago but I can't find it.. basically I've received an email from SSE reference our gas smart meter, apparently since the 2nd March 2020 our readings have not been automatically received by SSE and they've now asked for our reading which I've done.

I'm now going to be hammered with a large bill I'm sure, but why is this my fault if their equipment is faulty?

There was a lady a while ago saying her mother was having this issue and someone advised to appeal to OFGEM. Has anyone experienced and have any advice please? Thanks.

We had a smart meter fitted six years ago, because the provider insisted on it. It didn’t work and they fitted a booster to no avail.

DH reads the meter at the beginning of every month and emails the figures. Do you have any idea what your reading was before last March? Have you been waiting for a bill, or do you pay by direct debit? If you do, they will have to look at what you’ve paid, against the reading you’ve now sent them. If you pay when you get a bill, a year is a long time to go without receiving one.

If you’ve used the gas, I guess you’ll have to pay for it, but they may offer terms because their equipment doesn’t work. It might be worth contacting CAB or Ofgen, to ask advice.

Our not so smart meter stopped sending readings about 3 months after it was installed and we never knew. The company just estimated our readings for the next 9 months!

Thankfully they really overestimated and owed us money at the end.

Thanks so much. We pay quarterly when they provide a bill, it was a little high in the summer and quite low in the winter so hopefully it will even itself out.

If you've been paying an amount to them monthly or paying an estimated bill you might not get as big a bill as you are thinking. If you haven't paid them anything then yes it will be big, either way as they have not billed you correctly they should offer you an interest free installment plan to repay it anything up to a 3 year plan is fairly standard but they may be able to spread over longer if necessary. Dont panic, wait for the bill, call them to discuss repayment options. If you dont get something appropriate raise a complaint. These things happen all the time in the energy industry.

I pay monthly by direct debit and provide monthly meter readings. Once I give a reading I get an up to date balance so I know monthly how much I have used/spent

Have the quarterly bills given an estimated gas meter reading? How does it compare to the reading you just gave?

Whats your mobile signal like? I believe they rely on that technology to communicate.
Another one of the reasons I still refuse to go smart.

@AdobeWanKenobi

Whats your mobile signal like? I believe they rely on that technology to communicate. Another one of the reasons I still refuse to go smart.

Plus the fact that if you change providers, smart meters aren’t universal, so it’s just a useless thing sitting in a cupboard.

Thanks everyone.

We live in military housing so we are lumped with whatever is there unfortunately.