- A reader moved into a house without a screen for his smart meter
- British Gas refused to supply a new display because the meter is more than 12 months old
- Have you been denied an exhibition? Contact us: harvey.dorset@thisismoney.co.uk
We just moved into a newly built rental property. When we moved in, there was no home monitoring device to use with the smart meter.
British Gas is refusing to supply one as the smart meters were installed in 2021, when the apartments were built. Apparently there is a rule that smart meters do not need to be replaced after the first year of use.
You also can’t tell me for sure if a home device would ever have been supplied to the property; and if so, it seems likely that the building’s developers received them and never gave them to the new residents.
Having a smart meter monitor is essential so that we can track energy expenditure in real time. The application is insufficient.
British Gas says it will not replace a smart meter display if it was installed more than 12 months ago
We have spoken to British Gas online chat agents twice and were referred to the complaints department. They said their policy was that after 12 months of installation, they would not provide monitoring devices.
It appears that beyond their telephone complaints team there is no one else to speak to at British Gas. The call handler informed me that they can file a complaint but they need to close it immediately. Since the complaint is based on “company policy” they say they can’t do anything at all.
If you could help in any way, I would greatly appreciate it. AS by email
Harvey Dorset from This Is Money responds: This is not the first time we have seen a supplier refuse to deliver a smart meter display to a customer whose property had a smart meter installed more than 12 months ago.
While your smart meter will still provide readings to British Gas, it means you won’t be able to track your energy usage.
In theory, the home screens should remain on the property, as they are paired with the smart meter and cannot be used anywhere else.
But inevitably, homeowners move into a property that has a smart meter, where the previous owners left no monitors.
In your case, you believe that the property developers must have received the meters, but for some reason they have not been transmitted to you.
Many energy companies will not automatically provide a new smart meter if the first one breaks or is lost after 12 months, although it is always worth asking.
British Gas offers an app where you can track your energy consumption, but it doesn’t provide real-time information in the same way as the smart meter.
For many, one of the main reasons to install a smart meter is the ease of having a screen at home. This is especially the case for those who do not have a smartphone.
Smart meters were first introduced in 2011 as a way to help households stay in control of their energy bills and have since been installed in homes, replacing more traditional meters.
More than 30 million homes in the UK now have a working smart meter and the Government wants to see smart meters in 80 per cent of homes by 2025.
According to British Gas, they will be happy to supply a smart meter display to customers free of charge if the meter has been installed in the last 12 months.
But beyond that limit, British Gas says it cannot replace it.
I spoke to British Gas about his case and the reasons why they refused to provide him with a new smart meter.
In this case I am pleased to hear that British Gas has contacted you to apologize and inform you that they will provide a sample to your home.
“I have an appointment with an engineer to deliver a monitor to my home so I can start accurately monitoring my energy usage, which will really help me with budgeting,” he told me.
A British Gas spokesperson said: ‘We have spoken to AS to apologize for the delay in sending a home display after she recently moved into the property. We have arranged for an engineer to visit to provide us with one.