Smart meters: not sending readings

"My smart meter is not sending any readings to my supplier so I am receiving estimated bills. They have confirmed they have tried everything to resolve the communication issue with my smart meter and told me the problem sits with a third party outside of their control – is there anything I can do or do I just have to wait until a fix is found?"

If a smart meter problem is within the supplier’s control, then we’d expect them to fix it. However, there are some problems that might be outside of the supplier’s ability to resolve – these are mainly with the DCC.

There might be coverage issues, meaning that readings can’t be sent to your supplier. Signal loss will happen when signal has to pass through the walls of a building. Prior to arriving to install a smart meter, the supplier may check the signal strength for the area and it was okay. The check only shows the signal strength from the roadside, not the signal strength within the building. It may later become apparent when supplier has put the electricity meter and communications hub on the wall that the signal strength is poor. The industry is working on a solution to try and resolve these issues.

No communications network works perfectly at all times. As the Energy Ombudsman, when looking at a complaint, if a customer loses smart meter functionality, we will consider whether the energy supplier has taken all reasonable steps to try to resolve the issue and what ‘detriment’, if any, the loss of functionality has caused the customer. We may not be able to require a supplier to correct signal issues in the short term and usually has a dependence on the DCC.

The issue may well be with the third party DCC, who is licensed to operate the national communications network for smart metering, and who is obligated to provide Wide Area Network (WAN) coverage to at least 99.25% of premises across Great Britain. The DCC is also required by license conditions to seek to provide coverage to all premises where it is practicable and cost proportionate, and to assess opportunities to increase the overall level of coverage.

Energy suppliers may need to liaise with the DCC to resolve some communications issues. Energy suppliers have experienced delays waiting for the DCC to resolve queries and this can impact on the time taken to resolve consumer complaints. Where an energy supplier is waiting for action from the DCC, a quick resolution may not be possible, but we would expect the energy supplier to keep you updated.

Find out how we can help you with disputes with energy suppliers.