Scottish Power says our meters are too old - is this a ruse to force us to get a smart meter?

Our electric and gas company, Scottish Power have said that our meters have come to the end of their life expectancy.

As a result they must be replaced by smart meters. Is there anything we can do? We don’t really want a smart meter.

On the meter: Suppliers are pushing households to install smart meters, but you don’t have to accept

Angharad Carrick of This Is Money replies: Smart meters have been around for over a decade and were introduced to help households stay in control of their energy bills.

They replaced traditional meters, including prepayment key meters, and suppliers say they provide more accurate readings.

The Government has plans to have them in 80 per cent of households by 2025.

But some people, like you, don’t want them. Some households have complained of inaccurate readings which have led to higher bills, and want to take the readings from traditional meters themselves.

Others have said they feel they have been bullied into accepting a smart meter and been made to believe it is compulsory.

Your supplier, Scottish Power, told you that your non-smart meter had come to the end of its life, which is usually between 15 and 20 years.

Technically you do not need to have a smart meter in your home, and they are not compulsory.

Suppliers offer them to customers if they don’t already have one, but they are not under any obligation to accept.

However, suppliers do insist on installing a smart meter if your current meter is coming to the end of its life, as yours is, and can’t be replaced by another non-smart meter.

They often say that some non-smart meters are no longer being manufactured and are under obligation to install a smart meter if the old one is deemed unsafe.

You said that Scottish Power kept contacting you about replacing your current, traditional meter with a smart one because it had but you did not want to.

I asked Scottish Power how they knew your meter had come to the end of its life, but it did not provide an answer.

A spokesman for Scottish Power said: ‘ScottishPower, as with all suppliers, are obligated to replace all traditional meters with Smart Meters by the industry regulator, Ofgem.

‘Installed meters come with a certified life from manufacturers, and suppliers monitor and record each meter on an ongoing basis to track when they’re coming to the end of their certified life, which is typically between 15-20 years. This can vary based on the type of meter.

‘Smart meters offer many benefits over their traditional, non-smart meters – allowing customers to record and track consumption.’

It seems that your smart meter was installed between 15 and 20 years ago and needs replacing.

It is worth noting that you are entitled to ask for evidence of this, which your supplier should provide. If it doesn’t, you can refuse.

If you do have to accept a smart meter, there is another option if you’re not happy with your data being sent to your supplier automatically.

Some suppliers allow you to set up your smart meter in ‘dumb’ mode, which switches the ‘smart’ functionality.

Unfortunately, Scottish Power did not tell me whether this option was possible.